18th
Democracy Doesn’t Work
I was riding the bus on the way home today and I had a realization which is, for now, a firm belief of mine, and I’d like to share it with you.
I was thinking about democracy and what it claims to be: the political power and the power of opportunity is in the hands of the people. We elect our leaders, and we vote on many other things. So that should make us powerful. But there are so many inconsistencies with this.
Why exactly do all major government officials have tons of money, huge houses that they don’t even need, and no risk whatsoever of losing their fortune? Let me answer my own question: because they hoard the money for themselves and claim that we are the ones with freedom.
Have you ever read “Animal Farm” by the political author George Orwell (who I think was a genius)? If not, let me give you a basic idea: it’s about a farm full of animals who are sick of humans bossing them around, taking all their milk and eggs without giving anything back, and then killing them in the end. So the animals revolt against the humans by kicking them out of the farm and renaming it “Animal Farm”. The pigs are put in charge because they are supposedly the cleverest. They establish rules such as no wearing clothes, no standing on two legs, and so on. All goes well until one of the pigs, aptly named Napoleon, takes control for himself by taking away a dog’s puppies and raising them for the rest of their lives to be vicious, rabid dogs. Napoleon unleashes them on the other commanding pigs and declares himself leader. From there, the book becomes more and more nightmarish. Napoleon pushes the animals harder and harder, keeps all the milk, barley, and alcohol (which was originally against the rules) for themselves, and even start to wear human clothes and stand on two legs. While doing all this, they convince all of Animal Farm that life is much better than it was with the humans by spreading lies. The sad part about it is that many animals, such as a horse named Boxer, have sincere faith in Napoleon (his two maxims were “Napoleon is always right” and “I will try harder”). Boxer worked himself to death for Napoleon, and what did Napoleon do? He sold him to the glue factory.
My point is, democracy being a government of the people is simply a lie. As long as there is somebody on top and somebody on the bottom, the people on top are the ones who will have more power. End of story.
In this terrible economy, I’ve heard countless stories about my friends’ parents losing their jobs and falling near the edge of bankruptcy. Many businesses who have long been in this country are now closing forever. Everything looks bleak for us. But what does that matter to most of the government? They’re all a bunch of pigs locked up in Washington, D.C. never seeing the outside world. If you don’t understand what people are going through, how does it matter to you? The pigs in Animal Farm didn’t care about the animals at all. When winter came, conditions were terrible for the animals while the pigs slept in the cozy beds of Mr. Jones’ house (which was originally off-limits). I feel it’s the same with our authorities. Barack Obama is insisting that he understands our pain and that the crisis is very important to him. My response is, actions are more effective than words. You can say anything, but the question is, can you do it? We’ll find out the answer within the next four years of his presidency.
So you may be saying, “Why do you hate democracy so much?” Actually, I don’t. I enjoy democracy a lot. Because of democracy, I can wear T-shirts that insult the government and calls them pigs. Because of democracy, I can say whatever I want. Because of democracy, I can apply for a job without being discriminated for any reason. Because of democracy, I’m allowed to write this article. I’m glad I’m in a democratic nation. My problem with democracy is that it isn’t what it says it is, and that no matter what we do, the people in charge are always going to get the breaks and the people on the bottom will always be forced to pay the people on top. In the “food chain” idea of our country, it’s not that different from feudalism.
What you also may be saying is, “Well do you have a better idea?” Let’s look at our options: there’s communism. Everybody gets an equal share of land, money, and possessions, and the government controls absolutely everything. My question is, why do the government officials somehow have more land, money, and possessions than the people below? So communism is actually worse than democracy because instead of us having the opportunity to rise to the top, everybody is in a fixed position which they can’t control. Like they said in Animal Farm, “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others”. How about anarchy? Absolutely no government whatsoever; people just do whatever they want. This is obviously a bad choice. First of all, nobody would have any self-control when they realize there’s no law. Wanna kill a guy? Go right ahead. Care to break into an elderly couple’s house and steal everything they have at gunpoint? Enjoy. But the worst problem is that nobody would have any reason to farm, or give health care, or provide services, or anything like that. How would we get any food? How would we cure our diseases? Anarchy is the worst form of government- I’m sorry, “lack of government”- I’ve ever heard of.
Here’s my opinion: nothing works. There is no miracle system that gives everybody equal opportunity; I’m sorry, it can’t be done. There isn’t an answer to everything, and I think there’s no fair way for 300 million people to live together. When the big guys control everything we see of the outside world (TV, radio, music, newspapers), it’s hard to have a grip on what’s actually real and what isn’t. All we can do is learn to live with it and reap the benefits that democracy does give us.
-Derek
