What is wrong with democracy
It appears to me that we are losing sight of what is right and what
is wrong in our world. The Greeks and the Romans tried democracy and it
did not work for them. Their sociopolitical life was full of intrigue,
cliques, assassinations, terror, murder and bondage. Their people's lives
was full of fear. Fear of slavery, fear of the Emperor, fear of the soldiers,
fear of the tax collectors. In reality, it was not a form of government
but an understanding among friends who referred to themselves by various
names such as senators or legionnaire or even the Emperor.
They sat and talked, argued, drank wine, ate, fooled with their mistress'
and when they would really get bored, they would go to the stadium to watch
some of their slaves kill each other! They would bet on which one would
survive the brutality and which one would lose his life. Their wagers?
Aside from gold pieces, probably the teenage daughters and sons of their
slaves. Not a very pretty picture of the olden days and what we fashion
ourselves after.
What is even uglier is the fact that today's form of democracy is not
even as much as a grain of sand better than it was then. It is still an
understanding among friends (business tycoons), who decide who gets what
part of the world and who gets the other. They stay in power because,
as you would throw a dog a bone to keep him busy and out of your way, they
busy the people with such inconsequential problems such as how much vitamin
"C" there is in a vitamin "C" tablet!? All this while
they have enslaved a whole ignorant society by shiny tinsel things obtained
by credit.
If someone complains, he/she is accused of not being a team player.
In fact what crimes they do not commit, how they force people to do even
wrong deeds by using this idealic phrase to their own end. When an enlightened
society such as in the U.S. can be so easily duped by such a simple and
wonderful word as "democracy", why not export this to the rest
of the world and harvest its fruit? This is what scares me when a U.S.
senator laughs with glee as he explains that: "we have brought to
an end the world's oldest monarchy!", referring to the "so called
revolution" of 1978/79.
Of course they are happy. During the time of Shah we were selling our
life blood, the oil, at as much as $40.00 a barrel. How much do we get
for it now-a-days? About $11.00 a barrel, if that? Of course they are happy.
During the last 10 years of the Shah's rule they could not dictate to
us about our policies, internal or international. For the most part, we
were a proud bunch of people. Today, we are belittled, looked down on,
treated as second class people, and the worst thing I can think of about
Persian democracy is the fact that any government in the world can buy
enough votes to put their man in the office! To change the laws or bend
them to benefit one country or another. To benefit all but the Persians.
This is what scares me. Aren't you scared?
As I remember it, with all our problems and corruptions in the government,
at least the Shah stood up for Iran's independence and greatness. He did
not allow foreign interference in our lives. He did not bow to imperialist
powers to lower the price of oil and for this he lost his throne and we
lost a proud heritage. Who do we have now who would not put Iran on a platter
and offer it to the highest bidder?
Fereidoon Eimen