What Future For Democracy

How will humanity deal with the many challenges we face this century including competition for finite resources, food, energy, population control, migration, security, healthcare, protection of our natural resources, soil, water, clean air, the marine environment, our threat to the planet's biodiversity, the implications of climate change and our ongoing blind obsession with economic growth above all else?

It is becoming apparent to me that to address these overwhelming problems, to deal with climate change and energy security, to actually make a meaningful difference then everyone in the developed world needs to make large, rapid and uncomfortable cuts in their standard of living.

Making small sacrifices may reduce our own carbon footprint but the reduction required is so enormous that this alone will only play a small part in any solution.

It is unlikely that we will ever elect politicians with a manifesto of banning most long haul flights, reducing meat consumption, car ownership and promoting sustainable food production that returns the populace to eating only in season food grown in the locality. Who would support the end of convenience foods, supermarket dominance and cheap food imported from the far off corners of the world?

The day will come when we will have to deal with building sustainable communities. Do we wait for the tidal wave of wars and diminished resources before acting? Do we wait for a natural culling of the human population before taking action?

Turning the habits and addictions of the world's population around is a task that many feel is impossible. Yet if we don’t act what will the future hold? How will the next generation deal with the disasters they will undoubtedly face? What advise can we give them? How will we prepare them? Is their any solution we can provide them?

Are we even willing to examine the impacts of our lifestyles and consumption on future generations? Do we even really care about the next generation?

It would appear from the evidence at hand that we do not. The UNEP conference in Copenhagen was an abject failure. We still question the validity of climate change science even when the evidence is clear. We appear unwilling disinterested and unconcerned about the future, yet we all hope that it will be better than today.

It appears to be evident that urging people to act for the common good simply does not work. As a species we appear too selfish or ignorant to act responsibly. So what will the solution be if indeed there is one?

Historically democracy has only flourished as long as the promise of continued economic growth, security and more for everybody has been the goal. Our future now appears to clearly show that this may not be possible for much longer.

So the question must be asked, for how long can democracy survive as we know it?

The recent past has clearly shown us the limits of sustainability, we have witnessed how for a market to survive we must restrain development. The economic crisis is a visible example of how the pillars of civilisation depend on a strong foundation of protecting the common interest. In the past two years here in Ireland we have been faced with many challenges and each challenge offers an opportunity for change. Yet change has not come. Our Government have invested our futures in a failed economic model that may ultimately bring most of our world's biodiversity to the brink of extinction. Our Government could have provided the seed of change for the rest of the world to follow, we could have dismantled our economic model and transformed it into something new. Instead our economy is broken, we have 450,000 people on social welfare drawing benefit but not providing any service to the state. We also have one of the largest growing population of pensioners who also benefit from the state and a dwindling population of workers bearing the cost for everyone.

This is completely unsustainable and isn’t working, we are only surviving as a nation by obtaining international loans to the tune of over €20 billion this year to fill our budget deficit and pay our public sector. As our nation's debt continues to skyrocket at the rate of €400 million a week the very foundations of our state weaken. We must accept that out economic system is broken; we have builders and developers who cannot access credit and who owe billions in loans to banks, we have banks that can no longer lend and businesses that can no longer survive without credit and finally we have more people becoming unemployed. In many respects we are experiencing Government that can no longer govern, a political system that stumbles from one crisis to the next that is no longer in control of their destiny but controlled by events outside their control.

Where will it all end?

It may be that in our generation we will see that our cherished democratic system is no longer capable of resolving our current predicament. What then for the future?

Do we just wait to see what happens or take our future into our own hands?

If we must act what changes would you demand? We don’t have much time...