Democracy
Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2017 10:29 am
Reading the reports of David Davis' latest utterances on UK leaving the EU - a dog's brexitfest if ever I saw one - left me musing on the subject of Democracy.
It's hard to think of a word more abused in its usage.
The ancient Greeks are credited with inventing the concept. Well...the word anyway. But as a matron of Athens you wouldn't have qualified for a say in anything. The very notion would have had you carted off to the nearest shrink and possibly condemned to drink hemlock.
Today we have the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Ahem!
China - arguably the most successful country of recent years - has done well without it and threatens to surpass, in terms of economic strength, that icon of western democracy...the United States of America.
I'll pause here to reflect whether a country , the majority of whose voters actually voted for someone other than the present incumbent of the White House to be president, can truly describe itself as a democracy.
We arrogant Westerners have exported - nay foisted - our concept of democracy on others. Often with tragic consequences.
As a cynical observer of human nature, and mathematician, I give you Newcastle's Theorem :
Democracy works fine for any number N.....provided N is less than 2.
Churchill is credited with saying "Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others." He didn't...well not exactly....but we'll let that pass. Some would say the old fraud, excellent at the bon mot though he was, was being a bit too sweeping here. How do you measure success in any form of government? The longest living empires - the Egyptians, Persians, Romans etc, - were hardly bastions of democracy and yet were successful in many ways.
Back to Davis.....and Brexit.
I'm no nearer now than I was when the Referendum was held, on deciding whether leaving is a good idea. I'll let you know in a decade or so (if I'm still around). But we're leaving . That much is clear and May intends to have the date - 29th March 2019 - enshrined in law, to put it beyond question and any quibbling over whether the decision is democratic.
A bit like deciding to have your foot amputated, to deal with an ingrowing toenail. You give the surgeon irrevocable instructions ....but leave him to decide how much of your leg to remove and whether or not to use anaesthetic.
It's hard to think of a word more abused in its usage.
The ancient Greeks are credited with inventing the concept. Well...the word anyway. But as a matron of Athens you wouldn't have qualified for a say in anything. The very notion would have had you carted off to the nearest shrink and possibly condemned to drink hemlock.
Today we have the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Ahem!
China - arguably the most successful country of recent years - has done well without it and threatens to surpass, in terms of economic strength, that icon of western democracy...the United States of America.
I'll pause here to reflect whether a country , the majority of whose voters actually voted for someone other than the present incumbent of the White House to be president, can truly describe itself as a democracy.
We arrogant Westerners have exported - nay foisted - our concept of democracy on others. Often with tragic consequences.
As a cynical observer of human nature, and mathematician, I give you Newcastle's Theorem :
Democracy works fine for any number N.....provided N is less than 2.
Churchill is credited with saying "Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others." He didn't...well not exactly....but we'll let that pass. Some would say the old fraud, excellent at the bon mot though he was, was being a bit too sweeping here. How do you measure success in any form of government? The longest living empires - the Egyptians, Persians, Romans etc, - were hardly bastions of democracy and yet were successful in many ways.
Back to Davis.....and Brexit.
I'm no nearer now than I was when the Referendum was held, on deciding whether leaving is a good idea. I'll let you know in a decade or so (if I'm still around). But we're leaving . That much is clear and May intends to have the date - 29th March 2019 - enshrined in law, to put it beyond question and any quibbling over whether the decision is democratic.
A bit like deciding to have your foot amputated, to deal with an ingrowing toenail. You give the surgeon irrevocable instructions ....but leave him to decide how much of your leg to remove and whether or not to use anaesthetic.