Freedom and democracy are often mistaken to be synonymous
to one another. Democracy in theory allows the public to ensure
governance that allows individual freedom and interests to be protected. Practically,
democracy is simply a tool used by influential individuals to control the
public under the disguise of a dictatorship. There are only a handful of
people who have the power to alter the mechanism of a state- these individuals
are the ones who exercise freedom in its purest form; disallowing any
involvement by the public, while at the same time, calling it a democracy.
When a fundamental political, social, or cultural idea
spreads as in case of the idea of democracy, it also gives birth to new
versions, views, methods, which as well as strengthening democracy, give it a
much needed sense of conflict, so it can keep growing and expanding. This
is essentially how these authoritative individuals exercise their control - confusing
the idea of democracy by expanding it so much that people forget its true
importance.
How they explain this control over the state is through
the word democracy itself. A democratic model will exclude some ideas because
they will directly conflict or hinder with other responsibilities it is trying
to achieve, giving importance to some aspects and not others. While it is
thought that individual rights and protection of these rights is the key aspect
of democracy, they are conveniently overlooked by individuals elected by the
people, because of focus on more important issues such as military
proliferation. So how is it that even though the public has the opportunity to
choose the representatives of a state, yet they have no control over it? This
can only be explained by understanding that democracy in itself allows the
ruling class to rule with the permission of the public, which is hence a flawed
idea.
1 comment:
I strongly agree with what you said. Democracy is indeed an easy way for the elite to empower themselves so that they can be a part of the decision making authority, and make policies for their own benefit. We need to understand that before saying that "democracy is for the common man", whom are we referring to as a common man, and either this common man actually exists or is it just an illusion.
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