{"id":1018,"date":"2024-10-19T01:29:57","date_gmt":"2024-10-19T06:59:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/informedspot.com\/?p=1018"},"modified":"2024-10-25T06:12:55","modified_gmt":"2024-10-25T11:42:55","slug":"democracy-more-about-the-people-than-the-leaders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/informedspot.com\/?p=1018","title":{"rendered":"Democracy: Where Politicians and Society Intertwines\u2014But Who’s Leading Who?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Kavya Mukherjee, a 25-year-old, traveled to Delhi in her wheelchair to take an exam for an entry-level teaching position, a test with over 900,000 hopefuls. Despite the sweltering heat and inadequate facilities, Kavya was determined. But her determination turned to dismay when she learned that the UGC-NET exams had been canceled indefinitely. Archit Kumar, a 19-year-old from Patna, was luckier\u2014he at least got to sit for his NEET exam. But his ambitions were crushed when news broke of a paper leak scandal, leaving him in doubt about his future.1<\/a><\/sup> Lessons they must have learnt about Democracy in India could have started to appear shallow to these aspirants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ramesh Kumar moved to Delhi from Uttar Pradesh, started driving cab to earn & support his family. He had been doing night shifts near the airport for his family’s sustenance, until one fateful day, he met his end\u2014killed by a roof collapse of the airport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether it\u2019s exam leak, death owing to poor and corruption rigged infrastructure, crime against women, or high taxes\u2014 all allude to the apathy of leaders towards the public and how rotten democracy in India is getting. And disturbingly, there\u2019s no remorse from those we elected to lead us. What\u2019s worse is that we, the public, have almost surrendered to this apathy. All we do is wait, wait, and wait.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read my Lips, I am Lying<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Imagine a person, the so-called messiah of the marginalized, adorned with slogans of justice, speaking only about serving the people, wearing spotless white as a symbol of purity. But beneath this veneer lies corruption, hypocrisy, and a hunger for power. The person in your imagination couldn\u2019t be any other but a power hungry politician.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Irony dies a thousand deaths in politics. Nothing illustrates this more than the opening of India’s new Parliament building in May 2023, with PM Modi referring to it as a “temple of democracy.” Yet, as per ADR<\/a> report, 46 percent of those elected in the 2024 Federal election have criminal records, including charges of rape, murder, and kidnapping. My dear fellow citizens, these are the people we sent to represent us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why take only the Largest democracy, take the oldest democracy as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

George Bush in his 1988 Presidential elections speech, asked public to Read his lips to know to speak No New Taxes, enough for him to as many say win the elections by defeating Michael Dukakis. Well well well, no wonder, America had a fiscal deficit, and Bush \u201creluctantly\u201d had to bite his tongue and increase taxes. The irony is undeniable: “Read my lips, I was lying.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Democracy: By the People, For the Leader<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Can we say Democracy was born for people and is buried by people themselves?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Winston Churchill once said, \u201cA politician needs the ability to foretell what is going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month, and next year\u2014and to have the ability afterward to explain why it didn\u2019t happen.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And so we wonder\u2014how did it come to this? How did public servants so easily detach themselves from the people they were meant to serve?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Human civilization has only been around in its current form for about 10,000 to 12,000 years. Early humans formed communities based on shared needs\u2014security, food, and survival. In such groups, leaders naturally emerged, those who could guide and inspire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For every journey to Canaan, a Moses was required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But as civilization grew, leadership became less about serving and more about manipulating. Leaders morphed into politicians, trading service for strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Democracy: Flourishing & Faltering through Ages<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Divinity to rule became one of most significant and long lasting ways to become Teflon to people criticism. It empowered rulers to not become accountable to people and parliament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In ancient Mesopotamia, King Hammurabi claimed that God had mandated him to create a set of 282 divine laws, “Code of Hammurabi<\/a>” giving him legitimacy to rule and legislate. Pharaohs of Egypt positioned themselves as intermediaries between the gods and the people, solidifying their authority to govern people. In modern history, King Louis XIV<\/a> of France became a staunch proponent to this theory.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Code of Hammurabi by the Babylonian king Hammurabi. Image courtesy of iStock<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Leadership evolved from the divine right of kings to monarchy, oligarchy, tyranny, and finally paved the way for democracy. Cleisthenes<\/a> is often referred to as the \u201cFather of Athenian Democracy.\u201d He introduced a system that gave citizens a say in legislation and governance. The word “democracy” comes from the Greek words demos<\/mark><\/strong><\/em> (people) and kratos<\/mark><\/strong><\/em> (power)\u2014a true “power of the people”. This was the leadership model, supported from Cleisthenes to Pericles, where the people held the power to decide their own fate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Cleisthenes\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>
Bust of Cleisthenes of Athens. Image courtesy of Encyclop\u00e6dia Britannica<\/figcaption>
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