Why democracy is so fragile?

Democracy is such an alluring idea. Everyone seems to favor democracy. From communist parties to democratic parties, most political parties promote democracy. The official name of North Korea is Democratic Korea. The future of democracy is assured, isn’t it?

Most people love banana. It is sweet. It is easy to peel. Most of all, it is cheap. Why it is so cheap? Many of us have heard the term banana republic. In early days, fruits were pretty expensive in America. People want to find some cheap fruits. They found banana grown in central and south America. Banana proves to be very popular, as all of us can testify today. Banana trade became very profitable for US businesses. Banana plantations expand rapidly. The planation workers want to share the success of banana production. They want higher wages. They unionized and organized strikes. The US businesses made the local governments strike down striking workers and killed many. These countries, in which the governments follow the order of powerful foreign businesses, are called banana republics.

If these central America countries are democratic republics instead of banana republics, the governments wouldn’t crack down and kill striking workers. The wages of planation workers will be higher. The profits of the US businesses will be lower. The powerful businesses prefer banana republics over democratic republics.

Most people love banana. But banana is not the only important commodity. Petroleum is an even more important commodity, the most important commodity. Most petroleum is concentrated in Middle East. If Middle East countries become democratic systems, these government, under popular pressure, would demand higher share of oil profits. When Iranian government became  democratic, it indeed demanded more control on oil revenue from Anglo Iranian Oil Company, now British Petroleum. As a result, a coup was planned by Churchill and Eisenhower to topple the democratically elected Iranian government in 1953. After that, Iran became the closest ally of US in the middle east. After Iranian revolution in 1979, Iran became a democratic country again. It became the bitterest enemy of US again.  It is no coincidence that Saudi Arabia, the most repressive regime in Middle East, is also the most reliable ally of US.

People produce commodities. People also consume commodities. If large portion of population become democratic, large portion of population will consume large amount of resources. This will put great pressure on commodity prices and affect the living standard of the dominant economies. To avoid this situation, it is essential to prevent countries with large populations to become democratic. For many years, China has been the most populous country. China was also the first republic in Asia. The democratic system in China, if unchecked, will make China a very prosperous country. To suppress the democratic growth of China, the dominant powers of the day supported the Communist Party to overthrow the government of the Republic of China. Today, China is still under the rule of the Communist Party.

Churchill "naturally had a lively sympathy for the underdog, particularly against the middle-dog, provided, and it was quite a big proviso, that his own position as a top-dog was unchallenged" (Jenkins, p. 180) The key strategy for the top dog to maintain his position is to crush the aspiring democracies, the middle-dog, by supporting the underdog.

It is very difficult for the periphery to maintain democracy. It is against the interest of the dominant powers. How about the core democracies, the dominant powers themselves? US is the most successful democratic system. In the early days of the republic, the social system was highly democratic. Shortly after the continental America finished its expansion, Civil War occurred. Power has been more and more consolidated to the federal level. Power of individuals and local governments have been eroded over time.

 In the last two US presidential elections, the voters are quite evenly split between two candidates. But almost all mainstream media support the same candidate. This means that half of the US population is not represented in the mainstream media. Due to the tremendous power of media to influence people, many voters cast their ballots against their own long term interest. Indeed, many voters already regret their voting decision. The mainstream media really represent a very small minority.

The choice of Joe Biden as the president also reflects the taste of the ruling class. Biden is very senile, apparently couldn’t understand much any more. He is an ideal figurehead. Joe Biden is the perfect symbol of the current state of democracy. US appears to be a democratic country. But the true power lies in those behind Biden, behind the façade of democracy.

The democratic system benefits the majority of the people inside the system. It is a good system. Good things are costly. This is why genuine democracy only flourishes within conquering powers, who control great amount of resources and who need to maintain high level of internal cohesion. When their conquering power wanes, their democracy wanes. In 1973, OPEC announced the increase of oil prices. The power to oil price setting switched  from major oil consumers, who are mostly democratic systems, to major oil producers. That same year, the fertility rates of most leading democratic countries dropped below the replacement rate. The fertility rates never recovered since. With low fertility, comes population aging. The leading democratic countries become more and more senile over time. They are walking towards their death bed.

Democracy is about majority rule. But all human organizations, including organizations promoting democracy, are ruled by a minority. In all businesses, you have to follow your boss. In all governments, including democratic ones, you have to follow your boss. In particular, most great conquests, the conquest of Aztec, the conquest of Inca, the conquest of the world by the British Empire, the conquest of the Wall Street and the global financial system, are carried out by a small minority. For a small homogeneous minority, it is easy to attain great internal cohesion, which is difficult to muster by a majority. Democracy is inherently prone to demolition.

Historically, most places are ruled by dictators most of the time. The technology revolution of fossil fuels enables us to command great amount of energy resources. More people command energy slaves instead of human slaves. Democracy expands and flourishes. As fossil fuels are non-renewable, democracy may be non-renewable.

References

Jenkins, Roy (2001). Churchill. London: Macmillan