Good Dictator

          We can imagine a good dictator.  Your land is suddenly without a government, some person volunteers to be head of state, or perhaps is placed in position by some foreign power, as an interim process to true democracy.  And this leader is a good person, non-violent, open and honest.  A good dictator perhaps because the dictatorship has a time limit attached, and the dictator would really like to be voted-in, once democracy is established.  One could say, using this example, that dictatorship is an evolutionary phase of democracy.
          We all love democracy so much, that we sometimes forget its failures.  Love of democracy as an ideal blinds us.  One must never forget, for example, that Adolf Hitler was democratically elected.  So one can also say that fascism is a historical phase of democracy.
          How many of the new democracies being forced into being by foreign governments inserting dictators will evolve into fascism?  It all has to do with charisma, with a solid propaganda stream.
          The idea of democracy is foreign to a good many.  A free democracy in many cultures translates to open chaos, thugs rule the streets, and beyond that all one can see (feel) is debating.  Chaos.
          An unchecked media causes harm, censorship in even the most free of democracies occurs.  All is forbidden which goes against the current propaganda.
          Someone, somewhere, has declared that the democratization of the world is essential.  Nobody questions this.  Democracy is more potent than a god, transcends all gods.
          If you ask most anyone what 'democracy' is, they'll answer:  'People vote-in their politicians.'  But as all have witnessed in recent elections, to 'vote-in' is a mild joke, and, afterall, politicians are in the business of buying and selling favors, they are all crooks.
          Democracy satisfies the rich and powerful.
          Shall all the world lurk in the shadows of the streets while thug-businessmen rule, shall there be no attention given to the sick, no education to the poor?
          What kind of world are we creating?
          A democratic one.

©wfairbrother 2003