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Affichage des articles du janvier, 2010

Do you believe in Democracy ? [Part 3]

"POLITICS, n. A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. The conduct of public affairs for private advantage." - Ambrose Bierce : The Devil's Dictionary "The BrainTrust is a Dictatorship, masquerading as a Democracy..." - The Janitor, in Scrubs, Season 7 (I don't remember the Episode name or number) Should we, therefore, trust the voter's capability of criticism and abstraction of the complex Democratic process ? can anyone become a leader, a "guard of the constitution" in the image of a US president ? I doubt it. But what makes me optimistic about the fate of Democracy is the concern of any evolved politic system : preserve the people, every individual of the people, and the interests of the people. Any authority, who ignore this very goal is not Democratic, and that's the final third foundation brick of Democracy : "Preserving the citizen's interest, with no deffrenciation due to some ethnic, religious or ha

Do you believe in Democracy ? [PART 2]

"A stable and democratic society is impossible without a minimum degree of literacy and knowledge on the part of most citizens and without widespread acceptance of some common set of values. Education can contribute to both." - Milton Friedman : Capitalism and Freedom "No one can terrorize a whole nation, unless we are all his accomplices." - Edward R. Murrow About duty and responsibility is the game of democracy, and not about simple arithmetic calculation of voters. No emphasized names, no bold clichés : those who should defend democracy are the people, there is no possible alternative. But the other real role of the people is not to govern, but is to choose the governor. This is the most important point : there should be a very limited number of concurrent conceptions of the politic behaviour of a nation, and all should be respectful to the duty of preserving the elementary rights of the citizen : no descrimination of minorities, the possession right, the express

Do you believe in Democracy ? [Part 1]

"No, you believe that it makes no difference in which country and among what people the rights of Roman citizens are violated: wherever this happens, it affects the freedom and standing of all citizens equally." - Cicero : In Verrem II.5 in "Cicero Political Speeches" trans. D. H. Berry Do you believe in Democracy? A simple question, but a question which needs a complicated answer. Why ? I will ask then, what is Democracy ? Are we that sure of the unicity of the concept, when using the word ? No body is certain. There is something we need to investigate before jumping to Pros and Cons : the nature of the concept. Is democracy, or should it be, the reign of the people ? If you think so, I will only make a simple comment : you are in a real trouble. You can't then observe the real paradox of this horrible regime that the "reign of people" is. At the individual level, there is superficial conception of authority, that may hurt the exterior other. No, demo