democracy error

I have nothing personal against ‘the majority rule,’ but I think democracy is one of the worst, if not the worst, system of governance. I am sure that the Greeks had noble intentions on why they came up with such a concept of a government. I guess they were tired of their traditional governments and wanted something rather new. Looking at it critically, this concept is a combination of all failed systems of their time and ours (Monarchy, Oligarchy, Theocracy, and lastly, Dictatorship). Aristotle, a man who lived 3 centuries before we started counting down time, thought that this kind of government would bring about some sort of equality especially to women and slaves who were, as they have been, outcasts of their time (remember that he had studied 150 constitutions from different republics). Hobbes envisioned that it will bring harmony from the dangerous ‘state of nature,’ Locke’s idea was that it will help protect people’s property and establish some sense of equality and Nyerere’s view was that it would help to create leaders and not masters. Yet clearly, democracy has failed in all of these attempts.

It is democracy that has developed the campaign engines that sort to fight brothers against sisters. It is the same democracy that has demarcated time limit for ‘service’ creating prolonged desire for people to cling onto power even when it is apparently clear that they are incompetent (take for example the case of Omar Yar’Aduwa and uncle bob!). This type of rule has failed the majority by creating masters not leaders. By creating time limit for ‘service,’ democracy has built into people an insatiable greed to acquire as much as they can before they vacate their offices and thus, I will rightly say that it is the principle root of corruption, a vice that is eating up our society.

Let me explain myself on why I consider it the mother of the vice that is corruption. According to Aristotle, “democracy (is) that in which the many and the poor are the rulers.” This idea has also been shared by Locke, Nyerere and many other political geniuses both modern and contemporary. If that is true then, a state where a poor man rules ends up in poverty for he’ll try to satisfy his needs first (coz man is a greedy animal remember). A state where the majority rules ends up in anarchy for it is difficult to reach consensus. In fact, since everyone thinks that they are free, they will tend to fight each other, trying to rule oneself in the name of freedom…this basically throws us into anomie. Since, as Aristotle had already suggested that it is a system of the poor and the masses, the poor will try, by all means possible to reach at the top of the ladder with as little efforts as possible, and this my friends is the basis of corruption.

If the above is not true, then it is true that democracy has failed in the sense that, with daft and incompetent leaders, the majority rights has been placed into the hand of the minority who have taken full advantage. Democracy has for sure become the ‘minority rule’ and this for me is its greatest failure. The masses who elect have no say but the minority, who sit in offices doing nothing in particular and cruising around in some heavy fuel guzzlers.

Yet again, I may be wrong, because although the system has failed, the concept remains intact. May be we should think of coming up with another term for the ‘minority rule’…at least for our time!!!!