Start Changing the System Now!

Start Changing the System Now!

By: Erreh Svaia

Goat Dispersion

“Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others.”

Winston S. Churchill

The first part of the French Elections has given us a broad view of the future of Western democracies and its political systems, the absolute defeat of the traditional left and right wing parties and the sudden emergence of new political proposals on the map, as voters around the world start to turn away from prototypical politicians, and starting to look for new, sometimes risky options outside already known political circles, in France, we saw how Emmanuel Macron, the winner of the first round of elections this past weekend, although coming from president Francoise Hollande´s (who declined to look up for a reelection) socialist cabinet, Macron knew how to properly distance himself not only from Hollande´s government but also from the now weakened Socialist Party (the big loser in the elections), building an independent base, aligning himself as a complete centrist, moderate, independent newcomer and outsider, which even managed to surpass Le Pen´s initial stance as outsider, brilliantly maneuvering in order to make someone as disruptive as Le Pen look traditional, so in a conservative country like France, the left and right wing defeat by such a new kind of “newcomer”, is surely a tip given to us in order to start thinking if this situation can start being replicated somewhere else in the world, considering that there are another such exhausted political party systems, like in the USA, where conditions are starting to make us look beyond their two party system.

At past 100 days of his government, we keep watching how USA president Donald Trump´s popularity in numbers keep declining at fast pace, the legal blockade against his most important anti-immigration policies, on his attacks against “sanctuary” cities, the lack of support, even within his own party, on his “Trumpcare” health initiative and the vague steps taken on very much cherished campaign promises like NAFTA renegotiations and the building of the border wall have also eroded enormously not only Trump´s political capital, but also the Republican Party´s, paradoxically, people´s support for the opposition major party, the Democratic Party, has been also decreasing, accused of being a part of the ruling corporativist elite´s and of being linked to the power of Wall Street, leaving us with interesting questioning about the future of the two party system, this weekend´s events in France and the emergence of previously less known political parties, like the Green Party (growing strongly in its fractions in Europe, and with candidate Jill Stein becoming somewhat popular in the last elections) and the Libertarian Party (which could benefit from inner struggle within the Republican and Democratic parties) might be too obvious signs that changes are about to start happening within the USA political landscape, as new notorious upcoming political positions and proposals might be rising in inspirational ways in order to challenge the so called elites and the now oppressive status quo, featuring new powerful players who might start considering assaulting the “big leagues” in less than four years, taking advantage of a possible Trump lack of support for reelection, consider for once the irruption of “socialist” senator Bernie Sanders, still a growing force within the Democratic Party, flirting now with the idea of resurrecting the People´s Party, the now condensed “separatist” movement in California and the Western region known as Cascadia, with its progressive agenda and blooming economy capable of positioning itself as one of the first ten economies in the world, the new young Silicon Valley tycoons featuring some of the richest men in the world (one of them, Facebook main man Mark Zuckerberg, a highly popular guy who has already made some headlines while considering making a political career) and sporting what is known as new industrial revolution, the virulent Alt Right, that helped Trump to win the presidency (and who now might feel betrayed), the rebellious heirs to the Tea Party: the Freedom Caucus, and some Trump supporters that by now might also feel betrayed, the anarchist Southern people, the Ozarks and the Rust Belt, all of them who sooner or later will be rebelling against a system that is causing continuous wide public annoyance.    

What France might be teaching us is the fact that the exhaustion of a political system y increasingly becoming a necessity for renovation and in order to keep it with enough vitality to keep the civil society satisfied, in moments in which supposed rage is running all over Western democracies, the need for other voices to start rising, in order  to get into the political ring, another lesson is the booming pluralism and tolerance within people who are not being happy with few political options and looking for a more diverse landscape, as we should start thinking more about candidates and less about political parties, which seems to dig big holes against  monopolies that are slowly being torn apart, in order to stop thinking about personal leaderships, which have also caused havoc and start thinking about major diverse coalitions that give a major role to consensus instead of dogmas in order to create a better system of representation