Change. The world has become rather stale, familiar, and as has been said before, familiarity breeds contempt, hostility. The human ‘democratic’ experiment has failed. People are attacking and killing people over held opinion, not action, dead is the dream of calm, controlled debate, and an open marketplace of ideas. At this point I see only a few steps towards thought policing, and we have seen how well that goes in the past. Tolerance has become an intolerance of disagreement, fringe groups have risen in opposite and accordance with fringe views, both sides have blame to bare, yet the media, government and society at large have done little but feed the flames.
The display of contempt for democracy shown in the handling of the Brexit vote by the government and the subsequent protests and call for a second referendum is an abomination, as were the horrific lies and terrible deception employed across both the Remainers and the Brexiters. But, the outcome does show a desire for change, for more power to be given to the people, instead of bureaucrats in a house we don’t even vote for, making up new laws and rules for us that we don’t even know about, with representatives we don’t even know exist. Sir Tim Barrow, that’s our EU representative, nobody voted for him to do so, he was selected. Big government has become a lot bigger than it ever needed to, and more than I believe most people in the UK have wanted it to. The west have been fighting for democracy for decades, we’re still not there despite what people think. People are fighting over which totalitarian principle is worse – the left and the right – such cynicism.
I propose change.
This system is flawed, extremely flawed, but we are correct in saying it’s the best one we’ve had so far. Why be complacent with that though? Why allow ourselves to stagnate? Why is this enough? We should strive to create a better system with every opportunity we get, only then will we get closer to our idealistic visions of society. My idealistic vision is not what I am proposing, I know that there are many issues with human nature and the course of society in getting to that point, I am simply showcasing a step in that direction, a choice for our country to take the next step in politics and societal evolution. I love democracy. I love freedom. I believe humanity deserve to govern themselves, allow us as British people to choose the exact path our country takes and face the consequences of those actions standing tall, proud, knowing that even if everything ends poorly, we decided this for ourselves, we made our bed and lay in it. That sounds all doom and gloom, but it could also go the other way, leading us into one of the most prosperous version of Britain we have experienced so far.
Voting. Voting is the key, referendums should be the basis of our democracy. Legally bind our governments to decisions that we need to make happen. As an example, the hyperloop from Edinburgh to London. Conservatives may decide to begin that project – with a build time of 12 years – and then when labour are voted in they take it down to spend those funds elsewhere. Nothing can get done in terms of infrastructure and long term investment, 4 years is not enough, everyone is too focused on re-election. Bind them to a decision, as the public decide if that train line is what you want your tax money spent on, vote on bombing Syria like we should have had the choice to, vote on law. This is a purer form of democracy that I wholeheartedly advocate. It helps to alleviate corruption and the focus on power in parliament, it reduces the need for the house of lords and the shouting matches in parliament. That is not democracy. That is a council that we vote to make decisions for us. It is still a leader and subjects. The subjects should have the power to sculpt their country, for better or worse.
Of course, paper ballots would be of no use, and voter fatigue is a fair criticism, but we live in a world of technological security that is incomprehensible, where encryption is always two steps ahead of decryption software, and security features beyond that of showing up and flashing your ID. Money should be spent on developing applications for smartphones, and for those without, raspberry pi devices with biometric security with the sole purpose of clicking on an item to vote, verifying your identity and voting. This allows for an extremely fast government, bypassing much of the bureaucratic process.
The final argument I have heard a lot of is the tyranny of the majority. The idea that uneducated people would rule over the educated, as yes this is likely true, but if there are more uneducated people than there are educated, why do their votes count for any less than someone who graduated oxford? We all share a space in this country, and if you want to educate people in politics then write, become and activist, get the word out. Speak to people, argue and debate your ideas, it is something we sorely lack now and would be of paramount importance in this new governance. As such freedom of speech would be an upmost priority. In addition, are we not also already under the tyranny of corporation? Bribery and favours in politics are a plague that is unstoppable due to humans wanting wealth and power, it is inevitable, this again, should help alleviate that. I’d rather have my one vote mean exactly the same as everyone else in terms of the direction we push OUR country, than the vote of a corporation with 20 billion dollars and its interests. It’s why dystopian fiction is so relatable and enjoyable right now, it’s not that far-fetched. I don’t believe the ‘tyranny of the majority’ is tyranny at all. It is true democracy.
As a country, let’s work together, for the sake of a free and open future.
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