Democracies are
joining all other societies in their slide towards totalitarianism.
There are only democratic, authoritarian and dictatorship societies.
Monarchical society is a vestigial leftover from the past, bound in
some cases by tradition, and can have some form of power within those
who are ruled or have complete control. Saudi Arabia is good example
of a monarchical society as is the UK. But they are very different.
The UK has a parliament that makes laws. Saudi Arabia has an advisory
council but is an absolute monarchy. Most of the other societies
declare that they are in fact democracies and the people are taught
that they are and support their leaders. The United States and North
Korea are examples of “democracy” and “dictatorship.” Yet the
difference between the two are some variable degree. North Korea
calls itself “The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.”
Russia today is a good example of an “authoritarian” society
though it too calls itself democratic. It claims to be the Russian
Federation. The people who are not engaged in the government believe
they have “freedom.” Governmental operatives know differently.
Freedom is a very difficult word to define in terms of governments.
But what is meant by
democracy? Our democratic societies are not ancient Athenian style
democracy from which the concept is derived. It is believed that
democracies today operate by the rules of law whether those laws are
made by decree within representative government or through precedent
in courts. The U.S. has laws from both. And in addition it is through
the will of the people who are governed that these laws are agreed
upon through election of representatives who will make those laws.
Democracies are self-supporting and self-governing. Democracies
require co-operation of all citizens. So much for the ideal. The
reality is something else and the deck is stacked.
The ideal can not
face what is reality. We are slowly developing a closed society. A
few years back it was discovered that all citizens in the U.S. were
being spied upon by it’s own government 24/7 in our technological
utopia which it has become. Some rules were instituted to ameliorate
this problem but there is no knowing how much of that has changed. It
would be best to call the United States a technological utopia
instead of a democracy because technology is believed to be the
panacea that will move the U.S. forward and make it thrive.
Technology itself is
not destructive. But utilized to allow some to have power over the
many it destroys. There is a belief that each day brings a new “us’
a new “we the people.” But instead through technology we have
become passive, regressive and reactive not proactive. Instead of a
community of citizens willing to work together and assist each other
where each individual can contribute something, we are becoming
fractured, existing in our small ever shrinking withdrawn worlds. We
are small groups in this technological utopian world where we only
look for like-minded beings. Where we want to be liked for whatever
we do. Where we want only agreement. Conflict of any kind is dealt
with hostility. Rumors drive our belief system. History ends each
night we go to sleep.
Thus fractured we
look for the individual who will lead us from this morass we have
fallen into. And when found that individual is given the power to
tell us what to do, what to believe, what to think, which group is
important who is on the outs. Those who are not recognized and are on
the outs become scapegoats and are demonized. When they resist they
are ostracized, imprisoned or killed. Our weak resistances these days
are inspired and run by celebrity. And when the heat comes who do you
think will disappear?
Think of the U.S.
today. The U.S. has the kind of society where you are not constantly
questioned for every move that is made. There are many things wrong
with the United States but you still can exist without having to
“show your papers” all of the time. (Though that might be limited
by the browness of your skin). But for the most part, theoretically,
if you decide to get into your car and drive to the store to buy some
milk no matter what the hour of the day it is and the store is open
no one is interested in knowing why. But U.S. society is becoming
more fractured. And a fractured society needs a strong leader to pull
the fractures together.
Why is this? We
have no unified principle anymore. We used to be defined by class,
values, family, religion, skills and strength of character. Class
divisions of course are not a great way to exist but class divides
could be broached. Today though we are defined by race, gender,
celebrity, popularity, technology and perverted interpretations of
religious belief and still in many ways, class. And so many of these
things could lead to hostile conflict. Shame doesn’t matter
anymore. Anger takes precedence over all. Patience is not a virtue.
It is thought of being taken advantage of. Every belief is
challenged by some opposing belief. This is particularly destructive
in the realm of politics where even proven scientific fact seems to
have some “alternative fact” that can challenge a fact. And
above all it’s wealth not class that defines us specifically. The
wealthier we are the more important we are no matter what kind of
boorish individual we are. Only the wealthy make the rules that turn
into laws that govern us. They control the levers of politics in
this country. And those laws get subsumed as the new values that we
believe we should have.
Values are usually
thought of as family, spiritual and secular beliefs, education,
growth, recreation and friends. These are still talked of in today’s
technological utopia. Except the definitions of those words have
changed to have meanings that support the technological utopia and
our drift towards totalitarianism. Is there no way out of the morass
we call the United States of America? It remains to be seen.
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