Hi Steemians
In 2013, when "David Cameron" wanted to encourage people to vote for his political party in England he mentioned an important point that he'll reconsider England's membership in European Union(EU)
England has been an EU member for decades but recently, the UK Independent Party started the tendency of England being out of the EU...
The question of the referendum was very very simple:
Should England remain a member of or leaving the (EU) ?
The results of the referendum astonished the world, %51.8 voted for leaving and %48.2 for remaining !
As a result of these results, and based on Cameron's words in his election campaign, England, indeed, has left the (EU)...
Okay! this story -most likely- has nothing to do with you at all..but I'd like you to be patient with me now as the coming hit is so serious...
Do you know what this means?This means that the people which has chosen England leaving the EU was basically the same people searching for "What is the EU ?" This is so sarcastic when you think about it! but at the same time it makes me think about the Idea of Democracy in general...
Then, the question would be " Is democracy always the right choice?"
one of the first people to have problems with Democracy was " Socrates" an ancient Athenian philosopher at the era philosophy started to prosper, in the the sixth book of "The Republic" ..
If we replace the "owner of the ship" with the "people" and the "ship" with the "country" ,shouldn't we choose the most appropriate one to lead the country? ,and to do this shouldn't we be capable of choosing the right person ?...
by using this comparison, Socrates was speaking about voting...
He believed that voting is not something everyone can do it and it is not everyone's right but it needs skills and intelligence to be able to choose the most suitable person for leading the country , you need to have certain qualification like intelligence and knowledge ,and in the absence of these qualification , the country will drown (be destroyed).
John , the owner of the ship, if he doesn't have any knowledge he would any "fool" sails the ship and make it sink then returns with its remnants...So the voting in the country needs a certain level of intelligence and knowledge for the suitable/right leader to be chosen.
How can we trust that the people can choose that right leader if they don't even know the meaning of a right leader
This could be considered - my dear steemian - as arrogance from Socrates and you might now be about to call Socrates racism. Socrate's words could be understood that he is calling for Elitism or the voting should only be for the Elites only and he himself knew that, But believe me the idea here that Socrates wasn't calling for that AT ALL ...!
He just wanted the people who are voting to be qualified for that ...
Socrates wasn't calling for the falling of Democracy but for representative Democracy which means that the qualified people only could vote.
The voting in this case isn't a right that you receive with your passport or your ID but an honour that you get when you prove that you understand the responsibility of voting .So that when you vote , you would vote right...
₪If your country will contribute in the Olympics in swimming , you would want someone like "Michael Phelps" (Who Has won 28 Olympic medals, including 23 gold ones)
₪ If you want to select a football player to join to your favorite team you would need someone like "Lionel Messi"
To only want experienced people to vote isn't racism but you choose a suitable person according to what you want....And by using the same way,The one who is voting should have certain qualification of voting The question according to Socrates wasn't "should people vote?" but it was "how to make people vote right?"
And by this way ,"normal Democracy" is not the perfect choice because it allows unqualified people to decide how your country works .And the result of this could be very hard for the country...
Socrates himself who was one of the most important philosophers was sentenced to death (by using poison),Simply because the people in the court decided that, Simply because the citizens decided that... One of the most greatest philosophers at that time to be killed for some allegation spread by the rulers that he was corrupting the youth...
This event shows us the bad result of Democracy when it is given to wrong people. In the absence of Intelligence and knowledge which people need for the right participation in Democracy ,Democracy will open a path for something else called "Demagogy"
The Death of Socrates
To make it simple,Demagogy says: Since the people are "stupid" , anyone could easily deceive them.It would be very easy to use some lies to convince them that you are qualified (as a ruler).. And since the citizens have the decision of choosing the ruler and they are- according to Socrates- don't have the knowledge to not be deceived , people would follow and support the wrong person And usually the leader or ruler who is like that promises many things and uses his authority to not let the people vote for any other candidate
Socrates to make things clear used a simple example:
The owner of the cake shop in a demagogic country will be able to convince others that he is more efficient than the doctor..
Democracy in that case failed to decide the Public interest ِ and this is exactly what made Socrates worried
Democracy in that way falls in achieving its goal and make the democratic country a joke...
In the example above ,You might now say it is impossible for people to choose the cake shop over the clinic because the doctor is much more important.However, I want to remind you that one day Democracy made someone like "Adolf Hitler" to be the ruler of a Democratic country like Germany ....
Conclusion:
This words make me think about our countries and the state of word Democracy in the world...I am NOT calling for a dictatorial country AT ALL,but I'm trying to look at democracy with a critical view, and wonder how best to use it to serve our country rather than destroy it.I am calling for the development of our education systems and the media to make a strong people capable of countering any extremist rhetoric or hateful trend
I am calling for the right democracy in which most of the people are capable of deciding the right decision for themselves and for the country. Because When ignorance spreads
Everything.....not only democracy.....will fail
NOTE!
Day after day my admiration and appreciation for this generous community is increasing and growingI've always been trying to UPVOTE and comment on all meaningful posts and interact with good content . As an University student I have a very busy life but I promise giving my best...
in the next period I'll try to create permanent original posts
I have been working very hard on this blog and ,I will be glad to have your comments and opinions on my words...Hand by hand to make Steemit the best place for upscale content
I am already grateful to see you giving upvotesTHANK YOU FOR READING !!!
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