Oxford’s English dictionary defines democracy, and as I have always understood it, as:



    1. Government by the people; that form of government in which the sovereign power resides in the people as a whole, and is exercised either directly by them (as in the small republics of antiquity) or by officers elected by them. In mod. use often more vaguely denoting a social state in which all have equal rights, without hereditary or arbitrary differences of rank or privilege.
    b. A state or community in which the government is vested in the people as a whole.
    c. fig.
    2. That class of the people which has no hereditary or special rank or privilege; the common people (in reference to their political power).

So, my question is…

Just where the HELL did this come from:

– a system of government in which people cast votes for elected representatives in a multi-party election. It comes from the Greek word “demos”, meaning “people.” Canada has a democratic political system.
http://www.cbc4kids.cbc.ca/election/glossary.html

I’m sorry… “democracy” does NOT imply a multi-party election. You can call the US, Canada, Britain, etc. a “Capitalistic Multi-party Representational Democracy” if you like, but the forced redefinition of “democracy” by the capitalistic elite is offensive and insidious.

Democracy can be exemplified by “direct democracy” only… where each citizen directly votes on each and every aspect of governance. No one seriously believes that that is an acheivable goal in the modern world, but it IS the only situation that in and of itself can be considered “democracy”.

Modern democracy can take myriad forms, from representative multi-party democracy to single-party representative democracy.

It ALSO does not imply capitalism, and certainly not “free-market capitalism” which is proving to be anti-democratic because eventually the capitalists develope more power and influence due to their wealth and thus achieves extra “votes” through influence, and or through wealth dictated media and propaganda.

NOR does it equate with State planned economies where the leadership takes on a dictatorial role (even if that leadership has the best intentions – which is unlikely given that power corrupts).

Currently the best example of democracy can be seen in the factory worker coops in Argentina.

Until something similar can be applied statewide, the onus is on the media and speaker to specify the claszs of democracy that they are discussing, otherwise their argument is tainted by bias.