If you look at the recent Zimbabwe and Kenya election, the decision of the Kosovo people to make a self-declared independence, the Tibetan demonstration against Chinese rule, and the assassination attempt on the President of East Timor, you may want to ask if these snapshots are symptomatic of society.
Society is about us, the people, the culture and all the institutions that we put in place to put order into our lives. The people may not be completely responsible for the way society turns out, but they are part and parcel of it. What the people have created or allow to be created, perhaps only the people can unwind through the choice of better leaders and better institutions, to ensure that the society will be good.
What constitutes a good society?
A good society values its people. It looks after the poor and weak. It respects peoples’ freedom and constitutional rights.
The people elect the government in free and regular elections. The politicians are servants of the people, having been put into office by the people, for the people.
The activities of the leaders, politicians and government are transparent for all to see. A legal system ensures that everybody is accountable for his /her actions, no matter how powerful the person is.
No group can bully or discriminate against another, and there is equal opportunity.
The justice system functions independently from political interference.
People can trust the government. They do not have to live in fear.
There is no corruption, so the people know that their leaders, politicians, public servants, and anybody in a position of power will make decisions without compromise and without conflict of interest.
The people have the right to dissent without repercussions. Discussions/negotiations and legal means are used to settle disputes. Not violence or war.
Apart from all the institutions and systems that have been put in place for society to run smoothly, the people themselves are law abiding, civic-minded, accept that there is diversity in society, and have love for their fellow human beings and compassion for those in need, even if they may be different.
These are not ideals. These are the characteristics that we should expect in any society.
A good or even great society - is this not what every country should aspire for?
We should campaign for good governments in every country. As part of that, we should have a code of good practice in government for all to see and apply. We must, in very clear and strong terms, declare that we want good governments. At any election, we should ask the candidates, notwithstanding their political inclinations, to declare that they will comply with such a code.
We should shame the leaders who have allowed their countries to deteriorate, and not make any progress to being a good society.
The world wide web has enabled each of us to disseminate information and news efficiently. Let us use it to make the world a better place.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
The examples of presumably bad societies are from the third world as if they exist there only. The snapshots are incomplete. The attributes of a good society are also patterned after those in western countries only, whcih are presumed to be good societies.
This comment is from the same writer of the first comment:
1. Your symptomatic snapshots are incomplete and not balanced- the impression is bad societies occur only in the third world.
2. Your attributes of a good society are taken selectively from the west without considering merits in other systems of government.
3. I have nothing against a good society, but it can't exist in a vacuum. It is a stage of national development that follows the development of a country economically,physically and development in infra structure and also the human development have reached a certain level. Then the government system,which has undergone changes all the while,will be refined to ideals as said by you. There are prerequisites or foundations to a good society.It has taken the west a couple of hundreds of years to evolve to what they are now, going through all stages of national development , although they still have many failings.By the turn of the 19th century, England was well developed practising democracy at home. It was, to me, still not a good society then because it colonized many territories and denied them freedom,human rights and democracy.It still has some colonies today.
A good society can't come about if e.g. the country is subjected to external invasion or internal subversion, even if it practises all the ideals of a good society. Take a look at the Philippines. It nearly meets all your attributes for a good society except perhaps that of corruption. The people are relatively highly educated,it has free-wheeling democracy,freedom and human rights. They have endless debates; regular demonstrations to campaign to topple and attempted to topple the freely elected government. The people are not well-fed-no food security; the place is not mitigated against natural calamity-the disasters of mud floods and volcanic flows etc-no security for the people; no consensus for joint action; people worry more about issues of economics of the country etc. Is it a good society? Bangladesh is another example. It faces nearly annual killer floods, which destroy whatever little the people have built. It can't be a good society until it can mitigate against the floods or it has food security and greater economic development.
4. One has to eat, feel secured, has leisure first before one can worry about a good government. There are prerequisites or a good society won't come about. Prerequisites or foundations are not excuses.
5. The following is my idea of a good society by building on points elaborated by you.
(i) Prerequisites or foundations of a good society:-
- Food security,mitigation of natural calamities,sovereignty,economically developed, good infra structure,nationally secured, social security,economically stable,free of external invasion and internal subversion
(ii) Human development
- The people: quite high level of education,law-abiding,civic-minded,acceptance of plurality and diversity,tolerance for differences in race,cultures and religions,love for fellow human beings,compassion and care for poor, needy,crippled,aged and deficient peoples,affirmative actions for the laggards, conscious of conservation and protection of the environment etc.
(iii) Government system,government policies and philosophy
-Democracy,freedom( exclude the right to subvert the nation), human rights(not all some societies demand e.g. capital punishment,homosexual culture are advocated or not depend on situation of each nation, right to protest is not right to violence) value the people,care for the poor and weak, affirmative action for the laggard class,a constitution to be basis of law and policies,good governance, care, accountability and transparency, free of corruption,nepotism and favouritism, free and regular election, right to vote for all citizens,election rules including drawing of constituency boundaries are fairly administered by an election commission,equal opportunity for all,independent judiciary( appointment and promotion of judges are transparent), modern and complete legislation for laws,no privileged groups in the society,no discrimination of any sector of population,negotiation/discussion/legal means to settle differences, not by violence,right to dissent (exclude subversion,sedition or work as foreign agents), peace to all nations,no aggression or invasion of other countries are justifiable unless in self-defence (exclude preemptive attacks), Wars are banned except if they are sanctioned by two third majority of the General Assembly of United Nations, no colonies, no self-righteousness and telling other nations how to rule their nations, ban and destroy all nuclear weapons, no stationing of troops in foreign bases, ban arms race and development of any new weapons not permitted by SALT II (or whatever version) that ended the last Cold War,no use of human rights,environmental issues to force compliance on other issues by another country,,no mixing of politics in international sports,cultural,trading,entertainments and the likes, no intimidating of another nation by being more powerful,no military pacts against other nations and prepare for wars against imagined enemies, no gun-boat policy,international disputes to be settled by arbitration or international court of jusitice,international justices to be reviewed if they favour certain groups of nations, fair,balanced and ethical media in reporting and dissemination of news,no subversion and sabotage of other nations culturally,politically,economically or in any way,no transaction/export/importation of endangered fauna and flora and so are relics, antiques etc of value and cultural and historical significance to the country of origin, etc.
Post a Comment