Democracy

The word Democracy consistently conjures up comfortable thoughts.  The word originated around 500 BCE, (demokratia), in Athens, and was used to describe a system of government for the people, or population.  In today’s terms, democracy is a system where the government relies on the will of the people who act either directly, or through elected officials.  We are all acutely aware of how a democracy is supposed to work, but is that what we have?  Do we live in a true democracy, like our parties like to affirm?  Like we all affirm. 

The Greek word, demokratia, derives from two other Greek words: demos, (people) and kratos, (power), so I’m asking, is that what we have?  I don’t know about you, but I’m certainly not feeling empowered.  I don’t feel like a talk with my local councilor would ever amount to much, on any given subject.  I absolutely don’t feel like I’ve been told everything I need to know and have a right to know.  I don’t feel like there’s somebody among our elected officials that is out there working every day to ensure we are all ok.  That’s just me, but I have many fine arguments that will back up my case, one of the main ones being our everyday existence.  I hate to admit it, but I believe we’ve been just blindly dancing to the tune.  We have been turned into what we are today: obedient and afraid.

The cycle has been going for so long that it’s just considered ‘normal’.  This anxiety and angst we all work to subdue has just become part of the day.  We don’t like it, but there are bills to pay and mouths to feed.  Prices go up, we pay them, stuff goes scarce, we do without, all in a day’s work.  We know we have no choice because these are not democracies, they’re capitalist renditions.  A modern adaptation of actual democracy would be a death nell for big business, and under the current system that will never fly.  Under a modern democracy there would be no ‘big’ business; it would be cut down to bite-sized pieces.  These are the nightmares that the oligarch class struggles with at night; they can’t bear the thought of being like everyone else, ex

cept maybe with a few more bucks in the bank.  That’s the problem with capitalism; it pushes us apart.  Another problem is how it creates this monster called the billionaire.  These monsters have a tendency to gobble up most of what’s around that’s of any worth, leaving nothing for the rest of us.  They don’t want cash, so they buy property, art, stocks, whatever is good at the time.  The slim pickins’ left behind end up ballooning in value due to their scarcity, and in return so do all of the billionaire’s holdings.  They then borrow on their assets at a minimal rate, (untaxable), and bob’s your uncle, lots of available cash with minimum investment.  Why don’t they like cash?  Because their business models devalue the currency.  Remember when a house in Toronto cost 2, 3, 400 thousand?  Where are they now? And the money you’ve been saving all your life ends up not being enough to retire on, simply because of the rate at which everything went up in ‘value’.  Democracy.

Fiquem bem!

Raul Freitas/MS