Failure of Democracy

Democracy is the worst form of government except for all those others that
have been tried.'
Winston Churchill

Ironically the most accurate definition of what democracy should be was

given in an Adolf Hitler speech (I don’t know who wrote it, Hitler certainly
didn’t have the intellectual capability to come up with it himself): ‘The state
does not command us, we command the state!’ (‘Nicht der Staat befiehlt
uns, wir befehlen dem Staat!’)

Democracy means ‘Government by the People’ (or, if the creators of this

term employed the sarcastic undertone suggested by some historians,
‘Government by the Mob’). That definition implies that all members of a
community participate in the electoral process; but this is not the case.
The first rule of democracy is exclusion. No country in the world would want
all its residents to choose its government, and until this day people have
been excluded from elections because of their age, race, class, gender,
nationality, religion, homelessness, illiteracy, criminal convictions, lack of
landownership, mental diseases etc.

And it’s not only voters who are being excluded, but parties and candidates
as well. Most countries won’t allow a party to compete in the elections who
intends to change the political system or whose views differ too greatly from
that of the ruling parties; thus the United States and all its satrapies simply
offer a choice between the far right and the extreme right.
In countries whose citizens had no influence on the form of government by
having been excluded from the shaping of the constitution (or ‘basic law’, as
in Germany) the general attitude was that a vote for any admitted party
denotes approval of the form of government, so that a turnout of over 50%
was considered a vote for the political system.
This changed with the constantly dropping numbers of voters for the
European Parliament - which is a farce as all important decisions are made
by the heads of state (the European Council), anyway. Since 1999 the
turnout for European elections has been way under 50%, which, following
the logic of the argument, should be considered a vote against the European
oligarchy.

Apart from banning parties there are many other ways of preventing change.
In Germany the emergence of new parties is obstructed by the 5% Clause;
any vote for a party that ends up with less than 5% becomes null and void,
and the established parties successfully warn the electorate not to ‘throw
away their vote’. Thus the three established parties managed to keep the
parliament to themselves until in 1983 the Green Party managed to break
the monopoly and join the club.
The 5% Clause leads to a good part of the electorate not being represented.
In the extreme case of some twenty parties having under five per cent each,
one single party could get all seats with just 5% of the votes, leaving 95%
of the electorate without representation.

In the 2000 US elections George W. Bush won due to the electoral system,
although his opponent got the majority of votes (patronisingly being called
the ‘Popular Vote’). And the ‘loss’ of thousands of absentee ballots is a
regular feature in US elections that’s hardly deemed worth mentioning.
In Ireland the 2004 presidential elections were prevented by the main
parties who simply agreed on confirming the president for another term;
elections, they stated, would have been too expensive. – Well, elections are
always expensive, so maybe this cancellation will ring in the end of that
farce called democracy altogether.

‘Rule by the people’ also suggests that people not only decide on their
government but also on political issues. This implies that the public could
enforce referenda on all topics they feel differently about than their
government. But most ‘democracies’ do not give their citizens that
opportunity.
The most stressed argument against referenda (apart from the silly ‘We’d
have a referendum each day!’) is the immaturity or lack of political insight of
the electorate. But if the population lack maturity or political insight, why
trust them with electing their masters in the first place?

The idea of democracy was to give people the right to choose their own
government. Now people have realised that their vote doesn’t make a
difference, and more and more stay away from the polls. As an unmotivated
electorate calls into question the whole concept of democracy politicians
preach that casting his vote is every citizen’s obligation (for those who have
one, that is) and treating those refusing to vote as disinterested outcasts.
Some countries, like Australia, even go one step further by punishing non-
voters and imposing fines on those who don’t feel represented by (or simply
don’t trust) the admitted parties and candidates. I don’t think I have to point
out the paradox of forcing people to exercise their rights.

Democracy is government for the highest bidder. Not all countries practise
the baksheesh tradition as openly as Costa Rica or Ireland, but when we
hear about the innumerable indications (and the odd conviction) of bribery,
corruption, embezzlement, favouritism, self-service, abuse of power etc, we
all know that this is not even the tip but a mere splinter of the iceberg.
Whatever they tell us, people don’t go into politics to look after others; and
the few who actually put their beliefs and principles above their bank
accounts are soon found out and consequently will not make it into the
decision-making elite of their parties, anyway.

An election promise is a contract between the candidate and his potential

voters: You give me your vote, and I will protect your interests. As with any
contract, the stronger side makes sure to keep the upper hand: a tenant has
to pay a deposit to the landlord before moving in, an employee has to work
for a couple of weeks before getting paid (which, in fact, is a deposit he pays
to his employer), and the voter has to cast his vote before he can expect to
be represented.
If a plumber doesn’t show up on the agreed date I can terminate the
contract; if I hire a cleaning woman who doesn’t clean I can fire her; if I
vote for a candidate who claims to introduce free medical care for senior
citizens and who doesn’t I’m fucked. An election promise is the only contract
in the world which is not binding, and politicians make sure it stays that
way.

Democracy has also brought the delegation of governmental crime. In other

forms of government the ruling class are free to do and take whatever they
want, even if it is against their own laws. In a democracy, theoretically, the
government could be held responsible for its crimes; on top of that voters
might remember at the next election. Therefore it rather tolerates crime on
a great scale, provided that it gets its share without being brought into
connection with it. Organised crime is a product of democracy, and
organised crime would not be possible without the support of the authorities.

In 6256 RT (2015 CE), amidst the corporate takeover of Europe which was

initiated by several governments’ policy of bailing out bankrupt banks at the
cost of taxpayers and the general low-income population, and which led to
the sale of state assets, the privatisation of services and the undermining
and cessation of social security and employment legislation (a policy called
‘austerity’ which only applied to non-millionaires) Greece elected a
government on an anti-austerity platform which promised to re-introduce
social security, reverse unjust cuts and let corporations and tycoons bear a
part of the burden they created. However, their financial masters told them
it could never be and forced them to impose the very policies they had so
vehemently opposed. This is how the ‘cradle of democracy’ became the
coffin of democracy.
If nothing else does, this clearly demonstrates that democracy is a puppet
play intended to give us the illusion that we have a say in our lives.

Also in 6256 RT (2015 CE) the Irish government introduced an extra water

charge in a buildup to privatise the water supply. 57% of all households
refused to pay the double charge; this is a majority, and in a democracy - by
definition – decisions are made by the majority. The Irish government,
however, pressed ahead with the extra charge.

Democracy is the god above Christ, Yahweh, Allah and Buddha - the one
who can’t be questioned because he creates the illusion of capitalism serving
the people rather than the other way round.
Democracy has brought us Hitler and Kennedy, the men responsible for the
nastiest wars of the last century. Democracy has encouraged and even
caused racism, genocide, exploitation, intolerance, inequality and so forth.

Democracy has failed us - and no, I can’t offer an alternative. But if given
the choice of entering the arena with a bull, a lion or a gladiator, I won’t
automatically choose the gladiator just because he has a human face. I
certainly don’t favour monarchy, tyranny, oligarchy or any other form of
government over democracy - but neither would I choose democracy, at
least in the form it presents itself today, over the rest!