Democracy

Soon after I was back from San Diego, CB invited me to his office and have some coffee.

After some casual conversation, my friend, who happened to be the council member of our society, asked for my opinion on a recent proposal in the society council. (The detail of the proposal is irrelevant.) As you would expect, I said I didn't need to have an opinion on that particular matter.

But CB did try to insist for one, "Why, this is democracy ! I represent you guys and have to ask for all your opinion before I vote in the council."

Well, it became my turn to be obsessive and start a small lecture on democracy:

"Democracy is about our right to vote for our representative. In essence, we believe a particular person shares our own view, is capable, and has the vision, and we put a tick at his name. Other than some rare occasion of a controversial topic, this elected representative should act according to his own judgement and discretion - he has all the information and should be in a better position to decide for his citizens. I consider my representative not doing his job if he has to ask for my opinion on every matter."

"But, nowadays, many people would ask for more involvement in every decision - both the council and our society as a whole !" CB commented.

I said, without even any thinking, "We call them 刁民."

PS. I don't think I have to touch on the very fact that, in a democratic system, if the representative is not doing his job well, we can get rid of him and vote for someone else in the next election.