Capitalism naturally provides incentive for people and businesses to perform well, but democracy provides no such incentive with regard to voting. For every voter who marks his ballot paper with the best of intentions for the country, there will be another who votes for purely personal reasons. That whole category should not be vilified (it consists of the majority of people), but among their ranks are likely to be those who vote for racist reasons, for reasons of misplaced party loyalty, or generally with unsavoury or ignorant intentions. And of those who vote for the country's well-being with sincerity, there is no guarantee that they are truly able to judge that correctly. No one can reasonably expect that all voters should or could be gifted political and economic analysts, but it surely is within reason to expect them to have a good understanding of the subject, generally speaking and regarding current events, otherwise they are not even able to make a merely honest decision.
To achieve a genuine Invisible Hand democracy, a sort of cosmic process of a system that by its nature produces the best results, may be an ideal, and it may be an impossible one. Therefore the following idea is not a blueprint for the thing itself, but rather a possible stepping stone towards it.
Meritocratic Democracy
The idea behind this system is simply that some votes have more value than others. The value of your vote can be judged in one of these ways:
1. You have to take a test to show how much you know about the political climate. Obviously you don't have to be an expert, but you have to know enough to justify giving you such a responsibility.
2. You have to justify your vote. Justification doesn't have to be in-depth, it simply has to be a proper reason. So, if someone votes for the BNP and justifies it by saying "I hate immigrants", their vote would have less value because it's not a real reason. Voters will also have to show some knowledge of the policies of the parties they're not voting for, as otherwise there would be no reason to suspect that their chosen party is any better than the others.
Now of course, there are likely to be many who will rebel against the idea of a test, and it goes without saying that the logistics of such an enterprise are difficult at the very least. However, the benefits might outweigh the costs as follows: there will be some who won't be averse to taking the test when told that it is a short and painless thing, and that the value of their vote will increase; though there will be less voters, each vote will be worth more for the country, since it is more likely to be well-considered. The seemingly simpler idea of asking for justification for one's vote has the advantage that it becomes less likely that people will be able to justify voting for plainly bad parties, such as the BNP. But a complication arises in the question of how justifications can be objectively judged. This would seem to entail the creation (or amendment) of a constitution, with legislation designed specifically with the system in mind, and this is not a simple, short term solution.
The value of the vote in this system can be thought of as the political equivalent of capital in the free market. People should, if the system is to work, desire a higher value vote for its own ends. Presently, many people think voting is useless because their vote doesn't make a difference. And despite the protestations of the well-intentioned that that is true only if everyone thought like that, their individual vote actually is negligible (which is part of the point of democracy). If they could change the value of their vote, it is more likely to make a difference. This may have the effect of weeding out the indifferent and apathetic, and encouraging the truly enthusiastic to make better decisions.
Ayyappan sambaji
Dear Friends,
The debate is progressing & and turning very interesting. The democracy is in its EVER-WORST form in India Now !! Whenever the issue of increasing Salary & Perks of MPs come up it is approved and implemented UNANIMOUSLY with Lightning Speed. One who has enjoyed the taste of LIVING ROYAL in politics never wants to leave it. An example is Shri K. Muraleedharan who is frantically running after everybody even with a threat that he will fast unto death if he is NOT taken back into Congress Party after March 8, 2011 !!! He and his father are responsible for ruining the peaceful life in kerala dragging kerala into Leftist Rule, the result of which the ill-fated people of Kerala are suffering. There is anarcy and corruption everywhere
Sunitha
--- On Mon, 23/8/10, Tarlok Singh <tsingh2003@gmail.com> wrote:
From: Tarlok Singh <tsingh2003@gmail.com> Date: Monday, 23 August, 2010, 7:44 AM
Dear Menon,I agree with your views on democracy one hundred per cent. Those who say that democracy in India is working smoothly and in its right spirit, are living in a world where hypocrisy rules the roost; or, else those poor guys happen to be as ignorant as an owl is.
Incidentally, I hold a master's degree in political science having stood second in the order of merit amongst 113 successful candidates in the postgraduate degree examination in political science conducted by my Alma Mater as far back as the year 1956; I believe, many of those who are claiming that democracy in India is functioning ideally, must not have born then.
Although in our democracy all the important institutions exist, such as free, fair and frequient elections, freedom of expression, indepndent sources of information, freedom of association etc., but in actual practice it is seen that all these rights granted to the public are being ruthlessly trampled by nour 'so-called representatives' most of who are illiterate or semi-literate and many having criminal backgrounds. But we, the people, are responsible for this sad state of afairs as we have elected them to power knowing fully well their ill-traits. It is also the fault of our temple of democracy - the Parliament - which has not bothered to pass laws prescribing minimum qualifications for those contesting the elections, or for banning those who have criminal past; be that as it may, how can you expect such laws being passed by the legislature where criminal elements are ruling the roost? Moreover in the present political environment in India where the central government is weak, standing as it is, on the crutches provided to it by its "allies" which consist of a crowd of parties believing in regionalism, religion's paramountcy, casteism et al, the cardinal principles of democracy are being sacrificed at the altar of the agendas of the so-called 'allies' - alas, all this just for getting a firm grip on power. Power politics is unknown to real democracy.
Since Arisotle's time, political philosophers generally have insisted that no actual political system is likely to attain, to the fullest extent possible, all the features of its corresponding ideal. History - particularly beginning 20th-century - has demonstrated that democracy uniquely possesses a number of features that most people, whatever their basic political beliefs, would consider desirable: (1) it helps to prevent rule by cruel and vicious autocrats; (2) modern representative democracies do not fight wars with one another - India had to fight three major wars with Pakistan but those wars were thrust upon this country by the military dictators who have been ruling our neighbouring country for most of the time; (3) countries with democratic governments tend to be more prosperous than countries with non-democratic govts, Pakistan being an example in contrast to India; and (4) democracy tends to foster human development - as measured by health, eduction, personal income and other indicators - more fully than other forms of govts do
Be that as it may, it has come to be realised that democracy in our country is suffering by default - the leadership has disappointed people. Once the leadership problem is solved and we get a new brand of young leadership who take governanace as a means of serving the people at large, considering corruption as the worst malaise that tortures a nation, and to work democratic system to the ultimate benefit, happiness and prosperity of their countrymen, the imagined utopia will set in. It is the important duty of the people, as well, to return only such people to the parliament who, they perceive, will do the best for the citizens.
Regards.Tarlok SinghThis is really a healthy conversation. More people should participate in this, read this and try to change ourselves.My view, Indian Democracy is the biggest, strongest and the best in the world. People are deciding whom to rule the country. If you say, our system is faulty, then the culprit is we. We are the one who elect wrong persons and now we don't have any right to cry on this issue. Now we are blaming the whole system without blaming the wrong persons who are running the system. The system will be the best if we put our votes to the right candidates. How come 100s of MPs in the Parliament have murder cases in their accounts? We elected the wrong persons. If each of us decides that we will vote only to the good candidates irrespective of his party or religion, the situation will improve. We should not dream of changing India in just one day.
Also there should be a button in the voting machine for "none of these candidates". It is our right to elect someone and then we have the right to reject whom we don't want.
By the way, we cannot eradicate corruption to 0% by using any system. But we can reduce it. If each of us decide that we will not give money in any government offices for getting our jobs done quickly, there will be improvements. In present system, we are ready to give. We can't wait in the queue. One guy, whether he is The President or Prime Minister, cannot change this. But we, as a group of people, The People Of India can change it.
Let us be proud of the positive sides of our Democracy and try to improve it. I don't have the power, but WE have the power.
Have a nice day!!
From: ICS MENON <ics.menon@gmail.com>
To: Keralites@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Fri, 20 August, 2010 5:46:46 PM
Subject: Re: [www.keralites.net] Real democracy
great mr. nazeer, am trying to reach the common man to spread the idea of decentralising power and money management in our administrative system by voting out all politicians and electing one independant candiate. it will be just a begining to teach alesson to the politicians who now think that general public is an ASS.i ill shortly distribute some leaflets to know the public response. what ever may be the people discuss, they are all looking for some benefit from the politicians a small percentage and larger share is enjoyed by the big fish.let us take small steps to proceed slowly.with best wishesics menonOn Thu, Aug 19, 2010 at 11:28 AM, Prem Niz <prem149@yahoo.com> wrote:
Before we enter into a worship place, we keep our footwear outside the shrine. It means we should not carry dirty things, even if we use them for our daily life, into a sacred place. Similarly, when we enter into our conscience for introspection, we should not carry any dirty politics with us. Now the answer is crystal clear: Our constitution guarantees our fundamental rights. We scream and fight for them every now and then. At the same time our constitution prescribes our fundamental duties. We will conveniently keep these in the refrigerator. This is the main problem we have. We have to recognize our fundamental duties and invoke them as and when they become necessary. We have to introspect before we criticize someone. If many of the politicians practice a small fraction of what they preach, our India would have been the best in the world. It does not mean that all will live like naked fakirs in the name of austerity. In Singapore if somebody spits or litters anything on the street, the authority will immediately impose a fine irrespective of their status symbols. When we go to abroad, we will be advised to respect the law of the land we visit. But even our chotta netas and babus ignore the same in our own land. Cleansing, like charity, should begin at home. I think every week some one has to write an article to teach discipline to such politicians and irresponsible citizens. We are still yielding to our self-praise just to keep on singing: saare jahaanse achcha Hindustaan HAMAARA. We have to impress others by way of our good and disciplined living. Then that will make others sing on us: saare jahaanse achcha Hindustan TUMHAARA. That will be much better and more acceptable precedence.
Best regards,
Prem Nizar Hameed
To: Keralites@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wed, August 18, 2010 6:58:21 PM
see u all say system is wrong.. can i ask u how system become worng?
A system is made by people also. A simple eg is how many us is showing proper manners in roads. How many of us are obeying traffic rules. Let me give u an example..at statue junction there are signal lights..how many of us dare to obey them, if some one breaks the law we all think " if he can why cant i". Another one when in beach or park, how many of us care to not make it polluted (lets not clean it but we can avoid making it litter)..how many wear helmets while driving (many say "I do" but please look around and count how many are not wearing) .. these are very basic things which we can do... so we all must take responsibilities instead of saying politicians are bad we must first make ourselves perfect,,,
On 17 August 2010 23:10, John Thomas <joal0791@yahoo.com> wrote:
Dear Kochukurup,
There is no system without the people and we are all part of it.If it is perfect, the people should also be perfect. Otherwise we are talking about something which is like ghost, non-existent concept. So if the people are wrong, system is also wrong. The system will be perfect in an ideal situation where there are no negatives including corruption of wealth, power, position, sex, cast, religion, etc. All these involves people and the end goal is more power and more money. Unquenchable thirst for these corrupts any system and ours is not at all an exception. What we should teach our kids is that money and power is not everything in life. Then they will start to love, share, compassionate, patriotic, etc., etc.
regards,
John
--- On Mon, 8/16/10, kochukurup <kochukurup123@gmail.com> wrote:
From: kochukurup <kochukurup123@gmail.com>Subject: Re: [www.keralites.net] Real democracyTo: "Keralites" <Keralites@YahooGroups.com>Date: Monday, August 16, 2010, 11:36 AM
i disagree with Mr Menon. System in india is a perfect one and is a model one. But problem is who drives the system, comittement of people towards the system. We people does not have any consideration for others.. first the mentality of people must be changed instead of simply finding fault in other..we must try to do our part...atleast we must teach coming generations how to be a good citizen...with warm regards
kochukurup
On 16 August 2010 15:15, ICS MENON <ics.menon@gmail.com> wrote:
Date: Mon, Aug 16, 2010 at 2:04 PM
Subject: Re: [www.keralites.net] Real democracy
To: "Sainu.Palam" <sainupalam369@yahoo.co.in>
yes, there is no system which is 100% perfect. but now in india, democracy is an industry and political parties are units of that industry and they invest money get power and use public money for their own benefit. for this struggle for power and money making by confusing people and catching votes all are running saying left or right or middle. all are same. once they are in power, they start making money.karl marx remarked after completing his book on communism that there is doubt this can be put into practice because all human beings are born selfish and they work for their family and not for the general public.my idea (me. i.c.s. menon alias ittamveetil chandrasekhara menon) is to crack the centralised, organised corruption and also to finish the power hunger of the politicians. if the people realise their power and remove the power hunger politicians from the clutches of public exchequer, some of my idea is in action. later on when we find the executives and judiciary who are also comprised of humans, are also going through the path of politicians, we have to check them also. when power is decentralised, so many things can happen.i hope you got some idea about my idea of cleaning democratic process in our state and then spread it slowly.please feel free to ask me more doubts so that i become perfect in my planswith best wishes and regards,ics menonOn Sun, Aug 15, 2010 at 8:06 PM, Sainu.Palam <sainupalam369@yahoo.co.in> wrote:
Is there any system has 100'/. correct?let us can understand who's Ideas are trying to spread.Sainu Palam
From: Joseph Varghese <joevar_44@yahoo.com>Sent: Fri, 13 August, 2010 12:48:49 PMTo: Keralites <Keralites@YahooGroups.com>
Subject: Re: [www.keralites.net] Real democracy
I agree to your views that someone get elected who doesn't have the people's support. Any election should be made cancelled if 60% polling was not done and no body should be allowed get elected if he doesn't get above 50% of votes casted. Governor's /President's rule should be applied in that particular constituancy.Regds,
Joseph Varghese
09881090740
From: ICS MENON <ics.menon@gmail.com>Sent: Thu, August 12, 2010 3:16:05 PM
To: Keralites <Keralites@YahooGroups.com>
Subject: [www.keralites.net] Real democracy
In the present system of democratic process if a candidate gets 15-20% votes of the total population of that constituency, he will be in majority where as the majority does not like him to be their representative because of political and other rivalries. In other words the elected candidate is not the real representative of all the voters.To overcome this problem, it is suggested that we remove all politicians from power and elect an independent candidate. This will facilitate a direct approach of the people to the officials (Executives) to get things done i.e. political interference is not there at all.
There will not be any leader among the elected representatives and all are equal. Their duty is to see the peoples problems attended by the concerned officials i.e. executives and the judiciary.
This is required because politicians hide lot of things from the public and when some corruption is coming to the light, they conduct an enquiry, again spending the public money.
This is one type of decentralization of power and people can watch the officials doing their duties without political influence.
After successfully implementing this in the local body level, this can be put into practice so that we can save lot of money which is being spent for enjoyment of politicians as ministers etc…..
So think over this now and put it into practice without delay.
Let the present Devil's Own Country be the God's Own Country of the future.
Hope everyone at Keralites Group will try to spread this idea of total democracy in Kerala.
with warm regards
kochukurup
Tarlok Singh
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