Democracy in Society

A perusal through any academic definition of democracy will reveal that there are various schools of thought with regards to the meaning of democracy, the primary sticking point being the inability to balance the will and freedom of the individual to that of the Group, where the Group in this context refers to Society. This is not surprising because it is impossible to equate the strength of individual’s will to that of the Group. Therefore this implies that the notion of the right of an individual to total freedom within any societal setting is a myth. Consequently, since it is impossible to place the will of the individual and that of the Group on equal footing, this implies that one must give way to the other. And since the Group arises from the combination of many individuals, this can only mean that the will of the individual must give way to that of the Group. Therefore, the problem of democracy then becomes not how to find the perfect balance between the individual and the Group, but rather how to ensure that while bowing to the will of the Group, the individual is able to achieve freedom of expression of the self, in keeping with the laws of evolution. This is of paramount importance in light of the fact that the human being is nothing more than a group of billions of cells, each of which has a specific purpose and contributes to a common purpose – the total well being of the individual. This coupled with the fact that society is a single unit composed of many people united in a single goal – to interact and evolve, means that the individual is entitled to freedom of expression of the self in the same way that society is through the Group will.

To summarize, true democracy requires that the individual bow to the will of the Group since this is at the heart of the principle of evolution. However, bowing to the will of the Group does not necessarily imply that the will of the individual is curtailed. It is possible for the individual to maintain freedom of expression while bowing to the will of the Group simultaneously. All that is required is that the Group must be transparent at all times. The tensions and problems in society today are primarily due to the attrition between the individual and the Group as they each struggle for self-expression. People find that they are unable to express themselves independently in the face of the overwhelming will of the Group due to a lack of transparency in the implementation of the Group will. All the problems in society can be traced back to this simple fact. The lack of transparency is a crucial flaw in all economic models, which in the end results in a few privileged people benefiting from the spoils of success while the rest languish in the abyss of perpetual dissatisfaction.

Therefore, to instil true democracy in society, the solution would be that all Groups in society begin the cultivation of the ideology of total transparency with regards to any issue relating to the welfare or well being of the individual. This solution is as pertinent for the smallest Group – the family unit as it is for the largest Group – the government. The implementation of this will give rise to a generation of people who will be able to identify very early on in their lives, who they are, what they want and what path would be most beneficial in the quest for fulfilment. This in turn will result in a society in which growth is uniformly distributed.