Democratic Anarchy

Voter intimidation. Closed polls. Long line-ups. Long waits. Confusion. Ballot box stuffing. Voter fraud.

Scenes from a ‘Banana Republic’ in Latin America? Some sub-Saharan African nation trying its democratic legs after a generation of dictatorship rule? Nope. This was what was reported during the electoral process in the good ol’ U. S. of A. last Tuesday! What is happening in this self-proclaimed greatest democracy on the face of the planet?

Add to this the attack ads promulgated throughout the campaign using half truths, and you’ve got one outrageous democratic process! You would think that this would only happen in one of those countries, not in the well-developed democracies of the West. Sad, but true.

What drives people to resort to such tactics in order to win? Are they that desperate to retain power, or gain it? Are there mob and/or big business connections? Are campaign workers looking for a cushy bureaucratic appointment after their candidate is voted in? Are candidate policies so hollow, their messages so vague, their party affiliation an albatross around their neck that they think dirty tricks would be the only way to win? Do they think that voters would be susceptible to such tactics? In this age of the Internet, did they not think that information would not only flow to the voters, but that voters would be able to easily pass along information to other voters? Did they not think that someone with a critical eye could take a few minutes to upload a video to Youtube.com and show the world (or at least several million Americans) just what kind of candidates they really are? Did they actually think that their message would influence the computer keys of someone with an Internet connection and a Blogger.com account? Maybe the voters are smarter than the politicians think.

If you think that this is par for the course in the American frontier, apparently Canada is not immune either. Voters will be going to the polls on Monday to vote for their municipal leaders. What of those crazy, but polite, Canucks? Crazy, yes. But some are not so polite. Similar accusations of dirty tricks are cropping up. It will be interesting to see if it is translated into votes on election day.

Ancient Greece was the cradle of Western civilization. From there, our notion of democracy had its genesis. Unfortunately, political corruption and backstabbing, literally rather figuratively, also had its start. Have we really progressed? We should have. In this age of political correctness, equality, and technical achievements occurring in an exponential fashion, you would think candidates and/or their campaign workers would be above such unethical behaviour.

The Oxford dictionary defines democracy as, “Government by all the people, direct or representative; form of society ignoring hereditary class distinctions and tolerating minority views.” Wikkipedia has quite the backgrounder on democracy. If the people that employ dirty tricks are voted into office, then it is a sad state of affairs that these people represent us, or even represent what we stand for, in front of the citizens of other countries.

Who are we to export, or even preach, democracy, when we are so fallible when employing it? Charity begins at home.

If we are to achieve true democracy, then we have to show these sham candidates that we will not tolerate their antics. This is your government. How do ensure they truly represent you to the world, in an ethical form? Write to them, or tell them in person…file a complaint with a police authority…or just vote for the guy that didn’t sully him/herself with such tactics, regardless of their political affiliation. That would teach future candidates that voters will not be intimidated, nor have the wool pull over their eyes. Hey, the only reason they do it in the first place is because someone can show that it was successful in the past. Then we might, just might, see some good, wholesome democracy in action. Maybe the movie V for Vendetta taught us more than we thought.

Just remember, voters get the government they deserve. And if you don't vote, you can't complain.

Wings Over The World