Ronny TONG Ka Wah: Is democracy a good thing?

Ronny TONG Ka Wah: Is democracy a good thing? 湯家驊: 民主真是好東西?

我一直堅信民主是好東西；直至最近。對民主的自我質疑並非一朝一夕。最初，我自我嘲笑這種質疑是何等的荒謬？但隨着時代的轉變，由拿破崙到希特勒，到內塔尼亞胡，以至特朗普，我開始不肯定，究竟是民族主義還是民主選舉令一些國家領袖那麼輕易蒙騙自己國民發動戰争？沒有民主制度，民族主義可以抬頭嗎？

你會說這些均是極端的例子；民主是可以自我矯正錯誤的。也許你是對的，但每當我在電視上看到成千上萬的無辜婦孺、兒童被殺、被害至肢體不全、家破人亡、流離失所、居所變為廢墟，我也在問，矯正機制在哪裏？矯正之後可以補償這些一去不返的傷害嗎？更令人沮喪的，是這些發動戰爭的民主領袖全都得到大部份國民的支持；國家發動戰爭有這樣的支持，如何矯正自己？

邱吉爾曾經說過：「與一般選民談五分鐘，便知道為何民主不中用！」沒錯，民主理念和共產主義一樣，出發點是理想的；但民主有多種假設：選民有足夠智慧分辨是非黑白、選民不會把一己的利益放諸整體社會，甚至他國或世界之上、選民是有長遠眼光的、政客是誠實的、是具智慧的、政客是以整體社會利益，以至維護世界和平為己任的，等等、等等。這些假設證實了一點，便是出問題的不是制度，而是制度中的人。

民主真是好東西？很抱歉，到了今天我已不敢回答這問題了。我必須接受一個事實：人是自私的；最終無論制度是好是壞，也會被一己私利所徹底破壞的。民主也不例外。

I have always believed that democracy is a good thing; until recently. Self-doubt of democracy is not overnight. At first, how ridiculous was this questioning to myself? But as times change, from Napoleon to Hitler, to Netanyahu to Trump, I’m not sure whether nationalism or democratic elections make it so easy for some leaders to deceive their own citizens into going to war? Without democracy, can nationalism rise?

You would say these are extreme examples; democracy can correct itself. Maybe you’re right, but whenever I see thousands of innocent women and children on TV, children killed, maimed to dysfunctional, homes destroyed, displaced, homes turned to ruins, I also ask, where is the correction mechanism? Can correction make up for these lost injuries? What is even more frustrating is that these democratic leaders who waged wars all have the support of the majority of the citizens; how can we correct ourselves when countries waged wars with such support?

Churchill once said, “Five minutes with the average voter and you will know why democracy doesn’t work!” Yes, the idea of democracy, like communism, is ideal; but democracy has many assumptions: voters are intelligent enough to distinguish between right and wrong, voters will not put their own interests on the whole society, or even other countries or the world, voters have a long-term vision, politicians are honest and intelligent, politicians are responsible for the overall interests of society, and even the maintenance of world peace, etc. These assumptions confirm that it is not the system that is at fault, but the people in the system.

Is democracy a good thing? Sorry, I am afraid to answer this question today. I have to accept the fact that people are selfish; eventually, whether the system is good or bad, it will be completely destroyed by self-interest. Democracy is no exception.