“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” – quote attributed to Winston Churchill. Today with all the challenges we face in our system of Government, faith in Democracy and America as the unfailing cradle and leader of such Democracy is called into question.
Successful Democracy requires well informed citizens, who vote for their best self-interest. It also requires that self-interest is viewed through a larger perspective and not merely through polarized lens of narrow partisan interests. In the recent election, even narrow partisan self-interest seems to have failed. How else can one explain the vote of those in the Dearborn area – supporters of Palestinian’s aspirations – who now find themselves between a rock and a hard place, thanks to the policies proposed from the current administration, centered around expelling millions of Gazans from their historic home land. This is just one example of irrationality of voting patterns that might have failed the American Democracy, the greatest political experiment on earth.
Failure of ill-informed voting public goes beyond such narrow ethnic group oriented politically sensitive subjects. Nor is it our goal to dwell on them. Let us look at a couple of rather broadly accepted notions that cut across all groups and population segments. One among them is the notion that “Government must be run efficiently, like a business. Hence it is necessary to cut the cost to the bones!”. This statement assumes that “businesses are run efficiently”. This is a far cry from reality. Business leaders, part of the voting public, must be honest and truthful to admit that every successful business is run to make profit and meet share holder expectations. In this shadow boxing – the mythical notion of satisfying shareholders, the “kabuki theater” – there is plenty of inefficiency. Rare indeed are businesses that are truly run lean and mean in a sustained manner over time.
Next is the notion that ALL Government departments must be cut back to demonstrate efficiency! Another hog wash notion? In some areas like production operations, it is realistic and feasible to show efficiency and cost cutting as directly related to the resources needed. But that is not the case for R&D, Marketing, Administration, HR and all such “service” functions. You don’t hire and fire intellectual talent or critical resources at will and on demand. This concept may apply to many of the important Government Departments that affect our health, safety, security and welfare.
Here is one more: In the name of efficiency and cost cutting senior employees in the work force were seen as “fixed cost” and can be disposed off, leading severe loss of unique talent in Manufacturing operations in the 80s and 90s. Now we find the same mistake repeated by indiscriminate firing of key staff in FDA, Missile systems management, FAA, etc. Whose America is it to permit all these reckless and loose cannon approach to management of our vital resources and services?
Following are a few passages from an article titled: 2,400 years ago, Plato saw democracy would give rise to a tyrannical leader filled with “false and braggart words –https://qz.com/1293998/2400-years-ago-plato-saw-democracy-would-give-rise-to-a-tyrannical-leader-filled-with-false-and-braggart-words
Josiah Ober, professor of political science and classics at Stanford University says the passages from Plato’s Republic read as “a particularly harsh description of the most tyrannical parts of Trump’s public personality.”
Plato’s Republic, which evaluates the nature and justice of various political regimes and examines how individuals’ moral psychologies are interlinked with the moral psychology of their state, is intended as a work of philosophy rather than a prediction of how political events would unfold. That said, Plato’s critique of democracy contains a number of aspects relevant today.
Plato believed that the key and driving feature of democracy is desire for freedom; this very trait, though, ultimately leads a state to tyranny. A democratic regime involves such a plurality of interests, he believed, that the only way anything can be achieved under it is to have strong leadership that can unite interests. “It’s not a complete portrait of modern democracy but it captures something: This desire for a strong leader who can give guidance to diverse pluralistic uncoordinated desires,” says Oder.
Plato states “The tyrant mistrusts both those within and outside his circle, and so essentially ends up in a sort of servitude himself.” Role and influence of men like Elon Musk and their passion to change all things at all costs reminds us of this self-enforced slavery of an elected leader today.
For a more optimistic interpretation of today’s political regimes, Ober suggests looking to Aristotle, who understood that true democracy is fundamentally opposed to tyranny. Contemporary politics may cause consternation, but Ober says it’s worth believing in the political regime. After all, he adds, “Democracy has to be built on hope.”
STIMS Institute 