http://www.bloggernews.net/112946 High-quality English language analysis and editorial writing on the news. Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:36:22 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 http://www.bloggernews.net/112946#comment-225614 danny Tue, 12 Feb 2008 01:20:55 +0000 http://www.bloggernews.net/112946#comment-225614 I keep hearing people compare the US to Kenya, where allegations of vote tampering have led to riots and renewed tribal hostilities. I understand that we do not face gunfire and gangs of thugs when we vote in the United States. Whether this is better or worse than doing nothing about election fraud (the Al Gore approach) I’ll leave you to decide, but my question is: Why are we comparing the United States electoral to Kenya, rather than to the European democracies, or to Japan, or New Zealand, or even to Bolivia? Kenya, like most of Africa, is still reeling from the legacy of colonialism, and struggling under the burden of its evil stepchild, neoliberal capitalism. Kenya is a semi-developed country, about the size of Texas, with a narrow economy and a brief democratic tradition. Its middle class is new and small. The United States is the oldest democracy on Earth, the most privileged nation in history, wealthy and powerful, glutted with information and choices. We couldn’t be more different from Kenya politically. This is not a slight at Kenya – it’s a reality check for people bragging about the United States. Shouldn’t we instead compare ourselves to England, France, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Mexico, Canada, Israel, and the dozens of other “democracies” (I use quotes here because I suspect our collective understanding of that word are highly variable and vague) that followed, as did the United States, in the tradition of Athens, the Magna Carta, and the enlightenment? Maybe we compare ourselves to Kenya instead of Norway or even Bolivia because, in the realm of political participation and empowerment of the people, many of the western “democracies” are kicking our American ass, and most of the rest are at least as democratic as we claim to be. Particularly in Europe, there are more active political parties than in the U.S with more representation in government, less regulation of people’s personal lives (though more regulation of commerce), more citizen influence on the course of government (and less by industry lobbies), less dominance by advertising, and more faith in the meaningfulness of political participation – an area where Americans score quite low in every study on the matter. And understandably so, because: 1. We have so few candidates to choose from 2. We trust none of them completely and few of them at all. 3. We know money has undue influence on politics 4. We doubt our votes are counted properly. 5. We know big business runs the country anyway, and that the market is amoral. 6. We know the bureaucracy of government will continue to move lethargically and soullessly, no matter which party rules. 7. (Most importantly, perhaps) we are given bread and circuses, and see no reason to bother voting. Our lives are comfortable. I keep hearing people compare the US to Kenya, where allegations of vote tampering have led to riots and renewed tribal hostilities. I understand that we do not face gunfire and gangs of thugs when we vote in the United States. Whether this is better or worse than doing nothing about election fraud (the Al Gore approach) I’ll leave you to decide, but my question is:
Why are we comparing the United States electoral to Kenya, rather than to the European democracies, or to Japan, or New Zealand, or even to Bolivia? Kenya, like most of Africa, is still reeling from the legacy of colonialism, and struggling under the burden of its evil stepchild, neoliberal capitalism. Kenya is a semi-developed country, about the size of Texas, with a narrow economy and a brief democratic tradition. Its middle class is new and small.
The United States is the oldest democracy on Earth, the most privileged nation in history, wealthy and powerful, glutted with information and choices. We couldn’t be more different from Kenya politically. This is not a slight at Kenya – it’s a reality check for people bragging about the United States.
Shouldn’t we instead compare ourselves to England, France, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Mexico, Canada, Israel, and the dozens of other “democracies” (I use quotes here because I suspect our collective understanding of that word are highly variable and vague) that followed, as did the United States, in the tradition of Athens, the Magna Carta, and the enlightenment?
Maybe we compare ourselves to Kenya instead of Norway or even Bolivia because, in the realm of political participation and empowerment of the people, many of the western “democracies” are kicking our American ass, and most of the rest are at least as democratic as we claim to be. Particularly in Europe, there are more active political parties than in the U.S with more representation in government, less regulation of people’s personal lives (though more regulation of commerce), more citizen influence on the course of government (and less by industry lobbies), less dominance by advertising, and more faith in the meaningfulness of political participation – an area where Americans score quite low in every study on the matter.
And understandably so, because:
1. We have so few candidates to choose from
2. We trust none of them completely and few of them at all.
3. We know money has undue influence on politics
4. We doubt our votes are counted properly.
5. We know big business runs the country anyway, and that the market is amoral.
6. We know the bureaucracy of government will continue to move lethargically and soullessly, no matter which party rules.
7. (Most importantly, perhaps) we are given bread and circuses, and see no reason to bother voting. Our lives are comfortable.

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