Why Our Democracy Doesn’t Work
The system is too corrupt, the people too propagandized, the problems too big.
Our leaders and media keep saying the world is locked in a struggle between democracy and autocracy — — sometimes they say ‘authoritarianism’ — and democracy is the good guy. Is there really such a battle? Do those terms even mean anything in the real world?
We keep hearing US conflicts with Russia and China framed as ‘defending our democracy against authoritarianism.’ The media and the Democratic Party’s battle with Donald Trump and MAGA is framed the same way. In our rulers’ vision, ‘democracy’ seems to mean support for America’s neoliberal empire. Autocracy/authoritarianism is anything that opposes it.
So, which system is really best? Bottom line is, they all suck, but I will give reasons so-called democracy is worse than it is presented to be, and why more autocratic systems might be better.
First, what do ‘democracy’ and ‘autocracy’ mean? ‘Democracy’ comes from the Greek words for People and Rule. Aristotle defined it as rule by the majority, meaning by the poor, because there are way more poor than rich. He contrasted it with oligarchy, rule by the few, meaning the rich.
Back in ancient Greece, men would get together and make the decisions about how their city-state should run. Even then, only free men with military training could vote. Women, slaves, and the poor (80–90% of the population) were excluded, according to historian John Thorley, but on that relatively small scale, democracy seemed to work pretty well.
Note that Greek democracy was direct, not ‘representative’ like ours. They didn’t elect people who made decisions for them; the voters made those decisions.
Autocracy (from the Greek for ‘self’ and ‘rule’) originally meant rule by a king. In the modern world it is more a basket term for systems other than democracy, including dictatorships, monarchies, and dominant-party regimes like in China. In autocracies, rulers sometimes physically repress their rivals, while the general public is controlled through indoctrination and propaganda.
That last part sure sounds familiar. Which system do we actually have in America? Does our representative democracy really give power to the people? I would call our system pretend democracy, or what Sri Lankan philosopher Indi Samarajiva calls DemocracyTM, because the rich and powerful long ago learned to choose and manipulate the politicians who pretend to rule, while oligarchs write the actual government policies.
USAmerica’s two political parties have heated verbal debates about divisive social issues that don’t impact ruling class power and privilege, but totally agree when it comes to promoting war, channeling wealth to the top 0.1%, and allowing corporate plunder of workers and Nature.
In a pretend democracy, there is no king or dictator people can appeal to when their exploitation by the oligarchs becomes intolerable. We have direct rule by the rich disguised with periodic electoral circuses.
Here are a few reasons representative democracy can’t work anymore, if it ever did.
Who gets to vote?
Just as in ancient Athens, not everybody here can vote. Republicans depend on keeping turnouts low by requiring current IDs and permanent addresses, which not everyone has. People convicted of felonies or owing money to government often lose the right to vote. Voting places may be few and far between, especially in poor neighborhoods.
Democrats like people to vote, but only for them. They bring legal actions to keep alternative parties like the Greens off the ballot.
Far more significantly, most of the people affected by government decisions have no vote at all. Can children vote, or future generations? What about plants, animals, or rivers? What about people who live in countries the US invades, bombs, sanctions, whose governments they overthrow? Those people have no say in decisions that will determine whether they live or die.
And for any of us, the votes we cast may not be the votes that get counted. Voting machines can be and are easily hacked, especially by their owner/operators.
Even if we can vote, what are we voting for? Whoever we vote for, once elected, can do what they want, which is typically what their rich sponsors want. It’s no accident that over half the US congress are millionaires. Lobbyists bribe them with stock tips, gifts, and business connections, inviting them into the club. Often the corruption starts before they are elected. They are sought out and chosen for their willingness to carry on the status quo, meaning serve the rich. Think Barack Obama
Battle of propaganda, not people or ideas
Except in very small local elections, most people don’t know who they’re voting for or what candidates stand for. They only know what they read or see in corporate media, which often lies. A prime example is the military budget, which in the US keeps growing every year, even though our country is not at war, is protected by two oceans, and already spends more on war than the next ten countries combined.
People go along with this waste because they are propagandized into fearing attack by countries which lack the means, motive, or opportunity to harm us. Propaganda also determines people’s views on policing, economic policies, environmental protection, and other issues.
Information control is why large scale representative democracy is a meaningless show, a multi-headed propaganda festival that never seems to stop.
In more authoritarian systems, like communist China, people at least know who to blame for mistakes. In pretend democracies like ours, we never see who is really in charge. We supposedly put them there ourselves, so we wind up blaming each other. The racists, the feminists, the immigrants, the gays, Democrats, Republicans, the religious, the atheists, or whomever our preferred media tell us to blame.
Meanwhile, the corporations and their hired politicians carry on taking all they can, making decisions that become ever-more insane. Why do we still have biological warfare labs all over the world? Why new generations of nuclear weapons? Why are we told that war with China and/or Russia is ‘inevitable,’ as if it were not a conscious decision of our own government? Why are bee-killing pesticides still legal, when we know they damage land, water, animals, and our food supply?
Representative democracy does that. THIS is the system we try to impose on the rest of the world by force, as if it were some noble ideal; not a profit-making scam of the 1%. This is what we’re supposed to defend from the evil authoritarians.
The problems are too big
We can’t afford this farce any more. We face crises that could kill everyone on Earth. Destruction of the natural environment and the threat of nuclear war are the two most obvious. Our pretend democracy not only prevents our taking action to address these crises, it actively makes them worse.
The problem is that the way things are always has a support base. Take the car culture, which mutilates nature with freeways, roads and parking lots, pollutes the air and water, disrupts the climate with emissions, and kills over 40,000 people a year in the US. Who profits from cars? Start with auto corporations, sales forces, mechanics, service people, road builders, investors in those companies, including the biggest banks.
They’re all making money from cars, and a large majority in America depends on them to get around. Alternative transportation systems are just concepts now. They have no built-in constituency, so how do they win an election?
When it comes to world-saving propositions like reserving 40% of land for nature, or world disarmament, imagine the opposition from arms makers and land owners. Imagine all the propaganda they could buy, about the dangers we face and the need for atomic weapons, and how they could sway people’s minds.
Human social psychology almost guarantees bad political decisions in a democracy. People evolved to trust authority, not to question. It starts with trusting our parents; as young children have to do. Then we are passed off to religious authorities, teachers, and political leaders. Everyone else is following them, so why shouldn’t we? Some people think for themselves eventually, but most people never learn to think critically.
That’s why the stronger and more authoritarian a leader is, the more people follow him, as long as he keeps winning. Most Russians consider Stalin their greatest leader; the Mongols still idolize Genghis Khan. Hitler was popular in Germany until he lost the war.
Is autocracy/authoritarianism always bad? Maybe not. Unfortunately, it seems big changes need strong authorities. It doesn’t have to be a Stalin; a strong party could inspire support, as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has, a support far higher than USAmericans give their ‘democratic’ government.
Problems with authoritarian governments
Given the drastic changes our environmental crisis requires, changes that most people wouldn’t vote for and that would hurt the rich and powerful, representative democracy can’t help us. But it seems autocracies only work if you have good autocrats. Otherwise, you can get mass murdering tyrants, or people who claim good goals but do the same world-killing things capitalists do.
Can you see any candidates for good autocrats in America? Is Trump the best we have? Good autocrats are scarce. Where do such people come from? How do we prevent their being corrupted? Maybe an authoritarian party regime like China’s is the best we can do. But we don’t have a party like that.
I’m not saying we should replace democracy with a dictatorship in the US and Europe. I’m saying we shouldn’t obsess about elections or believe voting makes a difference. We should be building communities and fighting back in every way we can think of.
I’m saying our government shouldn’t be fighting wars or sanctioning countries because they are “autocratic” or “authoritarian.” We should stop those wars to focus on restoring Earth. We shouldn’t fear authoritarian governments. They have their own systems, not perfect, but possibly better for them than democracy. Maybe better for us, too.
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