Freedom Is A Four Letter Word
"Democracy is for ancient Greeks."
- Taken from a comic book written by an Irishman.
I don't think that Democracy is such a great idea. To be honest, I think that Democracy is a horribly bad idea. An idea that's up on the list with atom bombs, concentration camps, and good movies getting edited for mass consumption on television.
Well, maybe that's not the case. Maybe Democracy is a great idea. The notion of a nation of men and women choosing their own leaders, free and happy. It sounds pretty cool, doesn't it? Like Disney Land with noble politicians in place of the folks in the foam cartoon character costumes. But, as near as I can see, there are two very important things you need, in order to make Democracy work, and until you have those two things, your democracy will just let you down, time and time again.
The first thing you'll need, is noble politicians. Which is much like saying you need Santa Claus to get a new bike or a heart transplant; either way you're putting your faith in something, someone, which the adult world has decided doesn't exist.
The second and perhaps even more important thing you'll need, is people capable of directing their own fates. A nation of men and women who are able to pick from the best and brightest among them to lead them forward, without any prejudice hampering their judgement. And... Well, I can't speak for every country in the world, but I can say that I've never seen a nation of people like that in North America. Not even fucking close.
Think about it: If George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and John F. Kennedy were all reborn in the body of an ugly gay Hispanic woman, would she stand a chance in fucking hell of being elected? Even if everybody knew in their minds and hearts that this hideous dyke had within her the minds and souls of some of the men who are considered to be their countries greatest leaders?
Yeah. I thought so too.
I shudder sometimes, when I look at the original constitutions. All these laws created to let us do things we should've known better then to do in the first place. Nations created by children who've just realized that since mom and dad aren't around, they can do anything they want, like stay up late and eat cookie dough, watch skin flicks and leave the door open when they're on the toilet. What a brave world those proud men foresaw when they wrote a constitution filled with freedoms that bigots, hate-mongers, and the otherwise blissfully ignorant could hide behind. I'm sure they're proud.
As I see it, freedom must be earned, never given. Those men who wrote the constitutions that the countries of North America hold so dear? They fought for that, literally. They took up arms and risked their lives, facing bullets and bayonets through dark nights and frozen waters, to earn their freedom. And everybody since then has simply rode along on their coat-tails.
I have not earned my freedoms. They were given to me, a gift of my birth. Every one of us were upon our admittance into this realm , declared victors of a war we never fought, and given to rape and pillage the spoils of said war without having ever lifted a hand to aid in the conquest.
Do you listen to the poles, to the public opinions, and what the people have to say? They talk about the president's weight gain and loss, about what the first lady wore to a diner, the dress and the diner both costing more then the majority of the population will make in a year. The national guard gets sent in to butcher men and women in their sleep, men and women who are citizens of the same nation the soldiers work for. Meanwhile, the public raises their voices in a collective moan about blow jobs behind closed doors. Parents complain with eyes full of rage and voices shouting hate to their local political representative about gays in the schools, while said politician is making deals that'll sell away all their lands and futures to the highest bidder.
Are these the people that should be choosing the leaders? Is age alone a decent enough prerequisite for the right to vote men and women into the highest offices of power? Is there another way? Some form of a basic IQ or maturity testing process? And if so, what if the rest who don't make the cut? Do those people not deserve a right to be spoken for, even if they have nothing to say other then to belch as they flip through the latest installment of TV Guide?
In "Starship Troopers", Robert Heinlein suggested that a term of military service should be a prerequisite to voting. (For the record, that's the book I'm talking about, not the movie; my most humble apologies to the illiterate masses. Who're morons, by the by.) This idea, of earning your right to aid in the decisions and direction of your country by serving it first, had even been used by some societies in the past. Like all systems, it has its advantages, and its disadvantages. If nothing else, it would seem to me that it forces at least a small sense of responsibility, something which can often be lacking when you simply hand over the right-to-vote when an individual turns a specific age.
It's been said that every country gets the government it deserves. Look at the people who're running your world around you, and think about just what that says, not only about our society, but also about ourselves. Think about what it says about you, about me, about all of us.
Make what you will of that. After all, it is still a free country.