Enough Democracy!

Predictably enough, the vote-tallying snafu engineered by the DNC in Iowa coupled with Iowa's weighted caucus system that gives rural counties a more equal vote than others, has evoked cries to change the system. What's wrong with a simple majority vote?! Why should Iowa be the first pirmary anyway?! While these rhetorical questions are valid, they miss an underlying issue. Once again, Rome.

As the three or four students of Roman history in the United States might recall, the history of the Empire is one of chronic wars of succession relieved by shorter or longer periods of “stability and peace” in which a grateful and exhausted nation sought to recover. Most texts portray these wars as or battles between ambitious ego-maniacs grasping at the throne. But they were more than that. For the most part, the protagonists were point men for rival class, economic, or regional interests. More than just ego-driven “revolts,” they were the equivalent of an electoral process, in which different partisans compete. It has been said that in Rome politics was a blood sport.

The common feature of a “battle” and an “electoral process” is that both require and represent a tremendous martialing of resources. Then as now, behind every arrow or sword lies a legion of hewers of wood and blacksmiths and smelters, to say nothing of tanners and tailors and all the craftsmen needed to equip an army. But the social product does not end there. Then as now every campaign also included publicists and image consultants to make the contenders' case to the Senate and to the public. Making the case included putting on spectacles or “donating” some kind of public work. Running for emperor was an expensive proposition.

The greatest and most devastating effect, however, was the fact that the legions “lived off the land” which is a polite way of saying that they stole their food from the inhabitants who were unlucky enough to be in their campaigning path. Imperial elections in Rome were quite literally devastating.

Presidential elections in the United States are equally exhausting. Of course the media talk about elections as if they were “battles” but they do so in an insipid way that considers this to be “just a metaphor.” Not. While electoral campaigns are increasingly -- and outrageously -- costly, it is true that their proportional economic impact does not equal those of Rome's electoral wars. Instead, the devastation of American elections is wreaked upon the country's social capital.

As with individuals, a healthy civic society needs to be psychologically balanced. Societies, as individuals, can “only do so much.” Both must apportion their attention and energies. To give a simple example: exercise is necessary and good, but a man who becomes consumed by running or weight lifting or tennis neglects other aspects of his life which are equally required for health. He falls into being an obsessive fetishist. All individuals must devote a portion of time to the work of survival, but also to pleasures of leisure. They must devote time to their children and to forming relationships outside the family circle. Lastly, in a democracy, they need to set aside time for for civic participations and to thinking and discussing the needs of their greater “home”. The point of discussion is not to have a discussion but to make some correction or improvement in our collective life - the building of a school, the policing of streets, the preservation of water quality and so on. The expectation is that with such things accomplished we can go on to other things that make life enjoyable and worth living. With too much politics, the means consumes the ends.

But it gets worse. As with spectator sports, spectator politics is simply junk action. The man who sits in front of a teevee getting a vicarious thrill of combat while munching cheezoh's and drinking beer doesn't even get the benefit of exercise. The same can be said for the “political junkie” whose brain gets filled with endless political chatter devoid of civic accomplishment Both simply become useless, pathetic addicts. The endless chatter and clatter ultimately becomes uniform and meaningless. I would wager that one could run news interviews, reports and talk shows from 1988 and no one would notice the difference. People who value their time and sanity simply tune out.

No ruling class ever wants the ruled to have a say in their affairs. The trick is to engage the masses while disengaging them. Politics as the opiate of the masses is precisely want the ruling oligarchies want to see. A politics that consumes energy and focus while accomplishing only exhaustion after, perhaps, a brief moment of euphoria Endless democracy ends up being no democracy.

American democracy is a farce on many levels. But the worst aspect of the farce is turning a four year electoral cycle into an never ending electoral war. What gets devastated is the citizen's civic tolerance. The whole thing becomes tiresome; oft repeated promises ring hollow and meaningless rhetorical generalities dissipate in their own vapour.

There is no reason for a two year long election cycle, in which one and a half years are handed over to organizing, speechifying and primaries spread over successive months followed by a pointless carnival convention and a grand finale of sturm und drang. No other country handles elections in this manner. Elections in European countries are over in a matter of months. Voting is uniform and conducted on a single day with at most a run-off shortly thereafter.

This is not to say that politics goes to sleep at all other times. Of course not. But, at those other times, politics arises in connection with the ordinary, daily business of government. To promote a bill, to read about a policy, to discuss a particular pending issue that is of personal interest is not the same thing as being overwhelmed by the multi-front battle-ballyhoo of a campaign.

It is time to put some real democracy into the political circus. Personally, Barfo would prefer scrapping the current system altogether and reverting to a Parliamentary democracy. Way short of that, the primary season should be reduced by requiring all primaries to be held on a single day in the Spring when the weather is good and people are not snowed in. Winner-take-all voting should be eliminated. Voting should be unweighted with no preference to any geographic area. Conventions should also be held on the same day, in June. Elephant hats, donkey whistles, streamers and baloons should be prohibited. 

Next, we kill all the consultants!

©barfo 2020