Is democracy the only way? Rory Stewart at TEDxHousesofParliament
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- čas přidán 29. 07. 2012
- Now the Member of Parliament for Penrith and the Border, in rural northwest England, Rory Stewart has led a fascinatingly broad life of public service.
In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)
The way he constructs his arguments are just fantastic.
what, logically? rare, isn't it.
Rory Stewart is far and away the best candidate for Tory leader, and prime minister. Intelligent, honest, talented and with a hinterland that most politicians can only dream of. I wish him well.
I love him but unfortunately it’ll be Boris, hopefully he’ll again run in years to come and succeed because his policies are fantastic for the tories
I agree, he is smart, composed and a future leader for sure! However I don't think he should become PM just yet as Brexit will overshadow his abilities. He would make a great PM in a stable period where significant change is not imminent.
I agree. Would that all the candidates had his clarity and intelligence. He's one of the few Tories I can imagine voting for.
Yep - maybe he'll become PM with the LibDems
@@tcarnell79 good call and you may very well be right.
11:09 "Politicians also need to learn occasionally to say: certain things voters want, certain things voters have been promised, may be things that we cannot deliver, or perhaps we that feel we should not deliver." Rory Stewart, 2012 (4 years prior to the Brexit referendum).
@Neal Murfitt No, the problem is that the leave campaign promised that leaving and negotiating a new deal would be easy, and we'd end up with a much better deal than we already had. How exactly are MPs supposed to deliver a border for Northern Ireland that runs on *magic*? And a trade deal that gives the UK its current access to the single market, but instead for free, and without regulatory oversight by EU standards bodies? These things are undeliverable!
Scott Lowe @13.45 it’s not enough for the people to trust the politicians, politicians have to trust the people.
@Neal Murfitt Politician promises to turn lead into gold. People vote him in. He can't do it. It is that simple. At some point you have to stop trying to turn lead into gold.
@@adrianli7757 capitalism works for some but not for everyone. If you have capital you're free but if you don't you're screwed. Its a dog eat dog society
@@johno3174 the politicians trusted the public over brexit and look what happened
What democracy needs to work (in my opinion).
an informed population
access to information on the state.
no government corruption.
respect for the rule of law and a rule of law that’s fair for all.
a democracy where all are equal and no one is more equal than others.
a press that works on promoting the above and informing the population when it fails.
a press that promotes facts and leaves the opinions to the voter.
no propaganda.
For the voter he/she needs to understand and respect what democracy, the rule of law and what a free press is and should be as respectful to it as they want would want the government to respect them.
The role of the state and its citizens is a constant feedback loop. Between the hopes and wishes of the citizens which should inform the state, and the state should act for the citizens. like the parent should not disappoint the child its also the child’s responsibility not to disappoint the parent so it should be for democracy.
If you agree with any of the above, ask yourself this. Do you live in a democracy? And if not how do YOU help fix it.
I genuinely don't understand why u haven't had comments for that amazing comment in the past 2 years!!!!!!!
You hit the nail on the head.
I am an indian. And democracy sucks here. To take any decision , it takes 40-50years here. You can take decision s only when there is a majority party.
Decision making process is always delayed or hindered by opposition for the sake of appeasement of their vote banks.
Communist china has lifted 300 millions people out of poverty. India has pushed 100 millions into poverty.
Only idiots or sugarcoaters only become leaders in a democracy rather than a competent person.
An average person has no idea about country's economy, foreign policy, etc. They votes on the basis of emotions and appeasement rather than information.
Plato has said more about these problems.
You are old and behind the times. Direct democracy participatory democracy is the way to go, using technology - but you boomers still own Nokias. Am i right huh?
There is actually no proper definition of what democracy is, just like there has been no proper definition of what normalcy is.
Another "Best Prime Minister We Never Had". Sadly in recent times, the UK seems to be particularly inclined to this.
Who are the other ones?
What happened in his PM campaign? Did he just not have enough MP backing?
@TheCaptainsquiggle When May stepped down he put himself forward but lost out in the voting rounds, ultimately Boris Johnson was voted in as leader
The title had me thinking he was going to be up there talking about a viable alternative to democracy, not trying to argue that democracy is important because people want it, regardless of whether or not it actually works better than other systems.
I like and respect this guy a lot. The only thing I find utterly baffling is that he's a Tory.
That's exactly what I thought. I'd like to believe he's non partisan at heart. He's so pragmatic in his approach I think it's possible.
Sadly Tory has come to mean a dogmatic Thatcherite monetarist ,corner shop mentality. Fiscal Darwinism even if the weaker that does not survive is their own nation.
It is not the entrepreneurial ,energetic, one nation Tory of the past.
Churchill,MacMillan and other "Tories " would feel no kinship with todays narrow minded ,penny skrimping tory.(Small "t")
Unbelievably even the name "Tory" was a Scots name for outlaw,from the Jacobite era.
Hard to look at May or Mogg and see outlaw isn`t it?
Freddie Cunningham if u can’t beat them join them
@@billycaspersghost7528 Would rather subscribe to that than be a socialist driving the country into the ground, AGAIN...
He's obviously a tory, where all of the greatest minds in politics have been for the last 200 years
We make the mistake of equating voting with democracy. It is about participation in decision making!
Most people I know can't decide what to eat tonight. I don't trust the majority of population to make proper decisions. But I rather randomly vote privileged selected elites to make the decisions for us.
@@WayneHuo that's the idea.
"the best qualities traditionally associated with
modern democratic government stem from citizenship and the rule of law,
both of which may be separated from democracy per se." - Loren J. Samons
@@WayneHuo I also like this idea but sadly the majority is against and maybe that's a good thing but maybe isn't. My trust in democracy was deeply weakened by the election of Donald Trump and populists in Europe. Im actually pretty stressful about the future of EU. Its an organisation which is built on liberal values(rule of law, minority rights, free press, solidarity). The end of the EU is basically a win for neonazism and a turn point for my continent
Decent, honest, intelligent, self deprecating, modest, the quintessential decent Brit. Yup no chance of being Party Leader. Next time Rory!
Niall Martin I had £50 on Rory at Ladbrokes. Better luck next time.
Cosima Von Liebenau top guy.
The quintessential decent Brit??!! Ask all those who were colonized if they share that rose tinted view!
Next time won’t be long.
@@Zenoithegreek actually quite a few former subjects of the crown want the British to come back
Vigorous and vibrant democracy. My god you are a great politician throwing pretty but empty words at us.
The present tory party and Britain needs Rory back on board NOW........ a man of sensibility and honesty...
He is very good. I only fear that he may be too intelligent to be understood my most of the voters...
That's possible. But he is everything that everyone keeps saying they want: intelligent, forthright and so on...So we will probably get Boris: who is clever and devious etc.
@@tomthumb2361 clever and boris do not belong in the same sentence
I would welcome this guy as a Tory leader,I would like him to delivery what was voted on (Brexit) very interested to see how he would engage with the media and public.
He is "too good" for PM - can you really imagine him having to chair cabinet meetings and deal with people like Chris Grayling & Esther McVey! Who could he choose to form a cabinet that has sufficient calibre?
never a man too good for an important state role. You pjt hin on the position, nd he will show you how. read book:from good to great, best leaders are innately kind, mostly introvert.
Too true, but he surely wouldn't select people as moronic as the current crop 🤮 Although I hate most tories, there are some good ones - Rory (who's since said he isn't really dogmatically a tory anyway 😊) Dominic Grieve, even Philip Hammond - not many I grant you, but better than the incompetent neo-fascists who are there at the moment 💩💩💩
Lesser minds feel threatened by honest intellectuals like Rory Stewart. Regrettably he will find it very difficult to convince fellow MP’s to support him for the top job. Give him a few more years.
As much as I like Rory Stewart, I can't escape the fact that his perspective is based on a romantic view of British imperialism, and faith in British interventionism.
In this case, there is nothing romanticised about his view - he himself was involved with British interventionism and has seen firsthand how beneficial it can be. I don't really understand your comment about imperialism though.
@@jackhutchings9640 How beneficial was it in Iraq? And which country that was colonised by Britain benefitted from it?
@@jackhutchings9640 How would you feel about German imperialists bringing civilisation to Britain forceably? That might help you understand the problem with imperialism.
@@fergusmurphy8310 anything that would improve my quality of life is a good thing. However, I find it hard to believe that German imperialism would benefit me or anyone else.
@@jackhutchings9640 So you would accept foreign rule if your quality of life improved... You are amoral? And thankfully you don't decide for everyone.
And still you give no explanation for condoning British imperialism which destroyed so many lives.
Rory is a good, intelligent man.
The question you ask people is not whether they want a say. You are also asking them whether all their neighbors should also get a vote. That may get you another answer.
He gave this speech 7 years ago but 11:08 to 11:27 could have been written today about Brexit. Very prescient.
But then again “politicians need to trust the public“. Having your cake and eating it.
Love the ending of the speech, “politicians need to trust the public. “
Something Labour and Lib Dems learnt the hard way in the most recent election
And Rory spent most of his last 3 years in parliament showing pure mistrust of the public
Sounds like a politician though. What about when the people are wrong?
@@congressionalresearchinsti3897 as Ricky Gervais said let's stop asking the public what they think 😆
Not sure whether its a case of right or wrong though. Just differences of opinion
"Democracy matters because it's democracy, not because it has any use". Incredible take and reasoning, I could have never thought of this, I really wonder why people don't like politicians.
So true. An explanation of everything that has gone wrong (I believe) in the Uk, which is my country.
The closest thing to the Brian Cox of politics. A great shame he was knocked out of the leadership race. the country would do better under him than the remaining options......
Rory is a decent man, a level-headed thinker and an honest western politician. The only problem with his argument is that democracy does not necessarily bring peace, stability/order, prosperity or even justice; and sometimes if not very often, democracy creates insecurity, conflicts, injustice and under-development in many parts of the developing world. The real question is not so much about whether a democratic system should be imposed on another country as about whether it is inherently necessary and ethical to discriminate against other fundamental values by treating political liberty as some sort of unquestionable overriding value dominating everything else. The reality in Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan and many other places where western intervention has played a decisive role in shaping the nation building experience of those peoples does not seem to justify the western logic.
Rory is very impressive in his analysis and oratory, and always interesting to listen to. You can see that he would have never be acceptable as a leader of the Conservative party. Sad that he is a Tory, and on the union side of the Scottish independence issue.
Great conclusion. I hope that the ability to deselect by petition will reassure the public that they have a real say ... The idea of safe seats is wrong. Originally individuals were elected locally and only joined a party once an MP. That might be a good way forward. To go back to that.
An open question for every proponent of democracy is this; what if the people of a given region or country vote to attack their neighbors, or to attack minorities within their own borders? This has happened far too frequently to be listed here. I write this in 2021 and after the fall of Kabul, I can't help but think that Afghans all along supported the Taliban. There was, after all, no real resistance to their taking over. So what do we do if they then vote in the Taliban? And what if the Taliban then says to the world, we need to expand Islam and rule of Sharia law and the use of force and terrorism is fine by us? That would after all be the will of the Afghan people. Do we have to invade and impose "western" values again? Wouldn't that simply be imperialism in another form?
The greatest problem for democracies (and much much more) is that we humans have an innate individual selfishness. Probably designed by the evolutionary system of life with the intention of it being one form of self preservation (amongst others). However, in the globalized consumer world we have created, that selfishness is perpetually stimulated thus reaching such elevated levels that it works against such things as the honesty, intergrity, cultural commonality and objectivity that all citizens must basically feel are common principles they uphold in order to make their democratic nation actually work for all.
Ah, before the referendum in 2016, soooooo much has changed, just for starters, NO MORE DEMOCRACY
How lovely that he tells us of the things we have leaned while interfering with other countries to enable us to interfere more efficiently in the future. It seems paradoxical to me that we can dictate to a country Iraq, Afghanistan or wherever, that they MUST have democracy and call that democratic.I have never experienced democracy personally as I live in Britain, a country without proportional representation.
What he is talking about is not a democracy but a Republic.
Where the people wield the power, NOT big money interests.
Money has to be taken out of the decision making process.
That’s a false dichotomy. A definition of “republic” is, “A political order in which the supreme power lies in a body of citizens who are entitled to vote for officers and representatives responsible to them”. The United States is a republic. A common definition of “democracy” is, “ A government by the people, exercised either directly or through elected representatives”. The US is a representative democracy.
In fact, the US is a constitutionally limited representative democratic republic.
This speaker talks of "We" as the ruling class. And "they" the citizens and voters. "We need to tap the energies of our people" As opposed to "our country needs to tap the energies of our people". It's way more than a matter of semantics. It's a point of view of "We" the rulers and "they" the people "/subjects".
OurNation, by "We" he means "We who were elected to do a job." That's OK by me.
it’s just honesty. He is an elected representative; you are not. It’s his duty and responsibility to try and make a better country for us. What’s wrong with acknowledging that?
Just excellent
"somewhere between a snake, a monkey and an iguana."
Steady on Rory, you don't look quite that bad
The Conservative party had an opportunity to make Rory Stewart their leader when Theresa May stepped down. Instead they voted in the popular Boris Johnson. I think it's a mighty shame that we will miss out on people like Rory Stewart: hard-thinking, considerate, almost non-politician-like
That's like saying the way we govern is more important than the service it actually delivers... Isn't the question about finding the best form of government that maximizes the happiness of the people?
I just want to point out that in the 2019 UK politicians class referendums tools of totalitarianism and following the democratic result following a referendum authoritarian. I call it undemocratic to not follow what the democratic process have given the country.
What we should be investigating is not how to rehabilitate the politician, but how to to away with politicians. With AI we can now make many decisions and policies without the ever corrupt influence of politicians and the lobbyists.
That's the worst idea ever.
We need to remove the election of representatives altogether and adopt sortition and citizens assemblies. Sortition is essentially jury-duty applied to the political environment.
The sortition criteria should require a high school education and this would truly be representative; it would also require a comprehensive education and training program over a period of 2 years.
The education and training program would cover units on constitutional law, human rights, separation of powers, committees, budgets, consultations, etc.
We would still have elections but it would be for platforms and policies and not politicians and personalities. Sortition members would serve for 5 years and would obviously not be up for re-election.
States and districts could deliver their election results in the form of detailed policy mandate certificates and compel sortition members to vote precisely along those lines.
A Parliamentary ombudsman could enforce compliance in this regard; you could also get a demographic snapshot of an entire constituent by creating citizens assemblies comprised of 99 members that would ensure that representatives voted precisely how they their constituents directed them to.
These 99 people could recall representatives at any time if they voted contrary to the policy mandate certificate. This system would ensure and enforce continuous accountability instead of kicking the can down the road every 4 years.
The public should also be able to repeal laws they fundamentally disagree with or regard as unjust through Referendums -- just as in Switzerland. Course correction is essential hence my emphasis on these mechanisms.
Here's the actual question: is imperialism the only way?
This speaker simply says: democracy is a religion. It brings things that a religion does, nothing more.
Never thought i could say but i like this speech. Nice words. Everything is right. BUT u forgot to say that in order to let people do certain things, to take certain decision, like trust in politicians or to take right decisions (and not just a belly decision) that leads to a specific vote, people have to be informed, have to desire to be informed, have to desire to know the truth (or something near it). And governments have control over education wich is first and most important step to make people, to make citizens. SO what do u teach in your schools? Do u teach a lot of philosophy, do u teach kids to think with their own minds, to think outside the box? Or do u teach that firs and most important rule in life, so basic that there is no need to tell, write or explain it, is doggy dog or if u prefer "mors tua vita mea" (like i recently discovered is anglo-saxon school sistem)? What do u teach kids, to follow the flock because it's easier and because everyone does so (and this means that it's right), or do u teach to be strong in own beliefs, to improve beliefs when they are tested and mistake are found, to fight against common sense and agains irrational beliefs, to fight against the world if needed? Do u teach "I'm and will be in harmony with other people, animals, plants, all life as it is." or do u teach "I'm the best, i want to be the best, this is right, i will be the best!, no matter what!"?
Democracy isn't really about having a say, in my opinion. For example if I choose between unknown A and unknown B then I haven't made anything that could meaningfully be called a choice. Even if we imagined that I had done some very basic research my voice would be the equivalent of blowing into a hurricane, could it be said I had made a meaningful difference? I see democracy as an unconscious expression, like mountains or trees. And I think our self-serving or incompetent or Machiavellian government is exactly the government we deserve.
Of course, Democracy is still by far the best option known (or at least that I know of).
Real World calling Ed.
@@valvlog4665 How do you have so much free time?
Was said that never have electorates been better educated, aye theres the rub, now many can see the glaring faults of democracy with most elected members of parliament having little or no political experience of government and all, as was said, trying to be all things to all men and all women. The verticle system of government of China at least has its members having about 30 or more years of governing provinces before getting elected to the top echelons of government by their peers. This system has worked incredibly well for China lifting 800 million people out of poverty in about 40 years since 1980. No Democratic system has ever achieved success at this amazing time frame. Surely this alternative system of government should be honestly assessed and respected.
I can barely hear this video. Could I respectfully request that volume is considered with video posted on here. I am hard-of-hearing and can hear less than half the videos posted; I'm sure that I'm not alone. All other disabilities are catered for, apart from hearing loss.
moonbuilder there are subtitles if it helps.
Enable "Captions" on video..
no democracy is not the only way but it suits to US and its western allies for maintaining their hegemony and exploitative policies so that's why they are keenly interested in democracy. If suppose today dictatorship suits them they will opt and prefer it.
People vote but politicians do what they choose to do anyhow so how much democracy is there really?
What does Rory Stewart have to say now, after the ten years since then? What does he think the world is becoming, now that the World Economic Forum has finally swung its ideas into action?
I've yet to hear of a better way.
A republic with limited democracy?
Democracy is when those who make decisions on your behalf have the duty to ask for your consent first. Today's republics are actually modern oligarchies where the interest groups of the rich are arbitrated by the people, that is, you can choose from which table of the rich you will receive crumbs.
The "fatigue" of democracy occurs when there is a big difference between the interests of the elected and the voters, thus people lose confidence in the way society functions. As a result, poor and desperate citizens will vote with whoever promises them a lifeline, i.e. populists or demagogues.
The democratic aspect is a collateral effect in societies where the economy has a strong competitive aspect, that is, the interests of those who hold the economic power in society are divergent. Thus those whealty, and implicitly with political power in society, supervise each other so that none of them have undeserved advantages due to politics. For this reason, countries where mineral resources have an important weight in GDP are not democratic (Russia, Venezuela, etc.), because a small group of people can exploit these resources in their own interest. In poor countries (Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, etc.) the main exploited resource may even be the state budget, as they have convergent interests in benefiting, in their own interest, from this resource. It is easy to see if it is an oligarchy because in a true democracy laws would not be passed that would not be in the interest of the many.
The first modern oligarchy appeared in England at the end of the 17th century. After the bourgeois revolution led by Cromwell succeeded, the interest groups of the rich were unable to agree on how to divide their political power in order not to reach the dictatorship of one. The solution was to appoint a king to be the arbiter. In republics, the people are the arbiter, but let's not confuse the possibility of choosing which group will govern you with democracy, that is, with the possibility of citizens deciding which laws to pass and which not to.
The solution is modern direct democracy in which every citizen can vote, whenever he wants, over the head of the parliamentarian who represents him. He can even dismiss him if the majority of his voters consider that he does not correctly represent their interests.
It's like when you have to build a house and you choose the site manager and the architect, but they don't have the duty to consult with you. The house will certainly not look the way you want it, but the way they want it, and it is more certain that you will be left with the money given and without the house. It is strange that outside of the political sphere, nowhere, in any economic or sports activity, will you find someone elected to a leadership position and who has failure after failure and is not fired after 4 years. We, the voters, must be consulted about the decisions and if they have negative effects we can dismiss them at any time, let's not wait for the soroco to be fulfilled, because we pay, not them. In any company, the management team comes up with a plan approved by the shareholders. Any change in this plan must be re-approved by the shareholders and it is normal because the shareholders pay.
He will never become pm just because is good
its because to be a leader you have to be tough, and do things against what you may not like . You got to be hard, and make hard calls, its what makes a leader, not a liberal whinebag
Rory is way to liberal to be a leader of the Tories, and why grass root wouldnt vote for him, as well as Tory MPs wouldnt and didnt.
he is in the wrong party
Where big money dictates government policy, the idea of one person one vote is ludicrous. We should get rid of party politics and just vote people into the job is civil servants. If they do a good job they stay if not they get replaced.
Was this before or after he was caught making up statistics on the radio?
“Impose democracy” - is that what he just said?
Assembly of Silence RH what’s wrong with that?
@@declanroberts8934 What do you think would be the problem with "imposing" democracy? Have a guess..
Fergus Murphy I never asked what was wrong with imposing democracy. I asked what’s wrong with the terminology. It’s ironic really isn’t it.
It's the white man's burden, ain't it just!
Nothing more dangerous than true believers, which speaks to the inherent flaws of democracy. Democracy--in and of itself--has next to no value apart from what responsible people make of it, and most people and their representatives are terrible stewards of democracy. Neuroscience has shown that people are irrational decision-makers just as experience has revealed them to be "the natural prey of political demagogues". Mr. Stewart claimed the value of democracy is intrinsic--in ideas of dignity, equality, and liberty--however, democracy by itself does nothing to protect such ideas, neither is democracy required to foster them. Democracy in societies not prepared for it puts the cart before the horse, which gives rise to the tyranny of the majority. Democracy must emerge and does better in societies that have its more basic needs met--those of security, freedom, equality, and education. If a society achieves a functional democracy, then it should be something new to overcome, the same as monarchies before it. Democracy IS NOT the only way.
The United States is a aristocracy not a democracy. There is no eviedence that elections are democratic. Loosing your shit and protesting works, voting doesn't, we in the united states have some freedoms for this reason. The bottom 70 percent of the population is completely disenfranchised. Every single study wthout exception shows this to be true.
Never been any such thing as democracy. Anything resembling it has been on the basis of the culture of the upper echelons of society. In the last say 400 years this has been effectively based on the greek classical model. Now that the education of the masses has been hijacked towards employment slavery, and the children of the upper classes towards saying baah with the rest of the sheep, there is little chance of Charles Darwin's vision of evolution through an expression of highly refined emotional responses. Spencer, a nazi, popularised survival of the fittest, being impressed by the worst nightmares of Descartes and that is now translated upon the general population. The recent popular Roman fashion of politicians to never answer a question based on some sort of joined up evidence or philosophy bespeaks of an agenda to which they are privy - and they are not sharing it with us. BUT we know it is money............
Increasingly, political policies are designed for subterfuge and concealment, leading to a general malaise and confusion in the population.
Kautilya still lives!
(try this link for kautilya:
drive.google.com/file/d/1DxCC4BhnRmuqKGmhybMM3OkxEu7PsWG3vNY7stAwy5FCnhV4iAf6kdTkwjc7/view
P. Thomas Garcia, no one yet has invented a more humane form of government than democracy.
Do you have any better ideas?
I'm sure you've heard the expression "The least of all evils."
Got any ideas matey?
👍👍👍
Well technically all sort of regimes that could be tried had been tried and democracy seems to have triumphed above them in a grand historical conflict of ideas about politics. We tried kings, sultans, fascist dictators, communist dictators and autocrats of all stripes only to find that they tend to get us involved into all sort of wars, dynastic squabbles, and domestic politicide (censorship, repression, extra-judicial killings, police state, internal intellegince, mass terror, etc) in early modern and modern history. We tried political oligarchies like that of the USSR after stalins death or the current communist government of china and they tend to do the same thing the autocrats do. The only thing left is a system of freely elected political parties like the US. And guess what, you end up not having extra-judicial killings, police state, internal intelligence reporting on you political activities, censorship, repression, etc. Its negative side is hundreds of talking heads boring you to death, squabbles and nothing really getting done. But it is far better than being shot at so I will always pick US and even greatly UK style democracy.
We just vote and after we have no say. It is flauded.
Real participation does not happen.
Democracy is always a failure. We need a republic uncorupted by democracy.
"The best qualities traditionally associated with
modern democratic government stem from citizenship and the rule of law,
both of which may be separated from democracy per se." Loren J. Samons
Anyone else watching this in 2020 after Rory Stewart didn't win the leadership race & now we're stuck with BJ (whose currently tackling the Coronavirus problem)... because that can't go wrong
Wanna bet.🤣🤣
Principles can be distorted, honesty are not encouraged, and learning from the French will surely not happen - The public is not as fair, just and smart. But maybe there is hope.
The only way for elected parties to be honest would be to hold them accountable if they falter on their winning manifestos.
'Politicians need to learn occasionally to say that certain things that voters want, certain things that voters have been promised, may be things that we cannot deliver, or perhaps we feel that we should not deliver' - Rory, what happened to this in your Tory leadership campaign? Knowing that you had no chance against Johnson, why didn't you repeat it? You wouldn't have won (which was certain anyway), but you'd assume a role of a hero to all those Conservative members who know that Brexit under Johnson will be a disaster. That would open the path for you to take No. 10 after Johnson's cabinet collapse.
A thousandths like!
Interesting point that in the developing world people want a say but here in the west many people don't bother to vote
" The problem is you chosed them, not us chosing." But we always see unwise selection. Then where's the wisdom in making a choice?
Here's what the countries that today play the Democrats are doing and they are holding lectures on human rights. The United States and Europe.
BRITAIN
The British Empire was the largest empire in history. At the peak of power, the British praised the "Empire in which the sun never sets," given that because of the widespreadness of their colonies, the sun always shone at least in one part of the British territory. However, in the "kingdom where the Sun never goes down", numerous crimes have been committed, which are among the worst in history. In the case of the demarcation of India and Pakistan in 1947, the British made huge mistakes. At that time, 14 million people left their homes, which is one of the largest human migrations in history. In the time of the Empire, between 12 and 29 million people died from hunger in India. In the Amritsar massacre in 1919, also in India, in less than ten minutes, British soldiers killed about 1,000 people. In Rhodesia, today's Zimbabwe, the British kidnapped the land to the natives and plundered diamond mines. The rise of the Mau Mau tribe in Kenya, between 1952 and 1960, ended with the victory of the British who killed between 20,000 and 100,000 people.
USA
When the United States was created, the Indians were considered as savages and were therefore killed in continuous attacks. The indigenous American Indians still appear in the history textbooks as something normal though the crimes were committed with a premeditated intent and systematically until the final extermination of the American indigenous tribes.
By the end of the 19th century, the white people had destroyed between 12 and 15 million Indians with murders and diseases, of which the smallpox was the deadliest. Genocide on the ground of America is considered the most massive genocide in the history of the human race.
FRANCE
It is little known that some African countries still pay colonial tax to France in the 21st century. Even 14 African countries are obliged, through a colonial agreement, to give 85 percent of their cash reserves to the Central Bank of France.
The vast expanses of French Equatorial Africa (today's Chad, Gabon, the Central African Republic and the Congo) were distributed in 1900 between 40 French firms that acquired the right to 30 years of use, or rather reckless robbery. For the construction of a railway line to the Atlantic coast, which was built in the southern parts of the Congo from 1921 to 1932, 127,250 men were recruited, of which 14,000 were missing. In West Africa, the French mobilized 211,000 Africans in the Second World War, and 169,000 were involved in battles in southern France. 24,762 were killed, and nothing is said of many whose fate is not known. During the seven-year war in Algeria, the French army killed between 350,000 and 400,000 civilians.
GERMANY
The first genocide in the 20th century was committed by German forces in southwestern Africa, when in 1904 more than 80,000 Namibians were killed in the Nama and Herero tribes. On 3 May 1904, Emperor Wilhelm II sent to Namibia Adriano Dietrich Lothar von Troth, who became the supreme commander of the German units. Van Troth arrives with 14,000 soldiers in Namibia and declares: "African tribes die with violent death.
AUSTRALIA
Australian Aborigines are one of the oldest nations in the world. When the first British fleet of colonists arrived in Australia in the late 18th century, there were between 300,000 and a million Aboriginal tribes on this continent. In many parts of Australia, the Aborigines have been completely eradicated, murdered or evicted. The Australians brought Aboriginal diseases and alcohol, committed murders, seized children from aboriginal mothers and carried out discrimination. Between the thirties and the seventies of the 20th century, tens of thousands of children were taken from Aboriginal parents and were placed in churches at a revival in a project known as the Stolen Generation.
Did someone say opium den??
So, democracy doesn't bring much tangible things. Instead, democracy brings things that a religion can also bring. Hence, democracy is a religion.
Can Democracy solve problems of : Deteriorating Homeless people issues / Serious Drugs abuse problems / Mass
shootings , Guns violence issues / Massive Shoplifting problems / Extremely Poor Financial Controls & Governance ?
Can all these be corrected w/ a NEW President 4 years later ?
I am an indian. And democracy sucks here. To take any decision , it takes 40-50years here. You can take decision s only when there is a majority party.
Decision making process is always delayed or hindered by opposition for the sake of appeasement of their vote banks.
Communist china has lifted 300 millions people out of poverty. India has pushed 100 millions into poverty.
Only idiots or sugarcoaters only become leaders in a democracy rather than a competent person.
An average person has no idea about country's economy, foreign policy, etc. They votes on the basis of emotions and appeasement rather than information.
Plato has said more about these problems.👍
Equilty may couse unjustis what people should have is justis
Democracy is a nice way to describe mob rule. Meritocracy is the new way
Curiously, the Victorians who wanted to enter politics, firstly made their fortune, so did not enter politics for financial gain. The last politician I knew of who did this Michael Heseltine, who after university wanted to enter politics, but firstly determined to make his fortune first, as he did in publishing.
But who judges the candidates under a meritocracy. How does it work, money, empathy or how much people like them.
@@bat_bro1lewis491 results. They will be judged. By their results.
@@saneleofmargate8785
That assumes that we all start at the same point in life or have equal access to people of power, means and prestige.
All good stuff, but we will never revive democracy until we have ended private funding of parties and politicians. We also need to create a truly independent media, independent of oligarchic power.
Socrates said democracy was close to anarchy.
he talks the talk but his voting record shows he supports fracking & austerity.. the politics of greed -no thanks
The best part was the joke at the start. Then he went rambling in rhetoric park.
whats democratic about a majority of people wanting something and a "representative" saying no I don't think so?
Very good point.
He’s saying politicians should not be afraid to speak their minds against popular misconceptions. He’s not saying ignore election manifestoes.
We need to remove the election of representatives altogether and adopt sortition and citizens assemblies. Sortition is essentially jury-duty applied to the political environment.
The sortition criteria should require a high school education and this would truly be representative; it would also require a comprehensive education and training program over a period of 2 years.
The education and training program would cover units on constitutional law, human rights, separation of powers, committees, budgets, consultations, etc.
We would still have elections but it would be for platforms and policies and not politicians and personalities. Sortition members would serve for 5 years and would obviously not be up for re-election.
States and districts could deliver their election results in the form of detailed policy mandate certificates and compel sortition members to vote precisely along those lines.
A Parliamentary ombudsman could enforce compliance in this regard; you could also get a demographic snapshot of an entire constituent by creating citizens assemblies comprised of 99 members that would ensure that representatives voted precisely how they their constituents directed them to.
These 99 people could recall representatives at any time if they voted contrary to the policy mandate certificate. This system would ensure and enforce continuous accountability instead of kicking the can down the road every 4 years.
@
Constitutional systems protect against that.
He goes and proposes a new form of government. What
He mentions Afganistan, Pakistan and Sub-Saharan Africa... All countries dominated by a certain theology
Except that Christianity is larger than Islam in "Sub-Saharan Africa".
God damn, he's hot.
probably because his face is as crumpled as most people's private parts
sonja k I usually iron my private parts.
the entire conservative party is at the ruddy hanging height.
no matter what you are, god is good for you and there is only one god.
Democracy got the stain of Trump off America. Don't knock it.
Hedgehogs.
interface212 He knows a lot about them. Can't be too bad a bloke,then.
At least he admits British are not in shape to be lecturing others about democracy. Go and and find democracy first for yourself and stop taking democracy as an excuse to rule and destroy other countries.
The right question should be : is voting democracy is the only way? Because in china we have exam democracy... that is whoever you are, regardless of ethnic, social status can going up the ladder by passing through the exam system and actual contribution in managing village, then city, province, region.
I want more than a vote. I want to have a vote in every major decision and it not just taken in to account I want it to mean something and impact the final decision. I want tests to be brought in so people can be registered to have more votes in all areas not just to vote one random guy who doesn't really impact the bigger picture he is just a figure head. Second I want things to be more ethical, it's not about making more money it's about what is right for all people/animals.
That's all well and good, but first we need a population acquiring the skills and language of politics. They can only do that by engaging at their town halls.
nauxsi
I wonder if OP still agrees with this position after the Brexit debacle to be honest. Most voters cannot understand complex individual issues, which is why we have representative democracy where members are elected based on a shared ideology (among a party). Because voters don’t know enough to be able to decide on single issues, it is generally safer to elect dedicated representatives to take those decisions based on an easily communicated ideology such as conservatism or liberalism.
When you vote for an MP, you’re not voting for that individual politician’s viewpoints. You’re voting for the ideology of the party they represent, and you’re voting to strength the hand of the leader of that party. Only when a schism arises in a political party (such as happened in the conservative government since 2016), are MP’s personal views relevant.
It is not fair to use Afghanistan as an example of failure of democracy. Sometimes nothing works. Iraq is a better example, even the Philippines. Not perfect, wonderful societies, but far better than the alternatives. And of course Mr. Stewart ignores the very successful examples of Japan and Korea, and dozens of other countries where democracy is doing just fine, thank you. :-)
So you didn't watch the whole video?
@@charlieh2081No, he was not making sense to me :-)
@@ricktasker8248 Maybe watch the whole video before assuming the opposite of what he's saying and writing a comment.
Average talk, nothing transcendental.
Is it just me or did he sound quite hypocritical?
No, it's not just you. He gives examples of democracy failing, yet then pretty much proceeds to say that democracy is objectively the best and most superior kind of system, simply because of the ideals it represents. The thing most people get wrong is to focus getting 'power to the people' while not realizing that the same thing would just happen all over again. Rather than assuming that power to the people magically fixes everything, it'd be wiser to try and think of the absolute essentials an extremely large society would need in order to be stable and have happy people. People won't care if it's democratic or not as long as they're free to live their lives the way they want to.
thenonexistinghero, so, you're saying we need to learn something from Putin or China?
They do have some advantages, but... our democratic systems are pretty old. No matter how many quick fixes you give to a house, it's not going to keep standing forever. Modern times are different from before, so I think it's only natural to have a system that reflects that. Having a fresh start ever now and then flushes out the corruption, gets rid of all those outdated laws and can be perfectly adjusted to the current age. For example, there's still like 10 states with anti-sodomy laws in the US alone.
Democracy MEANS having a fresh start every four years. Democracy means we can fire our leaders. No other system has those features.
But democracy also means stupid gets what stupid asked for, and now we got Trump!
Dan Jacob we don't have a fresh start every 4 years. Every 4 years we get either a Republican or a Democrat government. One republican government is largely like another in terms of impact and in fact, the two parties aren't even all that different from each other in the sense that both of them exist only to maintain their own power and take action based much more on the opinions of PACs, party leadership and special interest groups than on the opinions of the people.
Democracy means that if a majority of your country vote to leave the EU, you jolly well leave the EU!
Learning from the French? 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
a bit rambling .
why on earth are you a tory
I don't think i have ever seen a person who talks so much yet says so little.
Dullest speech.
A establishment remainer,thank goodness he never went far.
Clown.
This guy needs to get out of the ivory tower of elitism. Let him spend a year living on main street, receiving a main street salary and then let's hear what he has to say.
+Erick Taylor
You know nothing about this man, do you? Because he has what you obviously regard as a "posh" accent, you assume he knows nothing of "living on main street". Better to check, before you spout rubbish like this. Listen up -
From 2000 to 2002 he walked across Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, India and Nepal, a journey totalling around 6000 miles, during which time he stayed in five hundred different village houses. A very difficult and dangerous journey. Much worse than "living on main street". And with no financial support from anyone, not even family. He was entirely dependent on the hospitality of the local populations.
After the invasion of Iraq, he was appointed the Coalition's Deputy Governor of two provinces in southern Iraq. His responsibilities included holding elections, resolving tribal disputes, and implementing development projects. He faced growing unrest and civil war from his base in a compound in Al Amarah, and in May 2004 was in command of his compound in Nasiriyah when it was besieged by Sadrist militia.
Do some research next time, before you insult the integrity and bravery of a man like Rory Stewart. What have YOU done that's as impressive? Let's have an honest answer...
He also spent a year in the British Army on a short service commission.
If I wave my hands around I look more outgoing, and people will take me more seriously. They wont think I am a fidgety guy with ADHD.
that I am a skinny guy whose only chance of getting a wife is becoming semi-important by serving the capitalist class
I know what ADHD looks. This isn't it. Boris much closer.
He babbles for a long time to get his point over, pity that it's just waffle. What a boring, nauseating creature.