A Better Way
What's wrong with Democracy?
Before we look at what's wrong with democracy, we should examine something very basic in the affairs of a nation; that is:
Irrespective of who, or what system of Government is in power, it is what a person does as an individual that determines their future health, well-being and happiness.
On some levels this is very clear and readily apparent, on other levels it is more abstruse and less obvious. A very clear and obvious example would be the trivial example of eating cakes. If a person ate nothing but cakes they would get fat and unhealthy. It doesn't matter what government is in power or what policies they pursue, if a person eats cakes there is no way they can escape the consequences of being fat and unhealthy.
To take this one step further; if everyone in the nation ate nothing but cakes, then the inevitable destiny of that nation is for it to be fat and unhealthy. Different Governments might have different ideas on how to deal with this problem; some might make eating cakes illegal, some might invest a lot of money in services that support people in suffering the consequences of eating cakes, some might tax eating cakes so that they were able to profit from this tendency of the nation, some might invest in educating people against the pitfalls of eating cakes. It doesn't matter what policies the Government pursues; the fact is that the only way to avoid having a nation of fat unhealthy people would be for each and every individual to stop eating cakes and to eat something healthier. We could extend this trivial example of eating cakes into other more significant tendencies and habits.
A person's life and character is nothing more or less than a whole series of things they may or may not do, each with a consequence of its own. An individual's health, happiness and prosperity is the sum aggregate of the results of the things they do, or don't do in their lives. We call these things wisdom.
Just as an individual's life and circumstances are the result of the quality of their wisdom, so a nation's fortune, health, and ultimate destiny are the result of the accumulative wisdom of all the individuals of that nation. In short. a nation's future rests in the hands of each individual that comprises that nation, and not in its Government, which is of considerably less importance.
ONE thing wrong with democracy is that any Tom, Dick or Harry can get themselves elected into power, irrespective of their character, motives and education. In particular, irrespective of whether or not they know or care about the cumulative affect of the individual's wisdom on the affairs and destiny of the nation.
There are many other things wrong with democracy, some of which are more obvious than others. Here are some examples:
Whatever motives a political group had when it started out, it eventually becomes a political machine whose prime objective is to win elections and get into power. The integrity of its original mission is compromised.
The sort of people who put themselves forward for election are not necessarily going to be the best ones for the job. Wanting to have a position of high office and power is not the same as being the most qualified for it.
The appointment of office depends upon the will of the masses. The masses may not necessarily know what constitutes their best interests, and so might not be able to judge accurately who would represent it for them.
|Who should be in power?|
|What can be done to the House of Lords?|
|A program of health, happiness and prosperity|