Protests and Democracy

This year has been the year of protests and rebellions.  What started in the Middle East and North Africa has spread to Europe and now the United States.  While the purpose behind each protests is minutely different, each group championing a slightly different cause, there is one underlying theme that runs through them all; a discontent with leadership and the way countries are being run.  Some protests as in the Middle East and North Africa have sought to overturn governments and to start off fresh, others, as in Europe and the United States are seeking meaningful change in the way a government attends to its population and provides for their livelihood.  Mostly spurned by the global economic crisis, the protests in Europe and the United States are finding many youth disenchanted with the current political process and the system that we all like to call democracy.  So what is democracy?  Democracy is "the political orientation of those who favor government by the people or by their elected representatives."  Each country that aligns itself with the democratic process has slightly different versions of how democracy is implemented.  In the United States we have a representative democracy that relies on the citizens electing officials to represent them in government.  So where have we gone wrong?  Where has democracy gone astray to the point where people feel a large sense of discontent with the system?

Now I can only speak for the United States here, but our representative democracy has strayed far from what our founding fathers envisioned it to be.  At the start of our country, our founding fathers envisioned a government that would remain relatively small and be guided by representatives from the different states who would convene to make decisions on how government should be run and how it affects the people living there.  Well, we currently have a government that is too large, too expensive and does not adequately represent the people.  As a representative democracy, shouldn't our government be discussing issues that the general population feels need to be dealt with?  Shouldn't they be deciding on issues that have an impact on the majority of people?  Yet on a continual basis, they deal with idiotic policies and time wasting deals that affect a small percentage of people.  Furthermore, how can we actually call them representatives of the people when most times it takes a large amount of money to even run for office.  Most of the people living in the United States do not have the kind of money it takes to run for office when you take into consideration the ad campaigns that are a necessity these days if you want to get elected.  The representatives we have in government are disconnected from the reality that most of us are facing yet we keep on putting them into office. 

There was an article I read that said more and more young people are getting an increasing feeling that voting will do them no good at election time.   Simply voting will do not do any good in this day and age.  What people need to realize is that if they vote someone in, that person has the responsibility to represent their constituents.  If an elected official neglects his/her duty and does not represent the concerns of their citizens, then that person needs to be held accountable for their actions.  We need to watch what our representatives are doing and ensure that they are meeting our demands.  If we don't like the system, we need to change the system.  Is it easy?  No, but if enough people band together under simple ideals and in an effort to initiate change, then it is entirely possible.   Any group that bands together at this point in time must focus on a few principles that can be agreed on as a whole.  With the size of our country and the amount of different views and opinions represented, we can no longer entertain every view and opinion.  Any protests movement must align itself behind one or two principles and move forward for that is the best way to ensure that a movement stays properly aligned and actually moving forward.  If you look at many protest movements that fail, it is because there is no central idea that people can stand behind.  The ones that did succeed had a central idea and motive that everyone participating could in some way associate with.  What we need today is a protest movement that can sustain itself under one general idea, say government reform (I know, not such a simple idea, but just a suggestion) and stick with it. 

In coordination with continually voting for or against our representatives, we the people need to take the initiative to make a change in government.  Government is there to serve its people and I fear that we have strayed from that notion too far.  Government these days has turn into a machine that dictates what we can and can not do (not necessarily with our consent), decides who we fight or don't fight (again without our consent), and is slowly creeping into the everyday lives of its citizens (again without our consent).  What we need to make government realize is that without its citizens, none of the people representing us would be where they are today.  The people need to take back control of what happens in government and need to stand up for their basic rights; life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  Aside from these basic rights, government has gone to far.  The people need to take back the reigns and start re-shaping government according to what we all can agree on.    My only hope is that these protests that are occurring align themselves with the principles that can guarantee the most change and bring the most reform to government.  We must move forward in this economic crisis and take the reigns of our destiny once again.