Dēmokratía or as we know it “the rule of the people” has long been hailed as the political framework backed and supported by politicians and great scholars alike. People have lost limbs and lives in pursue of democracy. Everyone’s voice has an equal weight, despite social class and intellectual attainment. The democratic process ensures that the median voter gets their way: under a fair and balanced democracy decisions are generally a representation of what the MEDIAN voters wants. Allow me to expand on this concept: Suppose the choice of a tax increase is in debate? For the sake of simplicity imagine we have 7 voters- The opinions are: Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No- under a democratic process the median voter gets his way. In this case the tax increase is approved. The expected outcome of any true democratic election is equivalent to what the guy in the middle wants. An old trick in politics is to win the heart of the median voter, and you will succeed. This might seem like the right thing to do, fighting for the voice of the man in the middle does have its limitations. My concern is that the median voter might be depressed, frustrated, unemployed and fatigued- Let us not forget that Adolph Hitler, Hamas, Ahmadinejad, were all somewhat democratically elected, all elected when the median voter was frustrated. The extreme electors merely represented the state of mind of the median voter. Democracy is ideal when the median voter is stable. In many western countries the median voter has the basic necessities required to facilitate a stable democratic outcome. In Egypt the median voter is far from stable. People are frustrated, unable to afford the simple rights in life that have been stolen from them. Unable to find a job, unable to afford marriage, unable to keep up with the rise in basic commodity prices and certainly unable to keep up with the rise in property prices- these “unable” people, turn on the television to the tune of state propaganda on how the country has grown over the last 30 years- the numbers do not lie- GDP has grown at an impressive rate – But this growth was facilitated by the rich for the rich. The growth never rippled down to the people, on the contrary, it made the divide between rich and poor even worse. State television never reported Egypt’s disgraceful Gini co-efficient or how 53% of the population survive on less than $2 a day. The divide got worse and the “unable” people of Egypt took to the streets. With the recent developments in Egypt, I fear that democracy might be coming. Normally I would rejoice this development, but not today- not when the median voter is depressed, with the voice of his frustration potentially being represented in the next democratic election.
God Bless Egypt and may the grace of God help the Egyptians lead their own way.
