Daily Times

A quite basic and easily comprehendible understanding of how democracy works is that it sows the seed where transparency and mutual benefit can grow

Across the globe, there is a wave of populism where contestants of power are getting votes on populist narratives

Power has dire consequences if it is misemployed. Great minds orchestrate a great nation, but a corrupt mind razes it as personal gain pollutes honour and pride. A ruler of a country exercises a great amount of power. At the stroke of a pen, destiny of people can be changed. But what if that pen is in the hands of an amoral mind?

Across the globe, reverberations of democracy can be heard. But the question still remains if there is an actual democratic world order or are we just modern slaves being exploited by power, wealth and technology.

A quite basic and easily comprehendible understanding of how democracy works is that it sows the seed where transparency and mutual benefit can grow, and people become the one who are torchbearers. Society grows as a collective unit in a democratic order. Emancipation of people is the prime concern in a democratic society, and people are catered at every level.

Whereas kleptocracy, derived from a Greek word klept, which means steal or thieve, is a form of government where corrupt rulers exploit the resources and population for personal gains, or use the state resources to enrich themselves. In order to increase personal wealth, corrupt leaders manoeuvre any means at their disposal, indulging themselves in committing more crimes.

Under the veil of democracy, self-interests of an individual or a specific flock are supreme. Forsaking humanity, individuals or groups who hold power snatch what rightfully belongs to the common people. Power no longer remains an instrument to direct and regulate society but to tranquilise the populace and suck the benefit out of greater pain

However, advancement in globalisation and spread of dubious democratic norms across the globe have made things worse, not realising that one size doesn’t fit all. Systems are changing, and absolute democracy is a farsighted phenomenon. Now even something close to actual democracy rarely exists except in the Scandinavian states. The Democracy Index 2018, published by the Economist, revealed statistics about democracy across the globe. Even the United States of America was placed at the 25th number in the top 30 democratic countries. It was also categorised under the flawed democracies. The first five were Scandinavian countries, with Norway at the top.

Under the veil of democracy, self-interests of an individual or a specific flock are supreme. Forsaking humanity, individuals or groups who hold power snatch what rightfully belongs to the common people. Power no longer remains an instrument to direct and regulate society but to tranquilise the populace and suck the benefit out of greater pain.

The 2018 Corruption Perceptions Index reveals that more than two-thirds of the countries managed to score below 50, with an average score of 48 out of 100. It also states that many countries have failed to curtail corruption, and to take considerable measures to uproot it. One needs to understand that when leaders become economic poachers, it steadily annihilates society.

What usually happens is that such individuals, after gaining power, shift tides of economic rivers to their own pots. Instruments like a trade policy are often not used to further the national interest but the business interest of a single wealthy individual or a handful. Tenure is considered as a business deal to extract maximum benefit. Often individuals make deals on government forms to enrich the few. The new denotation of democracy seems to be that when there are many hands to snaffle, it is regarded as a democracy, and when there is one hand or a few it is labelled as a monarchy or a dictatorship.

Across the globe, there is a wave of populism where contestants of power are getting votes on populist narratives. Sedatives like populism and ethno-nationalism put the contestant into power but put the rest to sleep. The ones who are in power loot heaps of national wealth. When economics are being controlled and manipulated by a few hands, it often leads to debts, and ultimately, when there is less circulation of wealth, society and economy collapse. If the dynamics of the world keep going the way they are, after the Great depression of 1929, and the financial crisis of 2007-08, the next big economic collapse is around the corner. And the world is waiting for it to happen.

The writer is a research associate at the Islamabad Institute of Conflict Resolution