binarystatic

Democracy Is Dead

(originally written in September 2008)

Is democracy failing us? (No, seriously now, this won’t be my usual light-hearted post, so get ready for the ride.) I may frequently demonstrate a penchant for alternative viewpoints and a general love of rabble-rousing, but things have gotten so out of hand that I no longer have confidence in our government’s ability to pull us out of this mess any more than they were able to pull the residents of New Orleans out of the Katrina mess. Nor do I have confidence that the general public has the wherewithal to make rational, informed decisions concerning the upcoming election. How else can we explain the means with which the Bush administration was able to secure the presidency in 2000, and even more alarmingly, a second term in 2004? Maybe the people didn’t actually vote him in, and it was all supreme court wrangling, blah blah blah. Unless we’re willing to talk extreme conspiracy theories here (and don’t get me wrong, I love a good conspiracy theory), there were still enough voters sufficiently enamored by his charms (really?) to get him close enough to make such events possible. And what the hell is up with the electoral college? Can your average voter (or even the above average voter) explain our election system with any degree of certainty? Maybe this goes against my screed that ignorance and apathy signal the death of democracy, but should the general masses really need to understand such a convoluted process? Isn’t democracy supposed to be easy? You cast your vote, the votes are tallied, and the majority wins. Simple. No wonder only 60% of American’s able to vote actually did so in the 2004 election, even if it was the highest turnout since 1968. The common refrain that “my vote simply doesn’t matter” rings truer today than it ever has.

But unfortunately not even majority rule is the savior it once appeared to be. The “tyranny of the majority” has developed deep roots in the U.S. heartland. More and more it seems the American populace no longer believes in personal freedoms, or at the least, is indifferent to the erosion of these freedoms. Our lives are being legislated away one law, one bill, one proposition at a time. Our government has used a national tragedy to sneak up behind us as we cowered in the corner and put us in a choke-hold. We’ve lost the freedom to read the books we choose, the freedom to smoke the (God-given) herbs we choose, and the freedom to live our lives within our own homeland without constant surveillance. (Look over your shoulder, you’re not paranoid.) Don’t even dare hold up a camera to our public infrastructure or aim your lens at our so-called public servants, the infrastructure which we paid for, the public servants whose salaries come out of our wallets—they are all off limits to us, the untrustworthy masses. We’ve even lost the freedom to love, a concept of which the religious right professes to claim ownership, but love is a notion of which they daily demonstrate they’ve lost all understanding.

In the mid 19th century Karl Marx famously stated that “religion is the opiate of the masses.” But if we view an opiate as that which sedates, calms, and mellows then maybe a truer phrase for today’s world would be “religion is the meth of the masses.” Religion is not placating the population, it’s energizing them, pushing them to extreme views and teaching them to organize against anyone, any idea, different from themselves; energizing them to hate thy neighbor, covet thy neighbor’s happiness, and push their morality on anyone who dares hold an opposing view. Let us not forget that this country had much of it’s start with those seeking respite from religious persecution. Freedom of religion means the freedom of all religions, or even more importantly the freedom from the influence and oppression of religion in totality. You may discount my views based on the fact that I simultaneously embrace the labels “atheist,” “agnostic,” and “Buddhist,” but there is something that those beliefs offer that I don’t see coming from the major organized religions—that of clarity of thought, openness of mind, opinions formed through thoughtful reasoning, and the belief that we should individually be in control of our own destinies. I don’t need you, your minister, or your God telling me what to do with my existence. You may wholeheartedly believe that I am going to Hell (with or without the designer handbasket), but at least allow me the freedom to chart my own path there. If my life is a gift from God then I reserve the right to do what I will with that gift—there is wisdom in childhood mores: “no take-backs.” My life is my own, stay out of it.

Democracy is dead. Long live democracy.

Binarystatic May 2011 Mix

Binarystatic May 2011 Mix from binarystatic at Letsmix.com.