A Search for Unity

I happened to watch a televised debate at IQ² Australia entitled Democracy is not for Everyone. The somewhat grandiose introduction to the motion reads:

Given the vast quantities of blood spilled and treasure spent in the name of democracy – who would dare to challenge its legitimacy? After all, isn’t democracy good for all?...

Is the promise of democracy real, or merely a fiction to advance the interests of the few by beguiling the majority with myths of equality, liberty and fraternity?...

It’s time to take the dare and put an intellectual blowtorch to the belly of democracy’s defenders.

The audience (who voted before and after the debate) were quite overwhelmingly convinced by the arguments of the "against" panel, who made a pretty good case. A slow, dithering democracy that gives the people what they want was deemed to be better than the alternatives (among which are dictatorships and monarchies). The possible variations in democracy weren't discussed nearly enough, in my view (the issue of greater grass-roots involvement and less heirarchy was raised, but not picked up) – it seems silly to assume that democracy is the same wherever it appears.

Not surprisingly a lot of the debate was about environmental issues, with the proponents of the motion arguing that the inevitable short-term thinking of democratically elected parties mean that longer-term issues get sidelined in favour of vote-winning agendas. Which highlighted the fact that until environmental and other ethical concerns become a key issue for the average voter in the democratic world, they will stay sidelined.

This is beginning to happen in countries that are bearing the brunt of climate change – the Maldives and Bangladesh for example – and where the general public are having to face the damage. But in most of the Western world, the majority of people are still pretty well sheltered from these effects and climate change does not significantly impact day-to-day life. So how will it get to the top of the political agenda? Or do we have to wait for it to start seriously affecting everyday life...