The following was written by an anonymous author in Australia, but its message also applies to other representative democracies around the world:
"Democracy, we are led to believe, is something that you either have or you don't have, and there is not so much as the slightest suggestion anywhere that there could ever be anything more democratic than electing leaders to make decisions for us. There is a conspiracy afoot in all of these supposed democracies to ensure that citizens accept outright that their system of government satisfies a certain standard, that it is fully democratic and part of the "free world". But anyone who thinks about it for just a minute should be able to figure out that it's not so black and white, and that electing people to make decisions is not at all the same as participating directly in a decision making process, of voting on an actual decision rather than giving over our democratic rights to a far less democratic process of electing leaders who can then do whatever they want…
We are supposed to swallow this lie that democracy is absolute, that it is something great we have achieved and is right and good, and is something we should force other countries to adopt because it is the only fair way to do things. But how do we define democracy, and are we really satisfied that there is no fairer system than what we have already got?
Our education system itself is not geared toward notions of truth or social justice, but is becoming more and more geared toward practical skills for gaining employment in an exploitative capitalist system. We are not taught to ask questions, we are told to follow the leader, every step of the way, wherever they happen to take us…
If decisions are being made which will have an effect on me, and I am denied any means of participating in that decision making process, then it was not a democratic process. Democratic processes don't organise themselves into nation states. True democratic processes have nothing to do with imaginary borders drawn up by the old, imperialistic world mentality…
The scandalous thing is, that there has never been the slightest push by any representative government toward more democratic processes. Politicians like power. They're not about to give it up, even if they knew that a more democratic system was possible. The original ideals of democracy, formulated in ancient Greece and inclusive of all citizens are so far from what we have here in Australia that it is not at all funny. For as long as we believe that representative democracy is satisfactorily democratic, we are doomed to be controlled and let down by one insane charismatic fascist after another.
In Iraq and Afghanistan, it was a culture of violence and fear which prevented people from rising up against undemocratic and oppressive regimes. In Australia it is a culture of selfishness, ignorance and shopping which prevents us from rising up against an undemocratic system of government which refuses to adhere to the most important international standards."
Quick programming note - I'll be traveling early next week and won't be able to post again until late next week. Until then...