US of A election 2012 - freedom or illusion of choice?

Sitting on a rock called Malta, in the middle of the Mediterranean, I’ve spent a sleepless night watching the US 2012 elections and at the break of dawn, inspiration struck...the result? A political post!

Remember ancient Greek Democracy? Where Majority ruled?

            So many countries have adopted the Democratic form of government. I’m not saying it’s the best idea out there, I believe there are better ones but so far practice has not done justice unto the theory. It has been said that Democracy is the best form of government because it’s the only one that’s worked efficiently and considerably fairly for quite a few decades so far. At the moment, the world looks at America, viewing it as the superpower and following its lead in many ways. Sure, Russia was a superpower under the Communist regime, but the human factor was completely lost and the quality of life has ruined the country and its inhabitants, though the fact that people had nothing instilled good, non-materialistic values, but that is drastically changing with today’s younger generation. And sure, China’s doing economically well, but their Communist regime has a strong Capitalist back-bone that’s dominating the country’s political situation, which makes a big difference; the Communist regime has its toll – there’s no freedom or human rights apart from those of the tiny upper class, while the rest work like slaves.

Communism - great in theory, but practice hasn't done it justice.

            But what to make of the 2012 US of A elections? Is there really freedom of choice? Or are the people given an illusion of the freedom to choose?

            When the people have candidates to choose from, 4 of which have been excluded from debates and left in the shadows, the other 2 prominently in the spotlight, being Wall street founded and having spent over a million on promotion...or propaganda if you like, a piece...is there freedom of choice? In reality, does it make that much of a difference whether Obama or Romney wins? Do people vote for either because they truly believe in them? How important and precious is a vote? And does a single vote make a difference?

            In America, majority doesn't rule as such. This Democracy has moved away from the good, old Greek idea and now uses a point system. How does it work? Every state is allotted a number of points and whichever candidate gets the most votes in given state, is awarded all the points. The first person to reach the target of 270 points and above wins the election. Just as early this morning, around 5 am CET, Obama reached 274 point, courtesy of Ohio. So majority doesn't necessarily rule. Should that bother us?

Remember when Bush got elected in 2000? Bush received 271 points, while Al Gore got 266, close call, right? Well, the fact if the matter is that Bush got 47.9% of the votes, while Al Gore got 48.4% with almost half a million more votes than Mr W.

Year 2000 election map.

Plato's "The Republic"

Is this system fair? Is the system Ever fair? I mean, maybe this is the way to handle democracy, who knows? Have the Americans complained much? (Let us not get into Occupy because that’s a whole other story and a movement which I strongly support) Do you see Americans asking to re-count their votes? Think of Russian and the anti-Putin opposition protests... or of Ukraine’s election which was held merely a few days ago, people are protesting and asking to have the votes recounted...but that’s impossible because some bulletins are missing and some have simply been destroyed... So what’s there to do? Hold another election? As if that’s going to happen!! The only change will have been that the government will have given in and the opposition and the people would feel more powerful and the protests would only get worse. Plato, for one, was against democracy because he thought it was the “power of the mob”, rather than the “power of the people”!

Did you notice the other candidates at the America elections? “Russia Today” hosted a third party debate to give the candidates Jill Stein - "Green Party" and Gary Johnson - "Libertarian party", as well as Rocky Anderson - "Justice Party" and Virgil Goode - "Constitution party" some exposure and a chance to exercise the right that they have been denied – to express their opinions. I can’t help but feel sympathy towards the other candidates, especially Jill Stein. It feels like these candidates try to expose more truthful and controversial ideas, more openly and fearlessly tackling issues that Romney and Obama hardly touched upon in their debate.

Third party debate. Photo: Scott Olson.

Facing this choice – one or the other, are the people of America really choosing for their country? Voting for, say, the Green party would be merely a form of rebellion, rather than a choice, because we all know that in our time, the Green parties round the world don’t stand a chance, as much as we need them to promote a different view and give us a glimpse of a promise of change. We need someone to speak out and voice what neither of the leading candidates will say, someone has to keep them on their toes. You can also see the choice as choosing the “lesser of two evils” as Ralph Nader described this election.  

Mr Obama - 4 more years.

Obama has done pretty well in his 4 years as commander and chief. Troops are slowly being withdrawn from war zones, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” has been revoked, gay marriage is now legal in states like New York; in my opinion, maybe the intervention in the Arab Spring was a little too much (we know that America has a habit of imposing Democracy and freedom on countries that rise up against their regime, if it’s in the interests of the US of course), but overall, lots of positive change must be noted the US. We can’t be too harsh on Obama, we can’t expect someone to change the world in a span of 4 years, it takes time. I think some people take the fact that a president is a human being for granted sometimes...he’s not superman. Of course, more can always be done and one can always strive to carry things out in a better way but there are only so many hours in a day and only so many issues can be addressed in those hours, so as much as we love to criticize, we have to give Mr President the benefit of noticing the good too.

Still, I can’t help but wonder, how is it freedom of choice when the people are given two puppets and must pick one...the choice here is an illusion, but it seems to keep the people happy, and more importantly keep the people in check. At the end of the day, we don’t really make the decision ourselves; we are offered something that makes us feel as if we are making the choice.

Wake up!

To conclude, I’d like to say that all the above in merely opinions, ideas and a few facts. All I want, is to spark an interest, and if successful, my greatest hope is that you will go and research this for yourself, questions everything and most importantly – think, Think, THINK. What happens in the USA affects us all in one way or another. Now Obama, with over 100 points ahead of Romney has won and can carry on with his duties as President. There’s nothing else we can do at this point, or nothing much anyone can do, except for educate ourselves and be prepared for the fact that the state of the world isn’t all flowers and candy floss; open your eyes to the fact that we are being manipulated and fooled into becoming mindless sheep, because an obedient herd is easier to control; and break through the veil of ignorance which obscures our true mind’s eye. Escape the cave! Only you can emancipate yourself, the true choice to make here is not to follow carelessly and submit but to choose to be an independent thinker!

Choose to open your eyes and think, Think THINK! Pic by pincel3d.

I believe my favourite poem, by Percy Bysshe Shelley is most relevant here.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I sign off with “Political Greatness”.

Nor happiness, nor majesty, nor fame,

Nor peace, nor strength, nor skill in arms or arts,

Shepherd those herds whom Tyranny makes tame;

Verse echoes not one beating of their hearts;

History is but the shadow of their shame;

Art veils her glass, or from the pageant starts,

As to Oblivion their millions fleet

Staining that Heaven with obscene imagery

Of their own likeness. What are numbers knit

By force or custom?   Man, who man would be,

Must rule the empire of himself;  in it

Must be supreme, establishing his throne

On vanquish'd will, quelling the anarchy

Of hopes and fears, --- being himself alone.