Tuesday, January 13, 2004

Coconut kingdom

I think we as a people never really meant to have a democracy. It probably seemed a good idea at the time (the 19th century) to have your own constitution and be able to pick your own president. But democracy has never been a concept native to us, and a century of role-playing has turned it sour in our guts. People don’t register, people don’t vote, and people don’t believe the results. The cities have dynastic mayors and the provinces are held by fat landlords. Elections and appointments are won through tribute, obeisance or lineage. What the people really want is someone who gives an impression of virtue and authority; they want charisma, pageantry and showmanship; they want someone they can name their children after. They do not want presidents, they want kings.

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