Democracy

'Democracy' might be described as the ultimate form of government. Operating at its optimum 'Democracy' should be both highly accountable and highly malleable; it is government by the entire people, for the entire people. 'Democracy' professes to treat all people equally and to invest them with equal rights. True 'Democracy' should also be ever aspirational ever evolving, never complacent, searching ever for the means to better wholly represent the people it purports to serve. And should 'Democracy' ever achieve these towering aspirations, then it should immediately be searching to redefine these aspirations, in order that it might even better serve its people. Sound familiar?

Thought not!

I have never had the dubious privilege of setting foot in either the Democratic Republic of the Congo, nor the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea. As a once very keen traveller, I might (oh-so-very-briefly) have deluded myself that such visits could be spiritually enriching, but only ever from a highly selfish perspective, and this would still have required one Hell of a touch of blind-eye turning.

 Appreciated,  Bradley Gordon 

Factor in the (ex) German Democratic Republic and we might easily concur that democracy is absolutely the last thing on any governmental  minds, within any country that features 'Democratic' in its title. The idea of 'slipping in,' having a bit of a leisurely look around and then 'slipping out again' thus becomes highly problematic. Remove the vital option of 'slipping out again' and the visit might instantly be transformed into the very worst of nightmares. We might thus observe, given enough free rein, that the self-serving nature of the human creature knows no bounds. How we might 'observe' and nod sagely from our 'Democratic' havens. "That's definitely not democracy," we might sadly smile.

It's important, however, not to permit ourselves to feel too smug. I'm guessing that words like 'freedom,' 'choice' and 'democracy' will continue to feature highly in the rhetoric of those respective governmental circles. Casually gathered evidence would seem to suggest that such words actually feature even more where a lack thereof perpetuates.


Ta  Matt Reinbold

So, I'm going to suggest that we all listen, if we can bare the pain, to 'our' political 'servants' a touch more carefully in future, see if we can't detect an alarming increase in words like, 'democracy,' 'choice' and 'freedom.' 'The British taxpayer' is always a bit of a giveaway, when political accountability is about to go out the window.

"It is important that democracy involves real choices." Cameron at PM Questions, 15th October 2014.
  
"But we believe that the better informed the British public is about the issues affecting our society, the easier it is, ultimately, for the British Government to come to sensible decisions and to develop robust policies that command the confidence of our people." Telegraph, 21st October 2014.

"We need to focus more than ever on the building blocks that take countries from poverty to prosperity. The absence of conflict and corruption. The presence of property rights and the rule of law." Cameron's address to United Nations General Assembly, 26th September 2012.

"... it's our values. British values. Fairness. Freedom. Justice. The values that say wherever you are, whoever you are, your life has dignity and worth. The values that say we don't walk on by when people are sick, that don't ask for your credit card in the hospital, that don't turn our backs when you get old and frail..." Cameron's last speech in Scotland, prior to the Independence Referendum.


And also,  Jason 

Meanwhile, the yawning chasm between the most and the least wealthy continues to accelerate, the NHS continues to be sold off to private interests, and education finds itself with ever more unqualified teachers operating at the chalk face. It's been a while since the term, "We're all in this together," has been wheeled out and dusted off...

So, listen up, if you wish to track 'your own' country's slide into the realms of feudal dictatorship. If you've noticed 'our' political masters and their respective string-pullers using the 'D' word and its closer cousins rather more than seems appropriate, then I would suggest that any thoughts of celebration regarding progress should be put on ice... perhaps- on 'your' behalf, please understand- cast into some uber-deep Antarctic bore-hole, ne'er to be retrieved.

Meanwhile, how are things across the pond, in the Land of the Free?