Soapblogs politics

Politics again - I swear it won't be boring. Well, I'll try.

Politics. What do you envision? A room filled with old men in grey suits talking and discussing? Young people locked in an epic battle of words? Puppets that dance for money? Leaders that decide how we should live our lives?

Regardless of where you live, there will always be politicians. Some of them cruel and selfish - we call them either "dictators" or "corrupt" - and some of them dedicated and selfless - we call them either "good" or "naive". Some will be self-appointed, others elected democratically. Some will be good and tactical, others blunt and offensive; some will do what the people want, some will do what the people need, and others will do whatever the hell they want.

Life is politics. Better learn it.

Democracy is said to be the best form of government, and I have a slight tendency to agree. Slight, yes. Because what democracy is currently coupled with is bureaucracy and layer upon layer of government agencies and endless debates over small matters.

Democracy is not these things. Democracy means the people have the power - literally. Like I argued in my last political blog, this power is entrusted to a small group of people expected to wield it in the best interest of all. That is what democracy, in its core, is.

What has happened over the centuries in most democratic countries, though, is that an increasing amount of people are represented by the same, unchanged amount of politicians, and an increasing amount of people do not feel represented by those politicians. This also works the other way: increasingly, politicians are forced to promote themselves and their sometimes impopular policies to the people, and pass popular laws that are not necessarily in the best interest of people. After all, the masses do not always know what is best - it's not their job, they're just the people who have put the government in charge.

People do not feel represented or even taken seriously by their governments. I feel this is because there are too many layers of government and that too few views are communicated to the audience through multimedia. Many political parties are rarely talked about on tv - intentional or not - whereas others are regular guests.

Governments should be more local than (inter)national and should be able to communicate directly with its people, as well as get things done quickly. Like the milkman regularly comes by to deliver his milk, so the politician should regularly come by to communicate about local issues. A small community with similar thoughts on matters - a hippy community, or a racist community, or a communist community, or even an anarchistic community. Likeminded people, with no need for debates in which neither side will ever give in.

Or, we could just create everyone equal using genetic engineering. And create a thought police to guard any rebel thoughts and use video surveallance cameras called "big brother" to watch you.

Hey, too much democracy can lead to a totalitarian regime. A people's regime.

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