Just Google the question & see loads of answers which I won't summarise. Read the ones that appeal to you.
I would say that both the Brexit Referendum & the USA Presidential elections were prime examples of how undemocratic Western politics has become. Both dealt in public manipulation & downright deceit. Both showed how venal some politicians can be - prepared to do anything to get the result & power that they want. Both, dear reader, showed how gullible & easily swayed the electorate can be.
That isn't really the point in my view, however much it is anathema to true democrats. The public may well have been misled, but they cast their votes. We now have to accept that, live with it & move on, trying to hold politicians to account & make them deliver on their promises.
In order for democracy to work the populus has to be engaged & directly involved, even if only at election time. That means they have to put some time & effort in. They have to read not only the Mail or Telegraph, they should read the Guardian too. They should watch different TV discussions & documentaries to get a wide perspective. If we want democracy we have to use our intelligence to sift through the facts & discard the dross.
The sad truth is that we get the politicians we voted for. If we aren't prepared to do our part we are the ones who have to pay the price for the person in the seat of power.
Thank God Trump isn't our Prime Minister - hopefully his "America first" policies will mean that he does what most Americans do & stay in his own country, knowing & understanding very little about the rest of the world. However I suspect that even if he isn't interested in foreign policy, his decisions will impact on the rest of the world.
Here at home we need to move forward from Brexit. My concern is that we sound much like Trump, with a grandiose image of our own importance & influence in the world. We no longer have an Empire fortunately. We should stop behaiving as if we do.
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