A Trustworthy Government

By Roger Colins

Protestation. Sounds like such a powerful and effective tool for the masses to display disapproval of government policy, at home or abroad. Do they work, protestations? Well, let's a have a look. First of all we have to differentiate regimes. Interesting, how the word regime and government appear to be contiguous. One communist can call the other a regime and that one can call the other a government. Communist, Fascist, Monarchy, Dictatorship, Fundamentalist, Democratic... For argument's sake, let us suppose that it doesn't actually matter. What we are looking for is influence over our own country, influence over another. So, should the general public appear to have a quarry to bring to light over, war or, healthcare or whatever the disputed problem then the most commonly understood action to draw attention seems to be to rally, take to the streets and protest. The government in power, among democratic states at the very least, have to consider re-election. For almost every other government type re-election constitutes avoiding civil war. Civil war. These days, unless the revolutionaries have the full support and backing of a more powerful group of allies than the government they are trying to overthrow (e.g Libya) then they are essentially doomed to failure as the government in power are not stupid and have prepared accordingly with armies, weapons and propaganda. For a democracy nearing a general election there is however a different position to consider. To be re-elected they will estimate the viability of the discontent of the particular protesters in question, if they represent a large enough demographic base of the population, which decisions regarding their discontent will or will not change their voting decision in the election and lastly, quite literally last, if the protesters actually have a legitimate point and whether or not modification of the policy benefits the government, re-election chances and the country as a whole. What if, there were a way to present this argument to government without having to take all of these steps. Say, an established government department dedicated to proposals by discontented citizens? Maybe your government has one already. Well, what you would have is a line of communication. People could actively take part in the decisions of their country without the uncertainty, the distrust, the anxiety attached to protests from all quarters. It would certainly sound a lot more civilized. It would even work in non democratic states. People could contact their government representive with suggestions, ideas, changes and even praise and support about policies that the people agree with. This would be mutually beneficial for the government as well. The ministers or kings would be able to see at a glance how well they are doing and make the necessary changes to their legislation or laws to appease, stimulate or perhaps even reward. Protests carry with them a certain amount of stigma suggesting that the people of the country are unhappy with their choice of representative, unhappy with their nation, unhappy to be, who they are or who they have become. Shouting and screaming and painting huge banners with slogans in red ink and blocking public highways for certain, draws attention but does it really have the desired effect? If the desired effect is for the government representitives to order police to disperse the protesters so the majority can get back to work, then the aim has been reached. If the goal is to effectively implement progress, have the government representive bring the problem to government forums and spark proactive discussion among those in power then perhaps, protestation is not the best way forward. When your local convenience shop is out of milk, say you jump up and down, shout and scream at them. What do you think they are going to do? They are humans too, what would you do if in their position? Well, of course they might need to order more milk if all their customers start going to another shop but if it is only one or two customers, it probably isn't a worry and a simply call to the police will solve the problem. ________________________________________________________ Perhaps a polite, well thought out suggestion will do the trick. Or even, think up an idea that would help the shop owner improve his business while at the same time, ordering in some more milk for you. He might not like you very much, in which case whatever you say will probably fall on deaf ears in which case, maybe just, put it in writing and send him a letter?

government protesting complaining