(no subject)

[sophiaserpentia]

Of the numerous political maps discussed on the wonderful blog Strange Maps, this one of Poland's 2007 electoral returns shook me to the core. The whole series of maps forces me to reconsider everything I thought I knew about democracy.

Another earlier entry comparing the 2008 electoral results in the south to the distribution of cotton production in 1850 is worthy of note.

We tell ourselves that democracy is the interplay of ideas freely and openly discussed and considered rationally in a free marketplace of ideas. That the party that wins is the one who presented the best ideas. Presented as a more cynical view is the argument that money and campaign slogans have more to do with it. Underlying both views is the notion that every person in the republic is an independently-minded clean slate, of relative likelihood to be influenced by appeals to logic, loyalty, emotion, or fear.

It stands to reason that one's circumstance -- one's economic situation, one's background, one's cultural environment -- would play a role in making the decision. If these maps are any indication, then these factors are the only ones that really matter. IOW, whatever party becomes the one you associate with your cultural identity is the one you're going to support in the election. It should perhaps be cautioned that this may be more true in Europe than in the US, but I think it seems to bear out as fundamentally true in the US as well.

ETA. The troubling corollary to this is that democratic voting results will always fundamentally reflect the underlying racial divisions and hierarchy. The inequalities of imperialism appear to linger for hundreds of years, even long after they have supposedly become "distant history." IOW there will never be a 'free marketplace of ideas' or anything resembling any such thing.

Comments

[ankh-f-n-khonsu.livejournal.com]

No real surprises here.

However, "IOW there will never be a 'free marketplace of ideas' or anything resembling any such thing" seems like a fatalistic, biased projection. Did you take time out for this: Strategies for Revoultionaries: Government 2.0?

[sophiaserpentia.livejournal.com]

It's not an "absolute always" but an "always, until/unless there is a fundamental change in human society."

I've long thought the real focus of the revolution should be on helping people to treat one another with more generosity and respect than to change the political system. It's harder and not as exciting as toppling tyrants, but I think it is where we will see lasting change. Though, don't get me wrong, I do have my own preferences when it comes to political systems too.