Refusing to accept democracy

Refusing to accept democracy

Is this the death of democracy?

The refusing to accept democratic decisions is going to destroy democracy itself. From Brexit to Trump. From Corbyn and Momentum to reclaim the streets, from Black lives matter to extinction rebellion. Protests and demonstration against a democratically arrived at decision, are gaining strength and power. This will end in the destruction of democracy itself. Why would anyone want a democratically arrived at result when this result will lead to bloodshed, violence and destruction? What will emerge is a fascist dictatorship; because the leader will promise an end to the protests, riots and the arrogant chicanery of the “establishment” such as that which tried so hard to prevent Brexit.

In recent times, the last 30 years, there has been a steady increase in protests at majority decisions, even though these had been expressed though elections and referendums. Now just about any result will trigger off a wave of protests and these are getting ever more violent. The claim, from so many protestors, that they are the ones attempting to preserve democracy is sadly ironic. In Britain it was the Brexit vote which triggered both mass public demonstrations and also concerted legal attempts to overthrow the result; when these failed, subjugation and manipulation were applied to try and change, if not the actual decision, then to change the implementation of the democratic decision. When the Tory ( Conservative) party led by My Johnson, won a large majority at a general election, standing on a manifesto to implement the Brexit referendum result, there were some strange claims by left wing groups that they had won the election, looking at the numbers and the size of the Tory majority elected to Parliament, it can be seen that this claim looks absurd, but it was made. There were also social media demands that protestors take to the streets to overturn the election result, these did not result in large scale violence but did show that some refuse to accept democratic decisions, just because they personally do not agree with them. Then in January 2021 came the appalling scenes in Washington, U.S.A. Where rioters caused the death of people and world wide horror at the levels of violence shown. This was in protest at President Trump being defeated. There were and probably still are, claims that the result was arrived at through deceit and vote rigging, but the vote stands. President Trump initially appeared to support the protest then later seem to disown the violence, while still claiming the result was wrong.

Why are democratic decisions being rejected so vehemently by so many? It could be the sheer size of the modern day electorates, so large that the minority view is still one that is held by several million people. It could be that we have moved to a time of relative peace and so the public experience of war and of the effects of a government that is not democratically accountable, has diminished. It may be that control of education has been taken over by left of centrer political activists, and so this has increased the public acceptance of the once alien idea, that anything not agreeing with this left slanted liberal outlook; must be inherently wrong and must be put right by any means. Political correctness, “no platforming”, wishing to change history, students demanding protection from views and even information, that does not fit this political outlook, are all symptoms of this manipulation of the public. They are also the weapons used to increase the manipulation and mental conditioning of the people.

The media is always seeking something new to say, some controversy, some scandal, some headline; so they propagate dissension. They grant publicity to otherwise very narrow views. There is always also the suspicion that much dissension, much protest at the rule by the majority, may be initiated, supported and possibly even financed, by people and organisations with simple materialistic aims, aims that need national policy to be changed to one that enhances their profits. Whilst this may sound like some general “conspiracy theory” it should not automatically be disregarded. Even if not corporate manipulation, it only needs a study in the methods used by dictators, many claiming socialist ideology, to gain power to highlight the dangers inherent in refusing to accept majority decisions. Be very careful what you wish for.

There is a further factor that is the result of changes to technology and to society itself. Television has conditioned so many people to thinking what they see on the screen is genuine and real, happening in real time. People believe fiction to be truth when given a “real life” title. People believe game shows and talent shows just happen to fit into time slots and that the scenery and music just happen to be instantly available. People believe reality shows are all fly on wall real time unedited and unscripted, transmissions. Even documentaries, where often months of filming are condensed into a hour long show, have been subjected to someone's choice, someone's opinion, of what is to be shown. The application of thought, the consideration of how things are done, instantly shows that nearly all TV we see has been manipulated to some extent. Many people seem to believe that cameras with lights and sound recording, just happen to be at “spontaneous “ events and that “street theater” is not rehearsed and choreographed. People have been conditioned to accept what is shown to them is truthful, even when it should be obvious that it is not true life. It is very hard to see how this can be changed. Political parties; on all sides of the political spectrum, employ people to use this public acceptance of TV as a medium of true reality, for their own promotional needs.

What can we do about this present situation? It will not be easy since so many have a vested interest in disrupting the rule by majority. The extremist activists, on both left and right of centre, have recruited so many young people and it is a reasonable assumption that many find protesting exciting without thinking too deeply about what would happen if their activist leaders actually gained power over the whole nation. The two main options, to cause a return to acceptance of democracy, appear to be education, removing all political bias from all strands of education; or draconian law enforcement to prevent protest. The first of these will take a very long time and will be so strenuously resisted by the left, while the the second will be creating a fascist style control over the population. A third way will have to be found. Start with changing the voting systems to provide more certainty that the results are accurate and fair. The riots in Washington would not have had the same strength if the doubts as to the honesty of the election, had not existed. There will always be those who spread lies and fake news, these need to be quickly refuted with actual evidence of the integrity of the election results. In Britain there are moves to a need for voters to show some evidence of a right to vote when they arrive at the polling station, this should be welcomed since the time when every citizen and every political activist, could be relied on to be scrupulously fair and honest, have gone. A tightening up of the postal and proxy voting controls is needed quickly The use of technology where by votes are cast into a digital system where no person can manipulate the counting of votes, will be a beneficial step but only if the honesty and impartiality, of that system can be repeatedly proven.