The Myth Of Democracy
There was a time when it was understood that the role of democratic governments was to serve the people. The whole of government activity was predicated on the promotion of the public welfare. It was assumed that the government was there to foster the interests of the nation through the inclusiveness of the democratic process. This meant that the government was to be open and honest with the public. In short the role of the government was to serve the public through the public (civil) service.
Somewhere along the line, over the past fifty years or so, we have lost track of our governments. We now find it very difficult to know exactly what our governments are doing because of the replacement of honesty with secrecy and the institution of the public service with service to the government for the ruling the people. The mockery of democracy now only happens once every few years at election time (which has become a festival for advertising agencies), when the politicians promise us what we have been saying we want without the slightest intention of ever providing it.
Politicians were supposed to be sensitive to the desire and opinion of the public and express those opinions in Parliament. However the modern politician, far from reflecting the public opinion on issues, treats the public like fools. They know that the public memory is evanescent and can easily be manipulated at election time. So, we now get away with calling what is clearly authoritarianism “democracy” because of the charade of general elections that over the years have been “adjusted” in such a way that no matter what the outcome, nothing will change. That’s called “jigging” the electoral laws.
Some folks don’t believe me when I say modern democracy is a farce. Let’s think about it. I will give three Australian examples that I am sure will ring true for others. At the end of the reign of the so-called Labor government there was a lot of pressure from the business sector to privatise the Commonwealth Bank. In opinion poll after opinion poll the public said no to privatisation. The bank was privatised anyway, thus removing any break on the rip off fees being developed by the other big banks in Australia. Today the banking industry rakes in obscene profits while providing less service for higher fees. Again, the vast majority of the public were against the sale of Quantas, our national airline, but government knows best, and sold it anyway. Here in South Australia, the former so-called Liberal government sold our electricity assets even though almost eighty per cent of the public was against it being privatised. Since then the price of electricity has gone up by thirty per cent. And finally, our present federal government committed us to attacking a country that had never been our enemy for reasons that turned out to be lies. During the build up to the war well over seventy per cent of Australians opposed the attack on Iraq. This was before the lies of WMD and other furphies were made known. So where is democracy? Is it dead or merely sleeping?
From the above examples one can see how politicians hold the public in contempt and only take their snouts out of the trough of the Parliamentary gravy train at election time. However the discerning reader can see that democracy is a lot wiser than the politicians we put into power. This being so, why don’t we elect better members to Parliament? Obviously, the majority must like it that way.
Until we meet again, let’s practice doing what we know is right.
3:16:36 PM 
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