‘Democracy’

(painting courtesy of Eugene Delacroix)

The great thing about democracy is that you get to change leaders on a regular basis.

Still, not everyone agrees this is a good thing.

Some don’t like the mess. All this unseemly argument and fuss. It doesn’t look good. Some punters just want the trains to run on time and don’t particularly care too much about anything else.

And then there are those who are appalled by the outcome. The new dog arrives and they feel like they got duded in some way and it’s all very personal.

There are also punters who have a problem with authority and measure how well things are going entirely on the basis of how the rules affect them and them alone and again, it’s all very personal.

Everyone else can go to buggery.

And then there’s the tribe. Oh if only we didn’t have tribes hey? Punters lining up together. Believing the same things. And thinking they know best?

So rather than living with the uncertainty, far better to have the same dog in all the time right? Someone you can lean on in private, do favours for, pay money to, and get stuff organized in a way that suit your personal interest, or your group, instead of having to wait for three or four years until the next election comes along. And hope the other mob doesn’t win AGAIN.

But see there’s a problem with this. What happens when the dog dies? Who’s gonna step in then? And how? And will the next dog have sufficient authority?

Two things are true about punters. Their self-interest and their tribalism. And history has shown, repeatedly over thousands of years, democracy or not, punters get worked up and things get messy.

Still, at least with democracy you get to clear the decks regularly so that things don’t get too out of hand. Punters know that change is coming and they will have to live with it when it arrives..

Leadership is best shared. In theory.

And it is a theory. Democracy isn’t natural. It’s a human construction.

And it’s only as good as the people in it.

Otherwise, one particular group will clobber, mutilate or murder the other, sometimes on mass, in public or in secret, depending on the most expedient method available at the time, if only to make sure the trains run on time and the swamp gets drained.

Sigh.

All that being the case, there’s one thing that’s definitely true.

Politics isn’t rational.

Everyone argues from belief. Even when they don’t have facts on their side. And even when they do, belief is what they deploy to interpret said facts in a particular way.

If punters only ever argued over the plausibility of facts it would be philosophy.

Not politics.

Be that as it may, on any given ‘issue’, there will always be a right side. And a wrong one. But sometimes it’s hard to see though the fog…

Of WAR.

A cop might tell me to put my mask on..

and right now there is enough evidence to suggest that it’s probably a good idea to do what I’m told

rather than arguing about what I should be allowed to do,

in an ideal world that doesn’t exist right now,

where there aren’t all these punters dying slowly in hospital because of some new disease that’s going ‘round that we don’t have a cure for.

But I also accept that public debate is right and necessary. The whole point about democracy is that leadership succession depends on a majority of people being able to make informed decisions about their leaders.

Simple really.

Sadly however, human nature being what it is, there’ll be deliberate disinformation, lies and personal attacks. (You can always rely on Rupert.)

But I’ve got to say, this ‘Dictator Dan’ bizzo takes debate to a whole new level.

It would be laughable if it wasn’t so dangerous and breathtakingly stupid.

That said…

I’m with Dan