Democracy?

Rushing between meetings in the Bay Area I have been listening to American public radio today.

What strikes me, yet again, is how extreme the views are of minority interest groups here in the US.

From organic farming to black rights and Amish style simple-life proponents, the language and arguments are structured only to appeal to the converted. They are seriously disenfranchised.

My guess is that this is just a reflection of the extreme greed of those incumbents who have, over time, insulated their power base from the democratic process

In effect, the US is an oligarchy charading as a democracy.

A key sign is that information and decision making used for ensuring the security of US citizens is increasingly being isolated away from general access, contrary to the very reason why democracy was originally invented in ancient Greece.

It’s odd also that the debate about personal security focuses on exterior threats when the manifest threat to life and limb is very much domestic.

The one saving grace in Australia is our electoral system of compulsory voting which ensures that any oligarchy has to either snow over 50% of the voting age public or control both sides of politics; a challenge that naturally attenuates their avarice.