Democracy - the upside down pyramid.

international | anti-capitalism | opinion/analysis Saturday February 25, 2006 07:09 by Seán Ryan

The story continues......

A look at our inverted democracy and what it does to society.

Democracy sounds nice but because it is normally practiced within the controlling sphere of Capitalism it does not promote fairness, which is what democracy, should be all about.

No matter what good can come of Capitalism it must always be borne in mind that for me to make a profit you must make a loss. Capitalism is about getting the best deal and the biggest profit, it is about getting the better of your neighbour and will always spread mistrust and contempt in its wake. It is the fat guy who thinks that if he sits on the seesaw so nobody else can use it without his participation, that he will own you. I say give him the seesaw and let's play a game that's a bit more group orientated. Yes render unto Caesar the seesaw. Let us observe his love for it fade as we no longer want for it.

Capitalism is all about me whereas Democracy is supposed to be about us.

Capitalism like the Church prefers the weak. We see big business time and time again go into poor countries and using the indigenous peoples strip the country of its resources and then leave. The country is usually left in a state of civil war, famine and national debt.

Look at the Amazon rainforest, most of the world's timber comes from there and yet the indigenous peoples from the area are poor and are often 'moved' out of the way of timber companies.

We know that this massive project of de-forestation is destroying a multitude of species of plants that we have yet to discover. Profit is more important than searching for new medicines or preserving indigenous peoples, animals and traditions.

Capitalism prevents me from trading goods and favours with my friends and neighbours because capitalist slave traders can be more efficient and cheaper than I can on my own.

Capitalism exists to extract money and resources in exchange for the people of society giving up their reliance on each other.

I thought democracy was about people wanting to look out for each other or at least that this was the purpose of society?

Add to all of this, that business pays political parties. They pay for their campaigns, they give donations etc. which are used at the discretion of the political parties themselves.

They all possess the nerve to get all wounded and defensive when it is pointed out that this is bribery.

'They just love our country and they don't expect any favours.' They bullshit.

'They don't expect to get fucked either,' I answer, and as an average member of society believe me it is a massive favour, not to get fucked.

Why do political parties accept 'donations' from businessmen? I mean if they are good enough to sit in the Dáil then surely those who put them there should be expected to fund them, why is funding even required? It is striking that they are put in power by the masses but that another master feeds them.

This is a way of gaining control of society by bypassing the whole democratic process.

Yes just look at the scales of justice, in one of the cups, is a little fat bastard sitting and grinning. I'm not having a go at those of the big boned persuasion either; I mean specifically big business.

Democracy in theory is a majority rule system.

Democracy in practice is a puppet show with the big hand of capitalism rammed up our government's collective arsehole.

Are party politics a monarchy within a democracy?

I mean with a king within a party where is the room for democracy?

Here is question of the century, why did Fianna Fail invite the P.D's into government when they had a majority and could have easily formed a government themselves?

Surely this was an admission that Fianna Fail was not fit to lead the country. Or was it a treaty that would help ensure Fianna Fail stay in government in the future irregardless as to whether the voting process calls them shite or not. Take this concept to its limit and imagine everyone in the Dail forming such a treaty or alliance; you might as well wipe your arse with your voting ballot. And if you helped elevate these primates to begin with, you've been wiping your arse for quite a while with your vote.

It seems to me that the only thing the government sees as being in the country's best interest is that they stay in government. I mean there is yet to be pointed out any part of social life that is considered to be at an acceptable level. I mean we have been supposedly ruling ourselves since 1937 when the present Constitution came into effect. Not one policy has borne fruit. In fact a hell of a lot of stuff has gone backwards, for example crime, and social cohesion.

Our prisons are massively overcrowded. A large percentage of prisoners are in jail for drug use. Referring only to those who are exclusively in jail for drug use alone, surely this is an example of jailing the victims of a crime, if drug addiction truly exists.

Violent crime has rocketed and depending on where you are the crime rate goes from possible to the probable. For any TD's who would like to disagree with this point - It would be my sublime pleasure to show you some areas and let you off on your own. To speak of tackling an issue like this by reshuffeling the numbers of Gardaí is sheer ignorance. Violent crime as disgusting and as intolerable as it is, is only a symptom of the problem.

Here is an idea as to the nature of this problem.

Society is split into two parts. Them and us, the us group is relative to who them happen to be at the time. For instance we might go on holiday together. We, meaning my family and I. We might win the match meaning the team and I. We need more varied and indigenous employment, meaning my country and I. Do my government desire more varied and indigenous employment? I think not. You see no matter what version of us I use my government is never in the group, short of national disasters and invasions and I'm being way too kind here, think of Shannon Warport to see this point. They always remain as them. When one thinks of what it is that makes one Irish it would be nearly impossible to imagine anyone in the present government as being the epitome of Irishness. The epitome of scum perhaps, but Irish not.

As long as they remain in the 'they' camp they will never understand us or be able to understand our problems to begin with.

As long as they are not effected by the problems we face they will never understand or fix them, even should they want to.

There are only one way to tackle crime in this country.

The way is to solve it is at its core. There should be no crime of need in this country. Eliminate need and eliminate most of the crime in the country. Eliminate the crimes of ignorance by fixing the educational system. Eliminate drug laws to eliminate all drug related crime. Make it possible, so that it be possible to be proud to be Irish again.

There is no other way to solve this and to be targeting aspects of it is to squeeze it, but also to cause it to bulge elsewhere and is a total waste of energy and resources and life.

I mean democracy is supposed to be the ultimate expression of people choosing how to live.

Man's primary motive is to stay healthy and to keep those he cares for healthy and free from harm. How does this fundamental get lost in the translation from 'I' to 'us?' Where does 'us,' become 'US?' Society is in itself a mechanism formed by individuals primarily amongst others for protection.

This is a fundamental flaw in our democracy and the reason for it is this.

Our democracy is a pyramid made up of many layers. With the government and big business in the tip of it. The poor and the lower classes make up the base. The other layers are made up from the richer, civil servants and the army etc. By far the greatest proportion of Irish people, reside in the base of the pyramid, there are more people here than in all the other sections combined. Anyway each section has more power than any section larger than it, to affect change in this country. It can therefore easily be seen that the pyramid is in a very precarious position as it is balanced on its tip. Here is probably a better way to look at it. Think of power as freedom. Each layer as you go towards the tip has more freedom. The whole point should be that they have less freedom because they all swear blind that they sacrifice for those in the bigger layers (surely this is the point of democracy?). In order to do this, one would imagine they would have to give up freedoms we continue to posses - so how come they all end up with more rights and freedoms than we do?

To reverse this flow of power would be to take a major step in building the worlds first true democracy.

Those in the base must possess the most freedoms, they are the majority and it is only when this happens, will we ever see an example of the will of the many even coming close to outweighing the will of the few.

We need some real policies from our government; it's time to put the stickers away.

We need to do away with the class system and we finally need to recognise that each person's time is as valuable as the next man's or woman's, irregardless of social function. Fair enough if you are a doctor, a teacher or a counsellor, let high esteem and respect from your peers be your reward.

In North American Indian culture prior to being civilized, crime was all but unheard of because of one simple fact. To commit a crime was to be seen as a dirtbag by all one's peers. You see this society was a society of peers and everyone had a function and everyone since childhood was conditioned to respect and care for one's peers like one's own family.

Here are a few suggestions that might help bring about a freer society and may help stamp out root causes of crime and bring about true equality within society.

Every citizen should get the dole. This should be calculated so that each citizen can afford to live, by this I mean to be able to afford water, food and shelter. Everybody in the country is entitled to this from their country as the country presumes to take this right off each citizen, for example you need a license to fish. This would all but get rid of the social welfare system, which would free up lots of badly invested finance and resources. To avoid having to deal in cash the whole time and to avoid the red tape that goes with this I would suggest setting up centres where Items like food and other essential products could be picked up by citizens when they are needed for free. This of course would stop us wasting valuable energy for the storage and preservation of food. Another boot in the bollocks of capitalists.

To continue to expect individuals to co-operate with society and yet expect them to not see to themselves and their own, is to try to tax the act of living itself. These are very basic needs for everyone and to deny people the right to fend for themselves whilst at the same time the government denies them the same right by not providing it themselves, is immoral and non-representative. Natural rights are self-evident. Their negation is self-evidently evil.

The government should supervise and control all imports and exports to and from this country, thus avoiding the wastage of resources and time on those who profit whilst at the same time pretend to provide a service. Let this country be for and by the people. Again to think of me as a communist is an error, communism sees to the right of the state above all else as does democracy, I see the rights of the individual above all else and I see the state as nothing more than a tool to guarantee and expedite these rights. Otherwise what is the point of society?

A new tax system needs to be introduced. I like to call it M.Y.E.M.Y.P. tax, more you earn, more you pay tax. This needs to be done in order to balance individualism with society. The more one is willing to better himself with his work, the more society should benefit. It should follow a curved path that makes earning above a certain amount impossible, yes lets have a maximum wage instead of a minimum wage, let's see what happens to inflation now. This would set a precedent that people working overtime etc. were doing so mostly to better their country. It would introduce a system of social debt in a much fairer way than it is seen today. I have as much respect for the guy who cleans toilets as I do for the guy who delivers babies, and I may add this is not an act of demeaning the doctor. It would form the only acceptable class system, there only being two classes, those that care about their country and those that don't.

A free healthcare system for everybody, no tiers just one system. This could only be introduced after the fixes for the healthcare system I described earlier. The tier system is grossly unfair and it suggests a value be placed on life. If everyone used the same system then the rich when they contribute, shall benefit the whole of their country and not just their own little clique. A free healthcare system would again free up most of the red tape and inefficiency within the system. Scrap the Health Boards/cash monkies.

We need a free transport system; not a backward stepping privatised one. Traffic jams are costing billions of wasted man-hours every year, I would in fact bet that this wastage amounts to more than the cost it would take to introduce and run a free transport service.

If I can jump on a bus and get to work faster and not waste money on petrol, I will take the bus every time. We would cut down on pollution, money spent on oil, we would make traffic jams, historical anomalies, and we would not waste so much valuable time. Less traffic, less wear on roads and vehicles, maintenance becomes cheaper. Less traffic means less road deaths. Free transport means drunk driving takes on a much more sinister aspect. Less traffic, less garda resources wasted on it. Less traffic the easier it is to spot bankrobbers in their getaway vehicles. Less traffic means less people wasting our justice system's valuable time with traffic related offences, especially the wigged variety of criminal. Predictable amounts of traffic and trends mean planning of future roads etc. be more effective, cheaper and overall, more efficient. The savings a free transport system would make running efficiently through unblocked arteries that is our road system and our should-be rail system would far outweigh the cost of implementing and maintaining this system. Not to mention less traffic means less money pissed right out of the State and into the grubby hands of insurance companies.

We also need free electricity; we are second to none in the supply and maintenance of electrical services. The E.S.B. are a shining and a rare example of an indigenous Irish company. I have nightmares about the privatisation of this organisation. To think of our one relatively efficient service pursuing profit rather than quality and efficiency is pitiful indeed not that the E.S.B. doesn't seek profit too but at least it is only one of their motives.

I by no means, meant to say the E.S.B. are perfect but considering that they are only a semi-state company, they ain't bad.

We need a free, a fair and a competent education system that keeps pace with current technology and again it needs to be tailored to the individual rather than the individual to it.

Every home must either have or be given a computer that is hooked up to a massive network encompassing the country. Every citizen has a right to not only contribute their labour but to contribute their thoughts and opinions too. This would provide a true forum for public opinion and not the usual bullshit or propaganda we are usually subjected to. It would also provide an excellent platform to offer mass education on any subject. Who better than the Irish, than the Irish to educate and be educated by themselves, surely this is an honest example of where Irish society could and would evolve in accordance with its own unique genius, traditions and nationality. Let's keep that greedy ignorance-promoting bastard Eircom, out of this loop.

We need to start taxing and back taxing the Church. Nobody has the right to secrete money and resources out of this country, without us benefiting from the transaction short of charity and knowledge. I may add I do not see contributing to the Church's continued existence as being of benefit or to be a charitable pastime.

Government should directly fund organisations that benefit society, for example The Rape Crisis Centre, Childline and the Samaritans. They should not have to beg for funds as this is wasting already meagre resources and these groups and many others without much doubt provide essential services. Not to mention the fact that society pays for these services irregardless as to whether the government pays for them directly or whether we pay for them individually and introduce the burden of red tape and bullshit and massively reduce each organisation's efficiency and ability. Not only does each volunteer give time and deal with very unpleasant issues but they also have to, organise fundraising, operate fundraising, they have to deal with rent, rates, bills and always have to try to remain cheerful, hopeful and positive.

The Samaritans for instance, prevent many suicides every year and sometimes will even be of comfort to those who are actually dying because they can no longer live, they also comfort those who for one reason or another can only confide with a stranger. This is incredibly hard. I feel that if some members of government were to volunteer as Samaritans and practice Active Listening rather than paying lip service, that we would see the same members weep for what society has become, for what they have made of it.

I'm not for a moment blaming the government for all suicides just most of them.

In my younger years I was a volunteer with the Samaritans and can tell you that a vast amount of, but not all anguished and isolated people are either the victims of capitalism or one of the governments many potentiality stripping mechanisms. Also most successful suicides are not spur of the moment decisions they are as a result of long term planning and suffering people often see small events that trigger suicide as the cause, usually this is the straw that breaks the camel's back rather than being a primal motivator. The signs are there but society is neither trained to recognise them, nor care and this is solely the responsibility of our government. Most people learn the signs, after somebody special kills himself or herself, and I may add they still have to go and find this information themselves. So I tell you that the government at the very least owes this organisation funding.

Organisations like this are essential, and only those who are desperate, and who need understanding, and or hope should make any profit via organisations like this. Government owes much to these groups and furthermore owes these groups to us. I must admit that I would also like to see regular updates on analysis of statistics from these organisations on News broadcasts and Newspaper stories, rather than a second by second analysis of American victimhood and excuses to make war. For example the population of America was 280,562,489 in 2002, approximately 2800 were killed in the 9/11 attack in the twin towers, this is approximately 0.000997% of their population (also remembering that not everyone killed was an American), compared to us with a population in 2002 of 3,917,203 and 448 people who killed themselves in 2001 giving us 0.0114% of our overall population. Yet the TV and media coverage of the American disaster is almost infinite relative to how much our own disaster is illustrated and examined. Now if we divide 0.0114 by 0.000997 we get 11.434. That is to say our suicide rate is 11.434 times the 9/11 death rate statistically speaking. Now compare our outrage for the loss of American life to our outrage to the loss of Irish life. Additionally we suffer around this percentage of death via suicide every year in this country and it always increases. I do not use the term, 'American betters' lightly in this work. Nor do I take the loss of 2800 innocent lives frivolously either. I just highlight what our government and media consider priorities in their and our concerns. I mean if we spent even a small percentage of the effort that George Bush puts into putting right the death of 2800 (by declaring war on innocents and declaring that the thousands killed or 'collateral damage' is only one of the acceptable outcomes on the war against terrorism), then maybe we could declare war on the terrorism that kills so many in my native country and beat it or at least try to subdue it.

I cannot envision any system or society without some red tape, for this is similar to entropy in that no system can be totally efficient. But the way red tape flows in our system is the root of the issue. From the tip of the pyramid down, the red tape becomes more complex and grows in volume. This is one of the principle reasons why the power flow in the whole system is reversed. Red tape should accumulate and become more complex in the opposite direction. Again this brings in the idea of the greater good. Let those who say they serve the country truly serve the country.

The dream of society is to continually improve and sometime reach a state of or as near a state as is possible of utopia. We do not live the dream we endure the nightmare. As long as two or more prey on each other via capitalism someone must remain unfulfilled.

Sláinte,
Seán Ryan