An Itinerant Mind

Political Musings

Average basically means - 'in the middle'. It should therefore be no surprise that if one talks of 'average intelligence', then 50% of the population has below average intelligence.

In a democracy, pretty much every one of them has a vote.

So do 'intelligent' people vote somehow wiser than those who's intellect doesn't match their own? No - of course not. Intelligent people often suffer from self-righteousness, the belief that their opinions cannot be wrong. Which of course they can, and frequently are.

The whole concept of democracy is somewhat ridiculous anyway. When the best that a country can offer is 'Current Leader of the Blue Party' versus, 'Current Leader of the Red Party' - note that this applies to the UK and to the USA as well as no doubt many other countries. (And yes I know that in some countries the choice is between Mr. Putin and dying in some godforsaken prison in Siberia.)

These people then run our country for a period of time till the next 'election'. It generally makes no difference who wins, because the system exists for the rich, and definitely not for the likes of you and me, (assuming you aren't one of the very wealthy that is.)

We vote, or not, based on opinions formed over many years. Many vote the same way their parents do or did. Many vote the same way every time. This is why you have swing states. It is pretty much a given that some states or in the UK constituencies will vote one way, and some the opposite - sometimes this is due to gerrymandering - but it essentially means that if you vote in such a place, your vote is pointless.

The results then are decided by a minority, but then this is also the case because the percentage of the population that actually votes is seldom 100%. A government can command 55% of the vote, but if only 35% of the population voted, that isn't saying much.

But once you have voted, then you have little influence over how your representative votes on any matter. Usually they will vote according the the party line, whatever that may be. In the UK we have 'whips' who make sure that MPs vote 'the right way.' If you have a huge chunk of cash hanging about in a suitcase of course, then you can make a 'donation', on the understanding that whilst in no way are you buying influence, you are in effect buying influence.

One of the main problems is that the people we vote for never actually seem to see themselves as public servants at all. Given they are often very wealthy themselves, (hey campaigns cost money - you got to have money to be able to strand a chance of running, let alone of winning), this is not surprising. They don't base their decisions on the common benefit. They base their decisions on retaining and increasing their own power, both at a party level, and at a personal level. Oh I am sure that there are some decent upright and even honest politicians. But I don't see much sign of them.

Is there an alternative?

Here is what Sir Winston Churchill said in the House of Commons on 11th November 1947:

"Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.…"

My personal belief is that the only 'solution' to the problems of Democracy is better education. You don't have to be highly intelligent, but you do need to understand what issues a government faces, and how power (and thereby corruption) work, and most of all - how to spot a politician who is utterly selfish. Politicians lie. It would be nice to stand a better chance of being aware of when they are lying. Perhaps every state, every constituency could become a swing state in time. Politicians might have to work a little harder to convince educated people to vote for them.

If you don't know what gerrymandering is, here's a Wiki link that explains:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrymandering