On Democracy

Democracy is an alternative to violent conflict. It is a convention agreed in mature societies that the strongest shall prevail and that who that is shall be determined by the counting of heads. For such a system to work it is necessary for the members of that society to have more in common than the issues which divide them. There has to be a willingness peaceably to accept the will of the majority which must in return refrain from abusing the smaller number. Such societies will usually be characterised by a common code of law, custom and loyalty. They will be governed according to the will of the majority, not by powerful cliques or individuals '

Such a system in near perfection has been realised only in Switzerland. Elsewhere amongst the so called democracies of the West what is called democracy is a very corrupted version. In many cases it has come to mean only a right to vote at intervals. Often that vote is meaningless, especially when the alternatives offered are little more than the same product with a different label.

We have in the world today a new imperial power which sees it as its mission to spread democracy. It is currently seeking to impose democracy in Iraq and Afghanistan. Unfortunately it is the corrupted model which is the only one it knows.

The crucial question is whether Iraq or Afghanistan are mature societies ready to accept the self discipline of democracy. The answer has to be no. In the case of Iraq there are deep historical divisions between branches of Islam. There is also a disparity in numbers. It is unlikely that either would accept the rule of the other. For decades the majority Shia were dominated by the minority Sunni from whom Saddam drew his support. The Shia will not want to repeat that experience. To complicate matters there is a racially separate group - the Kurds in the north - who even under Saddam enjoyed a measure of autonomy protected from the air by coalition forces. In addition there is the question of the economic resource - oil - which is located with the Kurds in the North and the Shia in the South. The central Sunni triangle which includes Baghdad has no such resource. Iraq is not a cohesive entity. To make matters worse it is at the mercy of armed gangs whose only common cause is desire to be rid of the Western invader.

So far as Afghanistan is concerned it is a primitive society which makes its living by poisoning the rest of the world with opium. It has a government in Kabul whose writ barely runs to the city limits. Its regions are in the the hands of feudal war lords who control the drug traffic. In addition the Taliban, which once controlled the country, can pop across the Pakistan border at will. It is heavily armed and strongly motivated to expel the invader. No chance of meaningful democracy here.

In both Iraq and Afghanistan, having deposed regimes which were in control (leaving aside the methods by which this was achieved) the American-British coalition, with other support, finds itself technically in aid of a civil power which is not in control and is regarded by much of the population as the puppet of an occupying power

The British Army, which should be our concern, is involved in a situation where it cannot tell friend from foe, where some of the foe are prepared to destroy themselves in order to take others with them. It is operating alongside the US Army which is to some extent undisciplined and to a large extent out of its depth. It knows only one response to any situation - overwhelming force - and that is counterproductive.

All this has been brought about by politicians who have no comprehension of military operations and some of whom are actually hostile to the ethos of an effective fighting force

These same politiicians have no comprehension of what makes a viable democratic society. During half a century they have contrived to destroy a cohesive law-abiding community by inserting into it large alien elements. They talk of integration but the fact is segregation - the creation of parallel communities whose main contact with the host society is the benefit system, the health system, and occasional resented contact with the police. The other point of contact - the educational system - they seek to convert. A common code of law, custom and loyalty can no longer be said to exist.

These same politicians, by stealth and deceit, have managed to deprive the majority of control of its affairs. Oh yes, the Queen still opens Parliament and the knockabout comedy or farce of Prime Minister's questions still goes on although only once a week now. It is all a charade. Real power has for the most part been passed across the channel. At the same tine these politicians provide themselves with ever increasing salaries and pensions.

At the level of administration these politicians preside over a shambles. The Health Service cannot manage its finances.The Home Office apparently cannot manage anything. Expensive computer systems fail before they are up and running. Agencies set up for particular purposes, like the Child Support Agency, fail. The Government has no idea of who is in the country illegally and does not seem to care. Disease and crime are imported daily without much response beyond a wringing of hands.

The other necessary element for a healthy democracy is an informed and participating electorate. The other Thursday there was a by-election in Bromley and Chislehurst when 60% of the electorate stayed at home. That is only an extreme example of a general trend.

It is a truism to say that people get the government they vote for. Throughout my life, which stretches back to just after the first world war from Winston Churchill in the 30's to Enoch Powell in the 60's, they have chosen to support the liars, cheats and incompetents instead of listening to those who told them the truth. They are still supporting the liars, the cheats and the incompetents. The result is that we are where we are. It may be some encouragement that 60% abstained in Bromley supposing that it was not just inertia.

There is a need for a Cromwell figure steeped in British history and trusted by the populace to put the UK and particularly England; its dominant part,.back on track. Otherwise, as its pseudo friends intend, it will disappear into the dustbin of history, the only surviving remnant being its language and that is likely to be appropriated by the US.