Churchill is to have said, ”The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter,” mitigating this somewhat provocative remark with, ”Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others.” His words reveal why most of the world´s democracies favour political representation as opposed to direct democracy, with a number of democracies going as far as outlawing referendums.
Even if not completely sharing Margaret Thatcher´s views that referendums are, “A device of dictators and demagogues,” there is an obvious awareness that the will of the people is an extremely fragile democratic tool and easily manipulated. In this context, Facebook et al and the ability for harvesting personal data have been a game changer of enormous proportions. If fascism was the scourge of the 20th Century, populism is leading the race just 22 years into this Century.
At first sight the voice of the people may seem to never have been stronger, with every Tom, Dick and Harry (OK, I know) being able to share opinions on social media platforms to large audiences. Ironically, instead of furthering democracy, this cultural revolution has translated into a superficial will of the people often giving no heed to logic or consequence and, once reality sets in as after Brexit, demanding reality be castrated.
The Brexit referendum split the UK in two. There is little point in raising doubts about its legitimacy or its flaws. These should be saved for political processes demanding change for the future. For now, done is done. Half the nation mourned the loss of their EU citizenship and its benefits and the other half got what they voted for, either unaware of these benefits or not caring.
This rather highlights the problems associated with populism. A dishonest or laissez-faire attitude towards reality or just plain ignorance are not prescriptions for a successful future. The reality now, is that the UK is no longer a member of the EU. The reality now, is that this has consequences and that these consequences have to be dealt with.
In the words of Abraham Lincoln, “You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.”
Just a matter of time in other words.
PS
Send more HIMARS!