Official studies on the standing of our favoured form of democracy here in Australia and it’s institutions around the world are increasingly showing that this political and social philosophy is now being seriously tested by citizen dissatisfaction — in spite of so far having more or less withstood the tests of time since 504 BC.
A democrat to the core, I have in recent times been amazed to see how the original aspects of our well-proven political system in this country is possibly being slowly whittled down by different minority groups and their way of thinking.
The activities of one of these groups goes under the heading of “Woke-ism,” a statement of dissatisfaction with some of the social and political aspects of our modern lives.
This philosophy originated with the African slaves taken to North America in the 18th Century. They used the word “woke” to remind themselves of always being ‘awake’ to their poor and unfortunate circumstances.
Woke was, however, more recently politically resuscitated with the growth of Black America’s stand against racial discrimination and segregation, and South Africa’s former Apartheid system of government.
In Australia, Woke-ism has become an ideological movement calling on occasions, for changes to our form of democracy for racial reconciliation, gender and race awareness, decolonisation and the worship of everything green.
Travelling alongside Woke-ism are the feminists who are seeking major changes in male and female relationships and social and workplace equality, two good ideals not easily achieved without causing some dissatisfaction and strains in certain quarters.
The very obvious dissatisfaction with some of the various aspects of our lives has been captured through widespread surveys and intensive data on how our citizens and those of the Democratic Western World regard their governments and their controlling instrumentalities.
One such survey was carried out by the internationally acclaimed Washington- headquartered Pew Research Centre, a strictly non-aligned “fact tank.”
This very detailed investigation found, with alarm for some people, that many of the world’s citizens have become “dissatisfied” with how their national system of democracy is working for them.
The reasons for this dissatisfaction are apparently based on the perceived failing state of their individual country’s economies through rampant inflation and anger at the way their “political elites” perform their duties and make their laws.
The Pew Research Centre research found that local political upheavals are currently fuelling this citizen level of anger against certain national leaders for the way they are allowing rapid social and other changes to occur without even hearing the voices of their ordinary citizen voters.
As we in Australia know only too well, anti-establishment and self-appointed leaders, political and social enhancers, parties and movements for agitation have emerged on both the extreme right and left of the political spectrum. In general, the followers of these groups are reported by Pew and others to be challenging fundamental norms of life and institutions of common sense, let alone of democracy itself.
Analysts from both the well-known Economist Intelligence Unit in London and the world-wide Freedom House research organisation have also recently well documented what they perceive to be the “health and ill-health of democracy.”
In my search to discover why democracy is sadly facing the threat of being watered down in certain regions, I have studied polls carried out in 27 different world States. Taken overall, an average of well over 50 per cent of people living in democratically run countries are today feeling very dissatisfied; with the remaining percentage of people considering themselves as being “just satisfied.” Italy, Spain, Greece, France and Germany are the countries most affected by heavy current voter dissatisfactions.
From the survey data, it is obvious that most people polled for their levels of satisfaction with democracy now believe that elections bring little change.
The general claim is that some politicians — consciously or unconsciously –are out of touch with those they serve, and even deceive their people on occasions. Many long- standing national legal systems in different parts of the world are also reported to be failing their modern societies.
This could possibly be said of the United States with the immediately past president pardoning his son from being sentenced for illegalities in that country’s legitimate courts of law.
The only bright spot revealed by international polling on the continued usefulness and awareness of democracy at present is the data indicating that most citizens of the world believe that their governments are attempting to at least protect them against the erosion of free expression, the lack of economic opportunities and to ensure their public safety, considering the different wars currently being waged around everybody’s ears.
From what I can see from the various poll results, we Australians are to a certain extent dissatisfied with inflation, the soaring cost-of-living and the cost and availability of home accommodation.
The “isms” of Woke and those of it’s ilk are classed more as a by- product of dissatisfaction to those of us who have fought hard in the first place for the original concept of democracy, first launched in Greece 2,029 years ago.