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Obama 2012: Yes, We [Sometimes] Can (El Tiempo, Colombia)

"Democracy doesn't always triumph in elections. Not always. ... But sometimes it does. Sometimes democracy allows for the astonishing triumph of those who embody truth. ... For example, it just happened in the U.S., where Barak Obama won the presidential election for the second time - in the most powerful country on earth. And he did it confronted by those who believe the world is still Uncle Tom's Cabin, and that Darwin and the state are the inventions of evil Freemasons and communists."

By Juan Esteban Constaín

Translated By Liz Essary

November 19, 2012

Colombia - El Tiempo - Original Article (Spanish)

Anytime there is an election anywhere on earth, you hear the ritual and proverbial phrase: "Above all, it is a triumph for democracy." Of course, this is said by those who won, but also those who lost: The elected and the voters, the good and the bad, the boys and the girls. And then we hear talk of war or peace, of the economy, of what will be sold, how difficult the campaign was and how worthy our rivals were. But one thing is clear: Above all, it is a triumph of democracy.

There are moments, however, when this statement isn't true. History has amassed such cynical moments and knows them by heart, can narrate them, and remembers them one by one. Moments in which democracy serves (and will serve) to triumph over all that is opposed to what democracy stands for: intolerance, despotism, arbitrary acts, authoritarianism and hatred for democracy. Often times the popular vote has even been a favored instrument of tyrants and dictators.

This is one of the great paradoxes and one of the greatest dangers to democracy as a form of government: sometimes the public is wrong - and if the government does wrong, the people are punished, their bad luck is deserved - and the majority may fervently embrace and fanatically impose the stupidest and most brutal of causes, even those that are the antithesis of the fragile values of democracy.

It's what Jacob Talmon, the forgotten master, called "totalitarian democracy": The ruthless dictatorship of the majority, the triumph of the crowd lost on its way to the gallows, without knowing, shaking tambourines, dancing, laughing and inwardly miserable. Thomas Carlyle said the same with his devastating phrase, which has been cited many times in this column: Democracy can be chaos provided by the ballot box.

This is why the great philosophers of contemporary democracy, after the horror of Nazism, clarified that it isn't enough to have popular elections and open ballots. No, democracy is a system of values, almost a worldview that demands much more than votes: respect for minorities, tolerance, freedom, in short, a moral commitment to something greater than applause. That is why democracy doesn't always triumph in elections. Not always.

But sometimes it does. Sometimes democracy allows for the astonishing triumph of those who embody truth. You be the judge of whether that's good or bad. For example, it just happened in the United States, where Barak Obama won the presidential election in his country for the second time, in the most powerful country on earth. And he did it confronted by those who believe the world is still Uncle Tom's Cabin, and that Darwin and the state are the inventions of evil Freemasons and communists.

Posted by Worldmeets.US

Of course, Obama is president of the United States - the leader of an empire. And you don't get there by reading books or telling the truth. And there are powers that surpass and influence him, vested interests, and evil, and lies, and unemployment, and the crisis, of course - all of that. But given that this is the way things are and always will be - if the world were perfect, it wouldn't be so - I prefer a guy like this a million times over: intelligent, courageous, and liberal in the true sense of the word. A guy who even being who he is, dared to discuss the state during his campaign, and remind everyone that this is why he is there - so that hope isn't always just another act of cynicism and wickedness.

Sometimes democracy itself is a triumph of democracy - a failure of the lord and masters. And there are days like last Tuesday, when it shouldn't embarrass us to be naïve. Sometimes, just sometimes, it is worth believing that yes, we can.

catuloelperro@hotmail.com

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