The Dance of Democracy

Watersheds and other lies

Recently, there was an election in Hungary. A country of 9.5 million people with an economy that is doing its best impression of a sinking ship. It has a GDP of about $270 billion, roughly the size of West Bengal in India. For all purposes, it’s a nondescript country, I’m not being mean. Just saying that not all countries have to be significant at any given time. Many simply exist, just trying to get through to Tuesday.

Hungary’s highlights reel is pretty lit, but it’s all past glory. Stephen the First, accepting the crown from the Pope in 1000AD, ensuring the Magyars survived. The “Golden Age” of King Matthias in the 15th century is something, I’m sure, the Hungarian school kids are forced to memorize. The Black Army, the Bibliotheca Corvina are a couple of decent talking points. Hungary has given us gifted musicians and physicists. It wasn’t always nondescript. But it is, now. Today, the weight of Hungary comes from its ability to sit in the middle of the road and block traffic rather than helping build the road.

Imagine my surprise, when pundits declared the results of Hungary’s elections a “watershed moment.” Seriously? I’m not gonna lie to you. I don’t think much of the pundits. They live in perennial anxiety. Having accumulated large amounts of useless information, they lie in bed, terrified that they will not be able to pass it on to others. They use dramatic phrases like “watershed moment” to describe the mundane.

Sure, the end of Viktor Orban’s self-serving regime was a welcome change for the Hungarians. The next guy, whatever his name is, is a clone of Orban. His proposition to the voters: I’ll do exactly what Orban promised, but with far less corruption. I am paraphrasing but that’s pretty much what he said. He really isn’t all that much different. And yet the pundits wanted the world to hold its breath when Hungary went to the polls and exhale when the clone won.

It’s amazing how democracy is now almost always about heaving a sigh of relief at the unceremonious ouster of the guy people voted enthusiastically into power the last time elections were held. We hold our breath when we vote. We exhale when the incumbent is booted. Then we give it a few months. Or maybe a year. Or two. Then the breathing becomes shallow again as we discover that the replacement is as defective as the part it replaced. We hold our breath. The cycle repeats.

I didn’t mean to pick on Hungary. It seemed like a perfect example of inconsequential events being sold to us as life or death. Every election, we’re told, is the most consequential one in our lifetimes. By the pundits. (Perhaps it’s time to oust the pundits and punditry along with them, but I digress). It’s not just Hungary. It’s happening in the actually consequential nations as well.

In America, we’re barely 16 months into Trump’s second term. We have another 32 to go. An eternity considering how swimmingly well the first part have gone. We’re gasping for breath here.

In India, this last week, there were elections in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu. And other smaller states. The 3-term incumbent lost in West Bengal, which should really come as no surprise to anyone, not even the incumbent. In Tamil Nadu, a movie star with a new party dislodged two mainstream rivals, each of whom has been around for 50 years or so. Speaking of watershed moments, this could be one. Except it may not be. We’ve seen this movie before. No pun intended. I don’t do puns. It’s just not cool to do puns. Vijay’s victory evokes memories of MGR, another matinee idol, whose ascent to political stardom was breathtaking in the 1970s. As history revealed, a movie star was not exactly the antidote to anything, let alone society’s ills. But as voters, we must do what we must do. I respect that.

Ukraine elected a stand up comedian in desperation, and got themselves bombed to smithereens for their troubles. Israel keeps electing an indicted, corrupt warmonger, who wrestles daily with a choice between peace (and going to prison) and war (where he stays out of it). Netanyahu continues to pin down any prospects of cease fire to the ground and shoot it in the head. We’re all holding our collective breaths, hoping the Israelis will do the right thing someday. For now, they seem perfectly content not to.

Democracy, as it’s becoming increasingly obvious, does not seem to be about choosing well. It was never designed for that. There are no riders in any constitution of any nation that only the worthy shall be elected. It was never meant to appeal to our rational sides. Instead, democracy caters to our psychological needs. Democracy is really an exercise in choosing badly, recovering, and then choosing badly again, except with a lot of emotion each time. We mistake the cycle of disappointments for the motion of progress.

The pundits will of course disagree. In fact, they have a phrase for our blunders. “A victory for democracy.” The next election, they will tell us, is the one that finally matters. Perhaps the next election in Armenia might just be the thing that fixes the world. They’ve been right exactly never, but you have to admire the consistency.

For once, I’d like to see an educated man or woman, someone who has studied the sciences or the arts in depth, become the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. For that matter, I’d like that same person to become the President of the United States. Not George Clooney. Now that’d be a watershed moment. A moment of progress. Alas, we’re stuck with real estate hucksters, comedians and matinee idols, with circus acrobats, used car dealers and podcasters waiting in line for their turn.

When pundits proclaim watershed moments, they confer outsized powers upon the victors. It makes things worse. This is the real crime of the pundits. Narcissists who seek power don’t really need any validation of their self-esteem. In fact, they need to be reined in. They must be humbled in their moment of triumph. The ideal reaction would be, “Meh. Let me see if you can do the job.”

My advice, as your favorite pundit: Vote anyway. We always do. That, in the end, may be the only watershed moment for the time being.

Have a good weekend.