Democracy and control of Citizens
We have recognized that humans in groups larger than 150
require an external form of behavioral regulation that is ephemeral and must be
renewed continuously. The invention and enforcement of rules occur within
hierarchical organizations that, by their own nature are autocratic and
self-serving. Citizens living in democracies must prevent subgroups with vested
interests from achieving control over critical functions such as the money
supply, police, courts and military forces. Subgroups are always competing for
resources and control so that the freedom promised in an ideal democracy cannot
be considered stable and enduring. The preservation of democracies requires an
energetic and well educated population of activists who are prepared to defend
freedoms and privileges on a daily basis. The preservation of freedom in
democracies also depends on a well educated and dedicated population of civil
servants who can administer complex infrastructures competently and honestly.
Elected politicians are seldom competent administrators and
must depend on senior civil servants for management skills. One weakness of
democratic governments is that personnel and policies are in constant flux
because of the instability of political processes. This weakness is also
strength since truly democratic elections can shuffle the deck so that power
bases, among both elected official and civil servants are disrupted at regular
intervals. The trade-off is less competent administration in favor of less
dictatorial government. The greater evil is clearly the emergence of a powerful
government that assumes dictatorial powers and cannot be opposed or
displaced.
Another weakness is that governments grow large and
unmanageable. Bureaucratic inefficiency, indifference and incompetence is well known
and tolerated only because there is no obvious alternative. In Canada, optimism
and idealism is sometimes expressed as compassion for refugees and a
willingness to welcome immigrants from all over the world. While the result has
been mostly positive, newcomers are sometimes hostile to Canadian culture,
disregard laws, engage in criminal activity and dream of taking over the
country sometime in the future. Group identity and affiliations established
early in life tend to endure and will often override later alliances
established after immigration. The tendency in Canada is for immigrant groups
to maintain their native language and traditions and to resist assimilation
into Canadian culture. A host society has limited capacity to assimilate
newcomers. When this capacity is exceeded, the newcomers change the society
more that the society changes the newcomers.
Canada, like the USA and many European countries has become
mosaic of different ethnic groups with the separate, sometimes incompatible,
traditions, languages, beliefs, values and goals.
From Surviving Human Nature by Stephen Gislason
From Surviving Human Nature by Stephen Gislason