Democracy

Harvesting Hope for Humanity’!

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What hope this photograph of heroism evokes! Of course, heroism always inspires. But this is a particularly powerful example. The act itself is noteworthy, but the irony of the incident makes it unprecedented. The image multiply magnifies the deed, and has caused it to resonate around the world. You would, in fact, be hard put to find an action that better defines a message, than a black man possibly saving the life of a white supremacist demonstrating at a Black Lives Matter (BLM) protest. The BLM movement has arisen largely due to the loss of non-white lives at the hands of white US police. After a particularly brutal incident resulted in murder charges against the officers involved, protests erupted all over the USA and around the world. This, and the sheer number of such incidents, has given rise to claims of institutionalised racism. Consequently the protest demonstrations are continuing. It was at one of these in London that the incident in this photograph took place. White supremacists were counter-protesting and riots were developing when, somehow, this man got himself knocked over and isolated and was rescued, picked up and carried to safety on this black man’s – Patrick Hutchinson’s – …

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Plea for Greater Tolerance!

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“I disagree with every word you say, but will defend to the death your right to say it.” I was raised believing those words were uttered by the French philosopher, Voltaire, to capture the very essence of democracy. Alas, how far we seem to have moved away from it! Today the very concept seems anathema. On both sides of the Atlantic (where democracy has historically prevailed) there seems to be increasing intolerance, antagonism and even vitriol, towards anyone who has a different opinion or view. Popular, populist posturing prevails. And, as everyone becomes entrenched in their positions, anyone who holds a different opinion is deemed to be an idiot, deluded or the victim of “fake news.” This increases the invective and more and more the language becomes hate-filled, hateful, and hurtful. So the tension tightens and the pattern spirals. Needless to say this is counter-productive. Ultimately democracy depends on collaboration. Thus if democracy is to survive we need to return to Voltaire’s statement, put it into practice and restore – and ensure – greater tolerance.   As long as you respect and honour your fellow human beings you should be free to say whatever you think, without any fear of recrimination …

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Political Parties: Past Their Sell-by Date?

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Do political parties still work? Do they serve the purpose they were created for? Or, perhaps more importantly, is it even possible for them to do so? These are key questions for our times. Political unrest unbounds and perhaps more so than ever; even in countries that have historically been stable – most notably the UK and USA. As the long-time bastions of democracy this is alarming. It begs questions as to the very future of democracy. Particularly noteworthy is that both are largely two-party nations, governed by the political party that secures the most candidates – albeit in radically different systems. Yet both appear to be so divided as to be almost ungovernable. So much so that some doomsayers are even predicting the possibility of a second civil war in the US. The UK, on the other hand, is suffering from a complete anomaly in that, while it is possibly equally divided, one party – in what may be a victory of epic pyrrhic proportions – has just won by one of the biggest margins in its electoral history. In both countries trust in politicians is at an all-time low. In the USA the constitution is held as an …

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Rethink the Response to Civic Nationalism

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The status quo is not what it was. The recent referendum in Scotland is having an ongoing ripple effect that carries the promise of inevitable change. And we need to ensure that we shape that change to safeguard a better future. Many people are still wondering how the result turned out to be as close as it was and how a relatively small and seemingly innocuous minority reached a groundswell of over 2 million people. Yet, for once, political analysts seem united. They all agree that the separatists were able to exploit the percolating prevalent and persistent dissatisfaction with central government and surf the wave of discontent. They call this “civic nationalism.” They see this as disillusionment with politics and politicians, resulting in people looking to regain control of their own destiny. If, however, that is the case, the answer is certainly not to create more levels of government. Not to create more troughs for incompetent, self-satisfied and self-serving politicians to feed at. The answer to any problem cannot be more of the same. Yet, all the solutions currently being proposed to civic nationalism revolve around a model that offers more of the same. You need to think very carefully before …

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Fixing a failing political system!

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If you believe that our political system is failing dismally, you are not alone. Leading thinkers like Thomas L. Friedman and Michael Mandelbaum are trying to alert us to this fact. Not only that, they are also stressing the need for urgency. In their recent book, ‘That used to be us’  they state, “Our sense of urgency also derives from the fact that our political system is not properly framing, let alone addressing, our ultimate challenge.” (P10.)

Their book is focused on the US political system, but the problems it portrays, and the fact that many of us are sleepwalking through them, are not unique to the United States; they are phenomena that are endemic throughout the developed world today. Friedman and Mandelbaum bemoan the failure to reap the dividends of “winning” the cold war, the rapid decline and the threat to the country’s “exceptional nation” standing, but the issues they describe are by no means unique to that nation. Unfortunately, US dominance of the world economy compounds the problems for the rest of us, and we therefore are as dependent on their ability to address their own problems as they are.

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