I was reading this today in the NYTimes:
Pakistanis Deal Severe Defeat to Musharraf in Election
By CARLOTTA GALL and JANE PERLEZ
Early results showed equal gains for Benazir Bhutto’s Pakistan Peoples Party, and the Pakistan Muslim League-N, the faction led by the former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif.
Democrats Make Populist Appeals Before Contests
By JOHN M. BRODER and JEFF ZELENY
Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama are pushing their party further from the business-friendly posture once championed by Bill Clinton.
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I don't want to make this a long post, and it probably should be, but let me cut to the chase and make my case...
My tenet on why democracy is not such a good idea, stems from the idea in leadership that trust must be earned, not given.
It's a real mistake in leadership and management to trust people with capability when they haven't proven to you they can handle the responsibiilty.
The same goes for democracy.
Today we have all these populist governments arising around the world and essentially it's do to one thing above all others: time span.
People will narrow time span think in terms of now--what have you done for me lately. This is ripping whole countries and soon it will rip the world to pieces.
For a long time, we have decried leadership which was authoratative. Yet, until people earn their trust, and the capability around freedom, we'll continue to imperil the world with populism.
In my view, populism arises when too much authority, with too narrow a vision reigns for too long. People want what they want, and with democracy they can get it through the vote.
Yet, if their time span is too narrow, their thinking becomes short-term and we fail to understand the true complexity of creating a safe, secure and properous environment for all.
You can say what you want about capitalism and it does have flaws, yet, it has been proven to be the most effective tool in eliminating poverty--although you can disagree with how some people use it for sure.
Simply, if you allow your kids to make decisions for your family's future, you won't have one, because people with a narrow time span, think about today and can't think about tomorrow.
Populism and democracy will produce some real errors around the world and as the US debate this year heats up, I believe populism will win for precisely the reason it shouldn't--and that is, somebody better think long-term.
At this point, it doesn't look all that positive to me.
For what it's worth, my new book project looks at how to produce resilience in an uncertain future, so you may try there if you believe like I do--resilience is going to be the only way to stem the probability that populism will take the lead in the short term around the world. Go to: http://www.upping-the-downside.com to get your free report.
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