"Politics is perhaps the only profession for which no preparation is thought necessary"The coming elections have stirred an upheaval in the country.The TV channels are constantly broadcasting shows that concern the coming elections and cast the politicians at their panels. They are all loud, they talk simultaneously and none of them has a clear political stance. All the politicians no matter if they belong to the center, right or left are all the same because what it is important for them is to maintain their prosperity and cultivate amongst us the need to be governed. Its so funny to see so many politicians that appear on television panels just before the elections that soon after will disappear from the news. They will not only disappear because the elections would be over so there is no need to persuade the voters anymore but also because they don't care for the common good. Politicians vanish from the face of the earth as easy as they appear and to me they all look like salesmen.They knock on your door only to sell something.
Personally non of the parties satisfy me;to me they are all the same. At the same time a stateless state is completely Utopian at this age and time ;so I find my self in a political dead end. No one really cares other than him self in order to offer something new for the greater good.However, just for a philosophical reflection I would like to end this article with a quote by Proudhon and only hope that who gets elected causes the least damage.I would be interested in your ideas concerning what could release us from this political dead end...If you think that is that there is a dead end.
"To be governed is to be watched over, inspected, spied on, directed, legislated, regimented, closed in, indoctrinated, preached at, controlled, assessed, evaluated, censored, commanded; all by creatures that have neither the right, nor wisdom, nor virtue... To be governed means that at every move, operation, or transaction one is noted, registered, entered in a census, taxed, stamped, priced, assessed, patented, licensed, authorized, recommended, admonished, prevented, reformed, set right, corrected. Government means to be subjected to tribute, trained, ransomed, exploited, monopolized, extorted, pressured, mystified, robbed; all in the name of public utility and the general good. Then, at the first sign of resistance or word of complaint, one is repressed, fined, despised, vexed, pursued, hustled, beaten up, garroted, imprisoned, shot, machine-gunned, judged, sentenced, deported, sacrificed, sold, betrayed, and to cap all, ridiculed, mocked, outraged and dishonored. That is government, that is its justice and its morality! ...O human personality! How can it be that you have cowered in such subjection for sixty centuries?"
15 comments:
I feel you. Honestly, I do.
I've been trying to explain to a cousin of mine how there are other definitions of democracy than the one we live in at the moment. I've explained other models, the athenian model, the early christian model, the soviet model, the various anarchist models etc. And I've explained to him that what seems utopian today may not seem utopian tomorrow in the same way the parliamentary system seemed utopian two hundred years ago.
And it became really evident in our conversation that people are aware of the potential that exists in the human race. People know we are better than this, they just can't get there.
Apart from an apocalyptic scenario, there are no dead ends in evolution. This is what we're good at, evolution. We went from the freedom that came along to rising out of the animal instict state to the freedom of the masses and it is my firm belief that the next evolutionary step will be the freedom of the individual.
There is no hope in this system. The only contribution of the people to this democracy is their vote. They do that once every four years, alternating between the lesser of two evils and then they go to beds for the next four years, unable to have the slightest impact on what's being decided on their behalf. It's a 4 year tyranny with a one day exception and that's all it is.
But I sincerely think that we live in interesting times where the distribution of knowledge and information is not restricted to a select few. This means that individual responsibility is the one single thing that is important right now. More and more people gain access to the tools to overcome mob psychology. If and how they use them, this is entirely up to them.
I'm so bored of the politicians! And I'm almost sure that plenty of them have appeared more than once on tv which goes against the law.
Πω συνειδητοποίησα ότι και εγώ το ίδιο εύχομαι μέσα μου, αλλά πόσο θλιβερ΄είναι έτσι;
Να ευχόμαστε αυτός που θα βγει να προκαλέσει το λιγότερο κακό.
:((
μανούλα μου, είδες την μπουγάδα που άπλωσα με τα ασπρόρουχα; το λευκότερο λευκό.
*δίκιο έχεις, αλλά που να το βάλεις, πίξυ μου;)
Still, if you dont use your vote, you will be considered as accepting everything decided. A couple of months ago, we had an election, too. You must have heard of it. I am now among those who's been being governed by a government they did not chose. I remember my thoughts before the elections; there were really no good choice. On one side there are proved imbeciles who act as opposite as they should act and even can not oppose properly to the main party. Then on the other side there are two-faced web-heads who want to change everything in a reverse way and create another religious based country. My choice was obvious, of course, but still I was not satisfied with it.
The reason of this outcome is that most of the people used their votes not for defending any idea but looking after their own interests. Tradesmen vote for ones offering a better and more stable economy; poor people give their votes to anyone offering them food in exchange; some do it just to oppose the current government; even religion can direct one's decision; and more and more. Because of this, I, unfortunately, can not agree with khayman's idea of a better system with responsible individuals. There are graduates of universities among those I told.
I wonder, pixie; will you use your vote even though you are certain you will not be satisfied with it?
To people that don't fit in the scheme of capitalist democracy, there's really no dilemma in being governed by someone you didn't choose. The majority of people in this country ARE governed by people they didn't choose. I find this to be a pretty nice controversy. Democracy and the minority ruling.
Let's take a look at the last election held in Greece. 9.897.626 voters registered. Out of them, only 7.571.601 voted. Out of those votes, only 7.404.934 were valid. Out of those valid votes, only 3.359.058 voted for the winning party.
So, in total, 6.538.568 people are being ruled by a government they DID NOT choose, in contrast to 3.359.058 who did. That's nearly a two to one ratio. And that's a minority of people deciding for the vast majority.
Now, even if you did say "ok, my once in four years vote is the only way I can influence anything", you'd have to take those numbers into account.
Meanwhile, the "I don't give a shit about who wins" party is rapidly gaining ground by counting 2.659.359 members.
Remember, you lend away your freedom for 4 years, participate for one day and then get ruled by people elected by a minority.
The only real dilemma is this. What do you do when the greater of two evils grows beyond control? Do you vote for the other evil to keep things balanced? Or do you let the shit hit the fan?
@khayman
(first comment)
I was certain that you think through politics.I believe too in individual responsibility and that collectively we could start making some changes no matter what type of government we have.But concerning voting, something that happens every 4 years and no matter the outcome history is repeating itself is really sad.Its like we are stuck in a vicious circle!And we can't escape because people don't have the motive.
@ggk
I am so bored to see their faces, too.
@narita
its really sad that it has come up to that but honestly I believe that people who are into politics are for the wrong reasons...
@dawkinson
έλα μου ντέ...αντε να δούμε τι θα δούμε πάλι αυριο
@gorgi
Of course like you I believe that our vote matters and I will exercise my choice. But like you I am not satisfied with the choices.And because people don't pressure for the rights, and by rights I don't mean finding a job in the public sector; things don't change.I will use my vote even if I am not satisfied to vote what it could be the lesser of many evils.But I think that individual responsibility starts after voting.What do you think?
@khayman
(second comment)
I am amazed with the statistics and thank you so much for that.I value your comments!!!The question that you propose in the end was my exact thoughts when writing this post.What do you do in a political dead end?What do you do when everyone seems to be going around vicious circles.I wonder what you will do tomorrow...
After the elections, it is still our duty and right to defend what we believe (in a democratic way, though) and observe the government closely which is theorically under the public's constant inspection. Still thing doesn't work that way, especially when a party has been elected with a "majority" of votes.
This means they are legitimate. So what can be done? A revolt maybe? That would be throwing much away. Also, it is impossible with that much deluded people. In order to manage that in a democratic way, there should be unity. I don't know whether you have any foreign influence in Greece or not, but that is also a big factor.
Exactly the same feeling here. I didn't felt any political party is much better, yet I didn't cared for I felt like I have no power with my vote. And then I wished good luck in ruling this country well and right to anyone who wins. Also, to be totally objective on what to vote I had to be very much inside in politics (my obsession to overanalyze and try to see what really is there or else I can't feel right) and spend a lot of time in politics, which time I don't have.
I know, I know, someone would tell me that I am acting as an ignorant this way and he would use the usual argument "If everybody thought like this..". But that's how I feel and how far away I am from politics.
Also, does the fact that the politicians are pretentious in their speeches reveal their true intentions? What if there is a politician who really wishes to change things to the better, yet in order for the masses to vote for him so that he is able to do this, he has to pretend and give such general and loud speeches?
Ok, now that this thing is over I can tell you what I did with my vote.
I stayed home, met some friends and spent a pleasant Sunday. This is the first time I don't vote. All the other times I cast an invalid vote.
I entertained the thought of voting for the opposition for a while, simply because I hate the people at the ruling party with a passion.
But ultimately, voting is about politics, not hating faces. And I believe there is no difference in the politics of the two major parties.
Most of all, I do not want to participate to this form of democracy because I do not believe it to be a democracy at all.
I am, however, disgusted to see people voting for the ruling party again. I can't figure out the mindset of someone who takes the trouble to go out and vote for these people again.
I am disgusted but not shocked or surprised. Same goes for the opposition. I am not shocked to see them fall. They deserve it 100%. They could have stormed through these elections, if only they'd come up with something different. They didn't.
One more thing. I know there's going to be some fuss in the following day about the fascist, racist, nationalist party making it into the parliament. Is anyone shocked? Really, anyone? Don't pretend to be shocked. You could see this coming for years. I know some people entertain the fantasy of living in the most ancient of democracies but really, no, this land is full of racist, chauvinist, sexist and homophobic idiots and if you can't see that I suggest you walk out of your precious bubble and take a better look around you.
We have allowed this to happen by not speaking up when people at the office talk bullshit about gay people and immigrants, when friends talk shit about women, when family speaks of the virtues of the greek DNA. This is apathy. Many people have told me today that not voting is an act of apathy. I don't agree. Apathy is a state that applies to your day to day affairs, not once every four years.
Again, I hate to see those people in office again. But if it all transpired again, I'd still not vote.
Oh, and, I hear my party did very well this year too, somewhere around 32%.
Good. By this rate, we'll be the second party in the country in the next elections.
@gorgi
of course foreign influences are always evident in all countries.Sometimes the influences are positive sometimes negative.
@optimus
a lot of people feel like you that their vote has no power.How can they not when we only have the same parties that are always elected.
@khayman
I think that these elections were not an easy walk for the ruling parties and this is portrayed by the votes that the smaller parties gained.I am really not surprised by the rise on the nationalist party.But I think that the reason is not that we are full of racist people.I think that people are generally dissatisfied and voted either left wing or right wing to find a solution.Don't forget that the president of this party is really careful lately and is presented by the media more like a patriot rather than what he is.
Agreed, we are not full of racists. If we were, the nationalist party would have won the elections.
We are however a bit reluctant to condemn some of the things that happen around us every day and have thus allowed them to integrate into our society.
Anyhow, good to have you back liliputeie, hope you had a pleasant summer man.
@khayman
Totally agree with you!
@liliputeios
so happy you are back!
Pixie, εμφανίστηκε κι άλλη Pixie!!
http://pixie-code.blogspot.com
synoula εγώ φταίω γιατι δεν διάλεξα κάτι πιο σπάνιο!
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