Boxes & Bags 031012

Can democratic freedoms fly with the weight of excess baggage?

During the early Stone Age after a short head butting two cavemen decide that mutual agreement was considerable easier on the head, and so began democracy but as more troglodytes gathered chaos reigned. Head butting again became the norm until the biggest and baddest emerged as dictator and freedom picked up its first piece of baggage. 

For thousands of years the strongest ruled the roost but as the societies grew larger the strongest acquired selected followers. Over time the followers wanted a larger slice of the pie. By the era of the Greeks the people decided that they also wanted some pie.  After a time the Greeks decided this wasn't a really great idea as the baggage really piled up.  Another thousand or so years the select lords revolted against strongmen Kings.  Eventually the people thought revolt was a good idea and overthrew their lords and again took over governing themselves.  Self-rule was rocky, in small homogeneous villages the people gathered, discussed and came to decisions by consensus.  Town meetings grew more complex and the rich or loudest often-dominated meetings and decisions.  Boxcars of baggage now block the right of way.  Democracy moves by fits and starts subject to corruption, manipulation and abuse of the people's will.

By the turn of the 19th century heterogeneous societies were again in revolt this time in a progressive movement to recapture and reform democratic principles.  The movement brought election reforms, organized workers, women's voices were recognized, laws refined and rights protected.  Every step forward however was resisted, opposed even battled by the rich and powerful.  A schism emerged between the people and the powerful.  This has become the territory of manipulators, criminals and profiteers for in chaos there is opportunity.  World War Two veterans came home to battle crooked politicians who had captured democratic freedoms while attention was focused overseas.  The veterans took back their governments, focusing on duty honor and country.  Respected by the voters they failed to notice that the pile of baggage was growing higher ever faster as society coasted on reputation.  Technology advanced at warp speed and so did competition for limited government services.  Democracy is becoming a colossal Ponzi scheme of promise everyone everything but deliver little and lie with style. 

Not completely deceived, the public no longer votes for; rather it chooses the least objectionable candidates.  Legislators now have virtual tenure representing special interest rather than their more diverse constituencies.  Constituencies are complicit by failing to be interested enough to pay attention to the erosion of freedoms.  Politicians are marketed like soap and are just as slippery. Pundits point to the voices of social media as a guarantee of democracy's future.  While it has possibilities Social media is more about entertainment and dis-information than creating an informed electorate.  Social media endangers democratic processes by creating an unruly mob driven by emotions and self- interest, easily manipulated by showmen and new lords of the WORD.

The pile of baggage is now so great that freedom is in danger of going the way of the Dodo bird. People form the greatest mismatched set of luggage but democracy doesn't work unless people are involved.  Freedom is too important to entrust to the few.