FS - My attitude towards democracy is that it's okay to a point, in theory, but in practice it's more akin to mob rule because of the power element.
Most MPs don't seem to know what's best for their own constituencies or constituents, much less the rest of the country. They know only what's best for themselves, their friends and sponsors, their parties and lobbyists. They tend to live outside the world the rest of us inhabit. I don't think the MP for South Ribble knows (or particularly cares) what's best for the people of Tarleton or Croston, much less for the people of Lichfield, Kensington or Edinburgh, and yet they get to effect the lives of ordinary people throughout the UK.
Similarly, I don't see how a British MEP can know and vote for what's best for the ordinary people of the UK, let alone Greece, Spain, Belgium, etc. They, like their UK MP counterparts, must rely on political theory, often biased and/or incomplete reports, and lobbyists upon which to base their votes. This is all very well to a point but the kicker is that their decisions, whether right, wrong, indifferent, helpful or harmful, are then imposed on societies and communities they've never even heard of, much less visited.
I think it was Churchill who said that democracy is the least worst system of government, and I broadly agree with that. But government, as it stands today, is in my opinion a terrible system of organising society simply because of the power it assumes to have in order to impose things the people don't want on the people.
For whom do I vote, for example, if I don't want British made weapons sold to Saudi Arabia for use in subjugating Yemen? For whom do I vote if I don't want my money used to support American military adventures, corporate subsidies or banker bail-outs? For whom do I vote if I don't want a cashless society? Some tiny, one-trick party with no hope of getting "into power" so that when they lose I'll still be forced into supporting egregious actions, be forced into complicity? If I want to contribute to the good things about society like hospitals, roads and schools, why is the price for these things that I must also pay to bomb civilians, keep the Royal Family and bankrupt other countries?
The organisational potential of a body like the EU, or even a single global government, is enormous and could make our world a much better place - but giving such bodies the power to impose their decisions on the population is, in my view, the most dangerous threat civilisation faces. For me, it all boils down to one simple right - the right to say "no" and to have that right respected.
