After living in several countries, I feel that democracy in the current form is not the best for society. My view of democracy is shaped mainly by India, Australia and Singapore. Well, Singapore is not a democracy in true sense but it is somewhat better.
Basic tenets of democracy are equal right and say for all citizens. But is this tenet correct? I personally feel this is wrong. The most powerful entity is nature as we are part of it. Nature has made every human different. Physically and intellectually we are all different. So human’s quest to make everybody equal is a foolish endeavour. I believe that every human being has to enjoy certain basic rights but beyond that individual capacity should play a major role. Most of us want higher benefit with less effort. Even if we deny, this is the truth. There are exceptions but exceptions never prove the rule.
Should Debashish Samal (DS) have same say as that of Ratan Tata (RT) as far as industrial regulations go? No. RT understands industrial landscape much better than DS does. So RT should have much more points than DS. But in a functional democracy both DS and RT have the same voting power and this is precisely wrong. We all advocate market dynamics but tuck tail when it comes to implementing it. RT is much more valuable than 1000 DS combined together. Why the democracy is unable to respect the market dynamics? Why in the poll DS’s vote has the same value as that of RT’s vote? Because of this shortcoming democratic India has 40% of its population below poverty line.
As I’ve said earlier, most of us can’t think beyond our immediate surrounding. This is the reason for failure of democracy. In such a situation few visionaries who have the power to unleash innovation are shoved to the corner. History is cluttered with incidents where visionaries are punished for their vision and capabilities. Few people can think out of box and they are branded as outsiders. Society full of normal Joe, can’t view the merit. Otherwise how can you explain the crucifixion of Jesus or cold-blooded murder of Gandhi. Thus, by allowing these normal Joes to have same right as those of few visionary, we are doing a great injustice to humanity.
When normal Joe goes to poll, he selects another normal Joe. But running the state is a different game. Efficient running of a state needs visionaries. Normal Joe will only wreck the country and the best example is India. A country is a reflection of its society. Indian society is full of morally corrupt people and so is the political class. MPs are traded in Parliament. Going rate for MPs was 200 million rupee few months ago. This is the result of democracy in its current form. A CEO was killed because of industrial disputes and the concerned minister justified it. Shame on India. Shame on Indians for voting this kind of people as law makers.
I’m a Hindu by religion and I know for the fact that Hinduism does not give equal basis rights to all individuals. Human is degraded to a position that is worse than animals. Slavery is better than untouchability. And precisely because of the degrading and demeaning traditions, people in backward areas prefer Christianity, where they have dignity. But fanatics are up in arms against Christianity. Alas, India is a democracy and majority of vote-bank is Hindu by religion. This is a classic case of double oppression. In one hand you don’t give them the dignity that every human deserves and on the other hand when people move away from the system, you don’t allow them. I’m neither a fan of Hinduism nor a fan of Christianity, but as a human being I can’t support the burning down of churches and murder of Christians.
Democracy is of the people, by the people and for the people. But when people are mediocre, democracy gives mediocre result. Let’s examine the style of governance of Singapore. Initially I was a bit sceptical about the system. But now I realize that Singapore’s governance is a more refined and forward looking version of democracy. Western media has always criticises Singapore’s way of democracy. But if I go by results, Singapore is more dynamic and successful than even the USA. In just 35 years, it reached the first world from a dark third world. People have every right in Singapore. There is no injustice. There is religious and racial tolerance. It is a society where capable human can go any height. The reason is simple. Normal Joe does not have any say in the affairs of state. Capable people are at the leadership position. Most people in Singapore complain but they are normal Joe and they will complain. As long as they just complain but they don’t have a say, it is fine. I agree with Lee Kuan Yew when he said to a western journalist ‘Western way of democracy is not the best’. Unfortunately in India we have the ‘Western democracy’, that is the reason for our failure. We need a better democracy that gives right to people and makes them accountable as well.