A very interesting and quite revealing radio interview about BREXIT – I would recommend listening to the end. The reality that some continue to challenge is that the BREXIT referendum was less about clarity of vision and more about emotions driven to extremes by powerful Eurosceptics; I am afraid this is NOT what Democracy is about. So when we brag about our Democratic values as a nation we need to remember a few things;
- Democracy is NOT easy, rather it is a constant struggle to perfect and adapt to changing times.
- Democracy requires clarity, transparency and being civilised in reconciling our differences equitably.
- More importantly Democracy is about Truth as one of it’s main pillars.
Now I have written quite a bit about Democracy on this site, so I will not try and rehash my views which you are more than welcome to search the site. The new question that I would like to ask here is whether – based on current realities of “democratic” political systems – we can really rely on current political structures – be it parliament, political parties and/or political leader – in protecting our Democratic values/principles. Remember these structures operate by design to undermine opposing side to achieve purely political/economic gains. This not to mention corruption/sleaze engineered by lobbyists/special interest groups to exert influence on policy; now we should all be able to establish the extent of power within our political eco system that does nothing but undermine these important principles we talk so much about. It is also unfortunately the case that we have ourselves been adapted to cope/reflect this corrupt system one that promotes a partisan mindset that is less about national interest and more about narrow clan (special) interests/less about critical thinking based on fact and more about sensationalism & punch lines based on fiction. In brief a corrupt system filters down to every level of society which is precisely why we need to fix this mess urgently.
All the above drives me to the conclusion that we desperately need a higher authority in the land – one that is NOT politically driven – to help proactively oversee – and possibly regulate where appropriate – all forms of political actions by party/parliament and leader to ensure they abide by the overarching principles of Democracy & Liberal governance. The reason I believe this is important is because governments and political structures are by and large politically motivated, have a shorter range/scope in terms of target span while a body like the one I propose – similar to the U.S. Supreme Court but more proactive, with higher authority and level of oversight – would be totally focused on the big picture in terms of protecting our Democratic values and adapting them to changing times. We also need to focus on education and mechanisms for training to develop a solid foundation for critical thought/analysis. The main takeaway here is this; we need to find more effective/creative ways to proactively protect our Democratic values/principles because as we have seen the past couple of years there are plenty of failure points in our current structures – ones that we took for granted for far too long and are now beginning to crack; and remember that even constitutions need to evolve/adapt or they’re liable to break a nation.