Democracy has long been touted as the best form of government, even though the social and political connotations attached to it have changed together with the values and trends of the people. Despite appearing modern, the system of a majority vote is not, and is in fact the natural choice of any society which allows its members to voice their opinions. For example, the Ibans in Sarawak have been practicing a system of election for generations even before the State was combined with Malaysia in 1963. Longhouse chiefs were chosen by a vote, and they could also be elected out of office if they were deemed to underperform. And if the chief insisted on staying in power, the families that opposed him were free to physically dislocate their rooms from that house and to build another one elsewhere. This system works so well, it is still being practiced today in the longhouses.
Since democracy is a form of elective process that requires feedback from the people, it stands to reason that ‘people’ should mean every class, gender, or religious groups. In this way, any extremist view will be countered by another, thus balancing each other out. However, in order for the counter forces to be effective, each individual in that society must be aware of their own rights as well as feel that those rights are equal to another’s. And in addition to that, they must each have the same concept of fair-play, which is that the majority vote wins. This last factor is so important that a system of democratic election will not work in a society where individuals feel no qualms about using bribes or force to manipulate the result of the election.
Considering how dependent this system is on the ideals of equal rights and tolerance, troubles will naturally occur in societies whose values clashes with them. Setting up an election process in a country is only the first step; it will not create immediate democracy. Every society needs to live through their own process, and adapt it to their lifestyles over the years because a carbon copy government will never reflect the needs of the people.
That being said, we must not forget that a democratic state does not guarantee world peace because when a society experiences great depravity, poverty or struggles it is only natural that the people will pick leaders who they feel will get them out of their troubles. A religious society will choose a religious leader, a capitalistic society will choose a businessperson, a country where the majority is made up of blue-collared workers will choose a politician with socialistic leanings, and an angry or fearful society will choose a war-monger. The beauty of this system is, once the trouble is over and the elective system is still intact, the people will be free to choose another leader who carries a different agenda.
However, an election will not create an effective government if one gender or one class is considered by the voters to be of superior leadership material to the other, or worse still, considered to be so inferior they are not given the right to vote. Equal rights lead to equal opportunities which pave the way to better and healthier lifestyles because the needs of larger segments of the society get heard. Upheavals during such periods of transition will occur, for even those who live in the developed nations must still recall the struggles their earlier generations had experienced. The violence doesn’t make sense, the clashes were pointless, and the discrimination was unfair. Yet it still happens, because people who are scared of losing something will try to stop those who are desperate to gain something.
By giving every single individual the same opportunity, we are in fact benefiting ourselves. Discrimination closes the door of opportunity for gifted and passionate people to shine. History has also proven time and again that when we give others equal access to what we know then they will change the world where we could not. Imagine how different our views of conservation would have been if Louis Leakey had not passed along his torch to Dian Fossey, Jane Goodall, and Birute Galdikas in the study of the great apes in their natural environment. Imagine how different the world will be if we give every child in our country the same opportunities we give our children.
Sometimes, however, treating another person as an equal requires great courage because of the fear and biases that had been hammered into us. For example, a part of the world community now looks upon the word ‘Islam’ or ‘Muslim’ with fear or hate and though we may pride ourselves of being more tolerant than our forefathers, yet like them we lump these individuals into a group which in this case we named ‘terrorist’. How can a society call itself a respecter of human rights if they deem it wrong for a Muslim woman to show her love for her God by wearing a head-scarf yet at the same time socially accepting a Christian woman who wears a cross in public? If we choose not to respect the beliefs and values of a community, then we will suffer the consequences of rejecting them, and that is exactly what is happening now. Discussions and negotiations at peace talks break down not because people don’t want to compromise, but because individuals feel that they are being despised by the other party.
Everyone is responsible, because everyone is equal. There are numerous organizations on the WWW that gives out information on this issue, so there is no excuse to be ignorant. You may agree with some opinions, and you may disagree with others, but the web is a good place to learn about your responsibility to yourself and to the people of the world.
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