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This paper is written to show why the authoritarian system was necessary and why the development of the truly democratic system is now possible, imperative, and inevitable.
Russia and China have already declared their intentions of developing true democratic systems. However. as long as the Communist Party maintains control they cannot have truly democratic societies. With the infusion of democracy into these societies it is expected that true democracy will take control of these countries from the Communist Party--or they might make these parties democratic.
There is probably some doubt, especially among authoritarians, that democracy is more efficient or productive. It can be shown that democracy is the most efficient system, but for the purpose of this paper it is not necessary. Efficient or not, it is the preferred system among the majority of people of the world.
Throughout the history of mankind the authoritarian system has been the predominant system of governing societies. This system of social control was absolutely necessary to regulate the population. It is well recognized that if natural enemies are eliminated, any species of animal or vegetable will outgrow its food supply in a relative short period of time. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary that some form of population control be put into effect.
The authoritarian system of social control was the only system that could effectively perform this task. Nations of the world were forced to spend a great deal of their social effort in arming themselves and fighting wars. Another means of population control was the development of the class system. The upper class maintained their position by means of inheritance; they were born into positions of authority and wealth, and society was organized to preserve this class system. By this means the culture, wealth, and education could be passed down to successive generations. The lower classes do not matter, and they are constantly held at a subsistence level. If they don't die in war then they are subjected to various hardships (starvation, malnutrition, diseases, plagues, epidemics, lack of food, shelter, clothing) which tend to increase the death rate and keep the population in control.
A true democratic system could not perform this function. A true democratic system assumes the greatest good for the most people; it wants to benefit all the people. It can be readily seen that at a natural rate of human fertility it would soon be impossible to sustain all the people that were born into society and that a democratic system would soon degenerate into chaos. A Marxist statement as to the cause of class conflict is: "The productive forces do not meet the needs of the people." It is not logical to expect that the productive forces will meet the needs of the people if there is not some form of population control.
In the last three centuries there has developed a form of pseudodemocracy or Capitalist Democracy. Under this system people are permitted to choose their vocation, to work wherever they could find work, and to have some input into the political system--but the true masters of society are the rich.
This is called Democracy or Political Democracy. In reality, it only gives people the right to choose between various representatives of the wealthy class. The wealthy always being in control of the information media, the political campaign finances, the lobbying facilities, and the security forces.
Recently, a new political force has developed, the, so-called, communist. The communists have attempted to establish an economic democracy that is controlled by a political force called the Communist Party. This economic democracy tries to give the people full employment, equitable medical benefits, equal opportunity for education, and a more equitable income distribution. However, it is still an authoritarian system and more benefits are bestowed on the authoritarians. The people lack the motivation to produce that they would have under democratic systems.
It is now possible to have a true democracy. True democracy is both political and economic democracy. It is a system by which all leaders are elected by the people they represent and lead; there would be no appointed leaders.
True democracy is now possible because there are effective, proven, and practical means of population control. In fact, for many years the industrial countries have proven their ability to regulate the population to an optimum growth rate. Now it is unnecessary to have wars and a class system to regulate the population. This can be done by democratic means, by a system of family planning or birth control.
There are many people who think the cruelties of the authoritarian system were due to the inherent evil and selfishness of man. To believe this means that one believes there is no hope for the betterment of human society. It means that the great mass of mankind will always live at a subsistence level. This has already been proven false. It is evident that the mass of people in well developed countries live considerably above the subsistence level, and their living standards are constantly being improved.
The development of the atomic bomb makes major wars highly improbable because a major war might lead to the destruction of much of mankind. This also promotes the development of democracy.
The only reason true democracy has not yet developed is because of cultural lag; the change In culture to adapt to the new possibilities of improving society have lagged behind the improvements in scientific and economic development. This is natural and normal as it takes society quite some time to adjust to new conditions.
It must be understood that there is a reason for everything. There was reason for the development of the authoritarian system, and there is a reason for the democratic system; there should be no more Hitlers or Stalins. The way is clear for the development of a truly democratic world government and for the promotion of true democracy in all countries.
Democracy has long been recognized by many as the most efficient, productive, just, and enjoyable form of government. All that was lacking is a good role model to demonstrate the benefits of a truly democratic system and recognizing that effective population control can be achieved by a democratic system.
It must be realized that people in positions of authority rationalize that the authoritarian system is just and best. They also believe it benefits them and they will strive to maintain it. They cannot understand that they and the whole society will be happier under a true democratic system. There will be quite a struggle to institute the truly democratic system, but the conditions are ripe and real democracy will triumph.
There are some fairly good role models; Japan has a high standard of living, a fast growing economy, almost full employment, a fairly equitable educational system, and a reasonable distribution of income. However, there can be and probably will be much better role models developed; possibly the Scandinavian countries, Germany, Russia, China, Eastern Europe, or the USA will develop into a good role model.
Overpopulation can be a blessing if the overpopulated country institutes a negative population growth rate. The savings made possible for small families can be channeled into educational facilities and capital goods which will make possible a very high economic growth rate. China is a good example of the benefits of population control. For the last ten years China has had the fastest economic growth rate of any large country in the world. This would not have been possible without a population control policy.
April, 1988
D. T. (Tom) Boisseau
We can believe that the authoritarian system was necessary in the past to deal with the problem of overpopulation. Under an authoritarian system there can be created a high death rate by having wars or creating poor living conditions where the poor would die of hunger or disease.
To preserve order and culture there needed to be a manner to pass this authoritarian system from generation to generation. The system that was devised was the protection of wealth and property. Primogeniture was needed so that the wealth would not be to widely distributed.
With the advent of capitalism wealth became highly concentrated in a few hands. The idea of democracy was developed and there were many laws passed to prevent a few capitalists from owning everything. Antitrust laws, public education, graduated income tax, environmental protection, child labor laws, and many other laws were passed to promote a more widely distributed wealth.
Yet the protection of property still takes precedence over democratic rights. Why is this? If one suggests electing leaders (supervisors, bosses) in economic enterprises, most people think of this as usurping property rights and reject the idea immediately. Why is this?
All people must be indoctrinated, socialized. Children must be taught to obey the rules of society. However, often the rules of society are not the best or most logical rules. Witness how in different societies there are different rules. In India cows are holy. In many countries the whole population is catholic. In other countries the whole population is muslim. In most all countries the people generally believe in authoritarianism. Why? People are not indoctrinated to believe in democracy, and property rights always take precedence over democratic rights. Actually, property rights and democratic rights can co-exist. If in a corporation employees could elect their leaders it would not mean they could confiscate the owner¹s property. Democratic leaders would still be compelled to respect property rights. However, this would dilute the power of the very wealthy, and all authoritarians are strongly opposed to this concept and authoritarians have the greatest influence in most all governments.
First, they need to learn to seek out people that would be favorably disposed to the concept of total democracy. Then they need to endoctrinate members to believe in total democracy first and foremost. Then they should develop a corporate charter or a foundation that would promote a totally democratic, economic entity that would be very successful and would grow rapidly. They could then point to this corporation and say, "You see! Total democracy works. It is more just, enjoyable, and productive."
All investment would be made on a preferred stock basis. Employees would have to work on a strictly profit sharing basis. If the business had reverses it would come out of members wages. Members would have to buy from their wages a certain amount of preferred stock for expansion purposes. Leaders would be elected democratically and employees would have to be indoctrinated into believing in the democratic idea above all else.
February 28, 1996
D. T. (Tom) Boisseau
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