Think Democracy is Nonsense? Say It out Loud

3 Jul
2010

Bangkok’s Democracy Monument (photo credit: minikin on Flickr)

The Nation’s Thanong wrote this on Twitter (h/t Bangkok Pundit) :

Don’t be misled by Freedom, Human rights, Democracy, globalisation and other crazy fashionable ideas. They are poisonous and hollow.

And this is what PAD’s Sondhi Limthongkul said on ASTV two months ago :

Sondhi also opines that he does not believe in the majoritarian system because Parliament is a place of evil. He will fight against the one-man-one-vote system because he wants a ‘Dharma-ocracy’ instead. If Mr Abhisit cannot achieve it, there should be a military coup. He adds that no one is bloodthirsty; people are just doing their duties.

Look, people like these two actually deserve some credits for speaking their minds so clearly. As a friend told me a while ago, these openly anti-democratic folks are much, much more tolerable than those confused, delusional politicians and elites who claim to stand for democracy but whose actions suggest otherwise.

Adding to that, ‘democracy’ is a loaded term anyway, and there are plenty of perfectly valid criticisms that can be made against what we perceive as a democratic system of government in today’s world. Is representative democracy the best system of government out there? Do politicians really listen to the people? Do ethics matter in politics? Some of what people like Sondhi say may sound crazy, but one should not be so quick to dismiss all of them as irrelevant or outdated. What Thailand really needs today is a serious, honest debate about the kind of politics we want to see and why. Everyone, at least within reasonable limits, should be free to voice their opinion without any inhibition or threats. I would encourage more of those who share Thanong’s and Sondhi’s views to similarly speak up rather than continue to pretend to love democracy for whatever fuzzy reasons they can think of.

p.s. In Sondhi’s case, why he still remains a co-leader of a movement that calls itself an alliance for “democracy” is beyond me.

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4 Responses to Think Democracy is Nonsense? Say It out Loud

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Saksith

July 3rd, 2010 at 11:16 pm

I’m going on a limp a bit: May be there’s some truth in these apparently lunatic statements and I agree with your thoughts that a healthy and level-headed debate about the future of Thailand would be more than welcome.

After all, that’s one of the basic principles of a democratic culture, isn’t it?

Avatar

Hobby

July 4th, 2010 at 1:36 am

Some countries let David Irving have his say too, but it doesn’t mean his views should be taken seriously (other than as a study in how a warped mind works, and the dangerous directions it can take)

It sad that Thailand is in such as state that people are prepared to take the views of people like Sondhi L & Thanong K seriously – and there are plenty of other warped minds that can be added to that list (most Nation journalists & Vasit D quickly come to mind:) :(

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David Brown

July 4th, 2010 at 6:56 am

Democracy is not perfect, its just better than other ways of organising the government of a country

its definitely better for almost all the people than being ruled by a few operating symbiotically with an out of control military as is the case in Thailand

and the main reasons that it is better are:

-all the people have the right to pass judgement on their Members of Parliament on a regular basis

-the government is only composed of elected people

-the whole process is controlled by a stable Constitution that is created and only modified by a free and fair vote of all the people

-all institutions, including the military and the monarchy operate under control of the government operating with the authority of the people.

regular elections means accountability!

noone is always happy but everyone every 3 or 4 years has the opportunity to register their choice for their MP and hence the government.

see for example: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westminster_system

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Ben

July 10th, 2010 at 12:09 am

It’s a lot easier to expose our presuppositions and shake our views, for the better, if we talk things through out loud.

“Do we want democracy?” The question is a bit “taboo” (we’re not supposed to plainly express any hint of doubt here!). Even so, I think these kinds of discussions are productive. They expose what people really are afraid of, what’s a genuine problem, and what can be done in response.

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