The key reason democracy is struggling & why we shouldn’t ask people to denounce their ancestors….

Democracy should be about all political parties helping the party in power (incumbent government) to do the best possible for the country. The minute that singular objective is set aside, democracy is in trouble. Today, the only objective appears to be centred on making the party in government fail; it seems it is now solely about pulling them down, rubbishing all their efforts, frustrating everything they do, even if it means the entire country suffer for it! That is why we see a foolish petition asking for a general election – just 4 months after electing a new government – and you see the leader of the opposition, shamelessly mentioning that idiotic petition in parliament. Seriously??!!!

Politicians of all parties need to be reminded of their purpose. There’s a government, there’s the opposition that is there to ensure accountability and ensure the government is performing and there are other parties also there to provide alternatives. ALL are supposed to be serving the singular purpose to making sure the country has the best service. If the opposition party disagrees with the government, it should offer up better policy, better solutions etc., this was never supposed to be a race to the bottom! It was never supposed to be about tearing each other down to the overall & repeated detriment of the country & its people; which is where we are today! We ran a general election and 4 months into what’s supposed to be a 5 year term, we see a silly petition that should have been roundly derided by all, suddenly becoming a national talking-point. How about all parties helping the party in government to at least give it a go for a couple of years first, and if they are clearly failing, then the opposition can present its alternative vision! Not 4 months into a new government for goodness sake!!!!!!

Yes, the new age of misinformation and disinformation is part of the problem. But it is clear that opportunism is the core challenge our democracy is facing. Those hellbent of power believe they have found a shortcut. So far, it is working for them. They have us all at each other’s throats. The devil has fooled us all into believing he doesn’t exist..

Tied to the above, is the ceaseless quest of the new generation to want to correct the past. They somehow believe society can reach back into the past and right the wrongs of slavery, colonialism, displacement of indigenous people of places such as New Zealand, Australia, US, Canada etc. But when confronted with the simple fact that their own, present day luxuries and some of the universities they attended, places they visit etc.m are there on the back of profit generated back then. I am not sure what difference it will make if countries such as the UK, France, Spain and co., were to turn around and condemn their ancestors and those acts and actions of the past. Sure, it could expose them to liability and the talks of reparations could return in force; but what exactly will payment of reparation achieve??? The countries that may get paid reparation do not have the means to do anything with it. It is akin to handing a £billion Creditcard to a homeless person who doesn’t have a network of contacts and no clout. You do not have to look far, to find some useful examples. In 2004/2005 the government of Alberta in Canada said they have a bunch of money to give out and they handed out cheques of $400 or so, to every Albertan. The level of homelessness and people sleeping rough in that province is now, 20 years later, at an all-time high! You hand $400 to a homeless person with drug-related problems, they do a jig, off to their drug-dealer, get a fix for a few weeks and that’s that.
Besides, do people in Britain today, or Australia or the US, wish to condemn their ancestors and actions of their ancestors? The very actions that largely funded what they have today. Yes, many of those actions, such as slavery, were heinous, but the hypocrisy of avoiding the obvious fact that any of us living in today’s western world have indirectly benefited from those actions, is rife. It is what it is. There’s no fix. You can’t reach back in time to correct it. It is foolhardy to attempt ineffective tweaks. History is history. We have never learnt from it; which is why we still see so many wars today, and some are even now discussing a possible Word War III. Seriously???!
So, of what use is the incessant pillorying of actions of the past? We need to draw a firm line under it and move on!!! What is more worrying, is the likelihood of those past evils returning, along with many – of those evils – that never went away anyway e.g. the situations in the US where some sections of their society continue to suffer. Third world countries have remained third world. How many more centuries do we need to get the world to a basic minimum level of development?????
Some will argue that failure to unpick and fully settle the past, is what has continued to impact us today and in future. But we’ve been saying that for over 100 years now. Isn’t it time to try something else? Ditch the past, try to create a meaningful future that isn’t steeped in the burdens of our past???!!!!