The people of the United states of America is set to face the elections this November when they will elect the 47th President and senate members. This is a form of representative democracy where people elect candidates based on what they promise and expect them to fulfill this in the tenure they are elected. Although this article focuses on the American elections, it endears to bring to light the present state of the democratic voting system.
Doctored Policy and Principles
Policy is the focus of the press and public. Policy statements such as abortions, Job creation, Green energy, Fire arm regulations, foreign policy, Military involvement, taxes have stayed on for many years. These are continuously discussed in the Media during every election. The policy has remained constant for many years because it is not designed from the needs of the people who vote but from the corporate lobbyist structures that fund the political system. Donald Trump’s win in 2016 was never accurately predicted by the media and polls because of this inherent bias in policy. For example, Donald trump’s poll promises about ‘building a wall’ resonated with the voters who felt that immigrants were taking away their jobs and their country and thereby voted for him and thus led to his win.
The doctoring of Policy based on who funds the political system is a serious step back for the existent democratic system.
Please vote only on the Face Value of the Candidate
Joe Biden is a white male. Kamala Harris is a Black and South Indian woman. Donald Trump is a White male. The above statements would look like a transcript from a police scanner. But the reality is that this is the basis on which the candidates are weighed in. People have to vote for those who stand without even thinking or investigating on what they stand for. Principles don’t matter. This is another inherent bias of the democratic political system.
As an example, democratic party candidate Joe Biden even until recently never announced his policy for the presidency. He just went about propagating anti Trump statements. This is unlike the other democratic party candidates Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders who had provided their views outright from the beginning of their candidature. But in the end, he was the one who received the nomination.
Democratic party candidate Kamala Harris on the other hand is portraying herself to have been an under privileged black and Asian woman. She keeps talking about how her Grandfather Mr. P.V. Gopalan, A high ranking British colonial government employee (civil service) used to talk to her about the importance of freedom during her walks with him in the Besant Nagar Beach in Chennai, India. She also states that her grandfather taught her mother ...” that when you see injustice in the world, you have an obligation to do something about it,” There is a strong contradiction here. Her father was a colonial supporter as he earned his bread and butter working for the British colonial oppressors in India. Given his credentials his ideal move to ‘stop injustices in the world‘ would have been to resign from his high ranking Colonial civil service post instead of staying on until retirement.
The fight for the people
Problems of the lower and middle class who make up 99% of the population should be the one focused on during an election. The truth is that the problems of this 99% has only been increasing due to the exploitation they face day to day by the market system where survival of the fittest is the only motto. The economic and social system we live in innovates to find new ways to exploit the working class. The rising prices of basic necessities such as food, rent, health care, child care and the resultant situation where people are forced to work long periods and in different jobs to make ends meet. Meanwhile, the corporations find different ways to reduce cost and increase work output and profits – the latest example being the Gig economy or part time work where workers are not recognized as Labor itself such as to circumvent the laws that were in place that provided basic rights to these people such as health care, fixed work time, severance etc. Homelessness has become a known issue. We are hearing news of students and families who reside in vehicles in parking spaces due to their inability to pay high rents. These are just some of the current issues that are prevalent in the cities of the so called ‘developed’ world. We can surely agree that there is a serious problem in the current economic and social setup due to which these problems have come into existence. These should be the main talking points of the politicians who are running for elections. But most of the politicians seems to turn a blind eye to most of these. Due to this many of the major policies and agenda taken up by mainstream political parties have remained constant over the years.
The Aim is to ‘Convince the Public’
Voting is a right in a democratic system and everyone is encouraged to bring about change in leadership by voting actively. But how useful is voting if is there no choice that would bring about any real change or betterment for the people who vote. With unrelated policy promises and excessive focus on ‘convincing the public’, voting is starting to look like a useless chore for many. Many profit-making institutions have now cropped up as Public relation representative of politicians and political parties in order to make these politicians ‘presentable’ or ‘relevant’ to the public eye.
It's quite ironic to watch these candidates who are clear faces of wealthy corporate lobby groups act, by acting I mean literal acting with costume and dialogues to bring about an image to the public they are one of the common citizens. A good example would be the democratic candidate Kamala Harris who wears sneakers with her suit, eats pulled pork and admits to have smoked marijuana in her younger days (this is to prove that she is has a Jamaican ancestry).
The Question of Relevance.
The democratic political system is blind to every real issue that is faced by the majority of its voters. Their inability is so clear that they have to be spoon fed their agenda policies and ideas by PR machinery who are nowhere related to the common people. Due to this democratic politicians and political parties who are standing in elections are slowly becoming irrelevant to the common man.
How can Democracy survive
For democracy to survive, its basic right – to vote representative to power needs to be able to solve the problems of the majority of the people. This is not something that is difficult to accomplish. Representatives who stand in elections need to first understand the needs and suffering of the public and thereafter give promises that bring about betterment to those who are powerless in our society.
Voters on the other hand need to be principled and understand the basic fact that that the problems of the majority working class are one and the same for everyone irrespective of your class, color or any other social and cultural differences you may have. Your representative be it left or right leaning, black or white, male or female can implement laws that will help you fight against the exploitative economic and social system of our society.
#Kamala #Trump #USelections #Biden
