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I think people have to have some feeling that they have some role in shaping their own future and that they are not just spectators on the of kings, presidents, prime ministers and so on which is on the whole what modern democracies — America, Britain, Europe — tend to do. They turn people into spectators. Spectators who can be bought by clever advertising to appear to support — but once they’ve granted their support then they’re expected just to sit back for five years and watch the great and the good they’ve elected governing the country. That is not democratic in the proper sense, but it’s better than not being able to get rid of people who govern you. So it’s a very imperfect democracy: it has no industrial elements, no democracy in the media or business, and not necessarily much democracy in education. The conclusion I’ve reached over the years is that democracy is the most controversial idea. Nobody in power wants democracy. The Pope didn’t want it: he picks all the cardinals. The Church of England doesn’t have it because the Prime Minister picks the leader. Stalin didn’t like it. Hitler didn’t like it, New Labour doesn’t like it. They just want to use an idea to control. (en) |
