The USA holds itself up as a paragon of virtue when it comes to defending the right of countries to have a democratic system of government. It goes way beyond its borders to promulgate that right for other countries perceived as been less than perfect, or to put it more bluntly, are run by despotic regimes. Hell, the USA even went as far as destabilizing a democratically elected leftist government in Chile back in the 70’s. What the hell was the USA defending then; other than the fear that another near communist nation would take hold in the ‘America?’
Of course it is less than about democracy and more about hegemony; oil, trade and other influence that are the real driving forces. The ‘fight for democracy’ is nothing more than a convenient mirage behind which the real more sinister agenda hides.
No country can hold itself up as a beacon of freedom and democracy in its purest form. It simply does not exist. The fact is; that the USA is a two party state; with tweedle dum and tweedle dee as the two main presenters. Very few people for example would even know that there are more than two contenders in the upcoming presidential election. The fact that the Greens have a candidate or the Libertarians amongst others goes under the mainstream media circus.
I had to learn about the ‘others’ through Russian TV (RTV). Before Russia gets all excited about having a free media outlet, don’t forget that it is easy for them to allow open criticism of the USA and the Western media in general. That so-called freedom is one that is Putin-sanctioned, in that it is convenient for him and allow him to hold up Russia as the real purveyors of free speech. Tell that to the demonstrators who fill the streets on various issues, ranging from the Pussy Riot furore through to other issues facing the vast majority of people in Russia.
My point? --- Freedom is but a word. Democracy is something to hold as a right but one that is easily eroded. In New Zealand, we are only marginally better and that is more about our size---we ‘know’ our politicians. They are the guy or woman next door. We can kick them out quite easily.
My final point----- How many of the citizens in the USA and other countries actually take place in the democratic process? How many register to vote and follow through? I know that fewer than 40% of the people in the USA are disenfranchised. They do that to themselves; by choosing not to take part. Their reasons range from distrust of the system to being genuinely disenfranchised. So this election is one whereby one of the candidates (not from third parties) will be elected by a minority of those eligible to vote.
Get out and vote, Americans and look for that third party candidate on the ballot. Ooops, that may mean splitting the vote and letting in a President who has some pretty wacky beliefs. How are you to know whether he is able to separate Church from State?
No comments:
Post a Comment