Democracy works

October 21, 2022

Democracy works. The political turmoil in Britain has showed us how to get rid of incompetent and ideological leaders. It would not have been as smooth in certain other countries.

Perhaps it's the optimist in me, but I feel much better about all the political turmoil here in the United Kingdom than most.

Democracy works. Any country can end up with incompetent leaders motivated by ideology and unwilling to be challenged or take advice, and just about every country has. What happens next is what matters. Are the people stuck with those leaders, or can they be defenestrated? Not easy in non-democratic countries, where extreme measures are needed, coup d’état perhaps or a civil war. Here in Britain, the party that appointed the incompetents cleaned house. And if they had not, we would have in the next election.

The system worked. Governments are supposed to make our lives better, their raison d'être. Populism delivers the opposite. And then it feeds on itself. More dysfunctionality feeds more populism, and vice versa. One of those vicious feedback loops.

Did not happen here. The system self-corrected when both political parties took a sharp turn to the populist extremes.

That's why the schadenfreude we see abroad is misplaced. Would they have done better?

Ultimately what happened proves democracy works. What more can we ask for?

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