The Cost of Apathy in Modern Democratic Society
In the UK, citizens have been slowly but surely losing faith and confidence in its government since the end of the Second World War. The established order has failed and blundered over and over again with impunity, and yet the British people have consistently refused to acknowledge or act against these follies with a firm grasp on a harsh reality; no matter what they do or who they speak to, there is nothing they can do to change it. There is, however, one small problem with that belief: The United Kingdom of Great Britain is a Democratic Sovereignty!
Since the 1650s, the general public has not only chosen who represents them in Parliament but also who decides the destiny of the nation. And ‘though the power of the monarchy has waxed and waned in the centuries since, those whom were chosen by the people consistently controlled the country’s future. These chosen men may not have made all the right decisions, but for a time the power to allow them to repair their damage or replace them with someone better suited to the task belonged to the citizenry alone, like any good democracy.
On a personal note, I believe Winston Churchill was the single greatest Prime Minister of the last century (and perhaps even in the history of Parliament), as it was he who solved the problems of Chamberlain’s administration, chose to maintain Britain’s independence from the European Union and, of course, led the country through the battle that turned the tide of World War Two for the western Allies. I firmly believe that it was his influence that secured confidence in the office of the Prime Minister, and why none who followed could stack-up.
In the last eight decades, Britain is divided into two groups: Voters, composed mostly of traditionalists hoping against hope that repeating the mistakes of the previous election will resolve their prominent issues, and Non-voters, defeatists who have finally acknowledged that their contribution to the democratic process is as useful as going about their business as per usual. Both of these groups are the byproduct of the system by which the elections are decided. The result is actually decided before any voter has chance to make their contribution, decided by monetary investment, ‘points’ gained by previous electoral victories, and dozens of additional factors that easily outweigh the number of votes received.
The fact of the matter is that the British people are trapped. They are ruled by privileged career politicians who are more interested in the affairs and well being of other nations, pressing the resources of their nation into foreign causes and acts of appeasement, and all without the consent of their people. They are bound by law to pay beyond their means to keep the barest necessities, most readily available creature comforts and basic human rights. Their nation is without export or industry (due entirely to the disastrous reign of the Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher) and thus is lacking career opportunities and stable economy. And all of this is the fault of a government run by feudal lords content to reduce their population to peasantry as they continue to reap the financial spoils. Britain is aware of this, one way or another, but continues to bury its head in the sand while the House of Lords picks their pockets.
The real problem, however, is not the government at all. The likes of Thatcher, Cromwell, Chamberlain and Cameron did not take the position from worthy opposition but from an entire breed of people just like them. The problem is that the British people have allowed themselves to believe that “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” applies to a system that closely resembles a grandfather clock falling to pieces and rotted from the outside-in because it continues to tick. They have ignored the plight of their countrymen for decades because for the moment they are ‘fine’. The problem is that a democracy has allowed itself to fall out of the hands of its people, and into the hands of political creatures, making next to no effort to take it back, decidedly ‘fighting one battle at a time’ when an authority figure ‘finally’ goes too far.
People rarely know the power they possess. The true cost of Apathy is not that they have allowed their society to devolve into a feudal system with a PG rating, it is that they CHOOSE to ignore the need to come together and change their homeland for the better while they still have that power.
For the record, I would never endorse or advocate armed revolution, but a peaceful transference of power from assembled Lords to a true democracy could not arrive fast enough.
Damon Mealor 