The 2nd
round of voting was complete. This time,
the verdict was 360-140, and awarded Socrates, the death penalty for the
charges levelled against him by Miletus and two other leading citizens. The
charges were, not recognising the gods recognised by the city-state and
corrupting the youth.
About
the first charge, Socrates was against the pompous religious show displayed by
the Athenian citizens, and was making funny remarks about that and about many
popularly accepted, but hollow, beliefs of that time. Many remarkable men
claimed to be wise, but Socrates shown how ignorant they were through dialogues
and questions, while himself proclaiming ignorant of any knowledge. This was a
very welcome sight for the youth who surrounded wherever there was a debate concerning
wisdom, virtue or any topic that was related to philosophy. The self-proclaimed
wise men of the city faced a tough time dealing with the questions of Socrates.
Losing a verbal battle meant they lost a lot of reputation being thrown into
dust in a matter of minutes/hours of discussion, which they had garnered over
the years through a lot of hard work. This certainly angered many.
Then
the next charge, corrupting the youth. 2 of his students happen to become the
rulers of the city-state of Athens. Alcibiades and Critias, seized power and
despised the popular democratic form of government. Many thought it was the
result of the teachings of Socrates that their democracy was in danger.
So….criminal
litigation was brought against him. Both the prosecutors and the defender were
given 3 hours to put forth their side to the jury of 500 athenian citizens
chosen through lot. After hearing both the sides, the jury decided to go for
voting to decide on the verdict. 1st round of voting decided
Socrates was guilty and the 2nd round gave him death penalty through
hemlock poisoning.
And
he died of hemlock poison…..murdered by the public.
Now….why
do we read about this one of the biggest tragedies the philosophical world has
seen!?
To
be noted is, this was a DEMOCRATIC decision-sending a 70 years old man to death
for the above mentioned charges.
Sooooo…..here
we are…. Discussing about DEMOCRACY.
In
this present era, democracy is seen as the best form of government and all
other alternatives or forms are considered evils. but..... this is the pretext
thrown in front against the rights of the minority or any individual.
Democracy
is the DESPOTISM of majority (say 51%) against the minority (it may even be,
49%).
The will of the
majority is forced onto the minority.
Democracy has the mandatory powers to force every citizen to follow the will of the majority whether one (individual/group) likes the decision or not. Failing which entails legal punishments. The legal/civil rights authorised by the majority has an override on the natural-birth-rights of every individual human being/group (minority).
Democracy has the mandatory powers to force every citizen to follow the will of the majority whether one (individual/group) likes the decision or not. Failing which entails legal punishments. The legal/civil rights authorised by the majority has an override on the natural-birth-rights of every individual human being/group (minority).
So, what do we
have to defend the rights of the minority/individual!?
REPUBLIC.
Republic is the
form of the govt in which RULE OF LAW prevails. Every individual, whether from
majority/minority is given some inalienable rights and there won’t be any
discrimination based on the number of members of the group.
Republic has a
written constitution in place; but constitution alone cannot promise the
necessary protection of the rights of the minority. Since, that constitution is
continuously amended, interpreted and executed by the people from the majority
on many occasion, partisan nature in all this cannot be ruled out.
And, in republic
the majority will be there on many issues, but their “will” cannot be forced
onto the minority/individual. It just has advisory powers, not the mandatory
powers. This ensures that the natural rights of the people are preserved and cannot
be taken away by the majority.
Further……,
In a republic, the people hire the govt to serve them.
So the serving republican govt can NEVER take the rights (natural) of the
employer-the people.
But in democracy, citizens are controlled by the elected
democratic govt and the citizens can never break the civilian rights permitted
by their governments. It is only those rights conceded by the govt, can be
enjoyed by the citizens. Breaking that may take you to jail and stone-pelting.
Natural rights may/ may not be permitted by that govt.
In democracy, the
majority readily sacrifices the minority, while the minority is deceived and
duped by the extreme faith, hope and admiration held for the democratic setup.
In democracy,
majority elects a govt, and makes only those laws advantageous to the majority.
Rights of the minority will be thrown into dustbins, since whatever the
majority says only prevails and the voice of the minority goes unheard or
suppressed.
So those who are
very proud of their democratic countries shall once again carefully contemplate
what they are proud of and decide whether it is something to be really
proud-of.
Republic puts THE people
above the govt, while democracy puts govt above the citizens.
Republic preserves
the right of every individual, treats every individual EQUALLY.
But democracy
upholds the” will” of only the majority, not everyone’s; it tends to treat the
minority unfairly/unequally, just forget about the individual.
even hitlers, and
rajapakses are elected by the majority; with power in hands, they start butchering
the minority like cattles and fowls.
Now…..why this
lengthy discussion about the forms of govts?!?!?!?!?
Here are the cases
showing the ugly face of democracy…..where majority kills the minority.
Graham staines....godra…….khairlanji…..muzaffarnagar….darmapuri…..nido….eezham…… only a very few, of million similar cases.
Easy to find that religious, linguistic, caste, regional fault lines along
which minority are demarcated and targeted.
finally, thanks to....
http://www.1215.org/lawnotes/lawnotes/repvsdem.htm
http://www.lexrex.com/enlightened/AmericanIdeal/aspects/demrep.html
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