Democracy should be about upholding ethics, morality, and social values from the heart, not just effecting regime changes
by Raj Gonsalkorale
“Democracy must fall because it will try to tailor to everyone: the poor will want the wealth of the rich, and democracy will give it to them. Young people will want to be respected as the elderly, and democracy will give it to them. Women will want to be like men, and democracy will give it to them. Foreigners will want the rights of the natives, and democracy will give it to them. Thieves and fraudsters will want important government functions, and democracy will give it to them. And at that time, when thieves and fraudsters finally, and democratically, take authority; because criminals and evildoers want power, there will be worse dictatorship than in the time of any monarchy or oligarchy.” ~ Prediction of the fall of democracy – Socrates (470-399 B.C.)
What is the role of ethics and morality in politics?
At best, it is confusing, contradictory, and almost oxymoronic. From a governance perspective, one can view this issue as related to adherence to laws in a lawful society. However, it does not consider the hearts and minds of people regarding personal and community ethics and morality, leading to confusion, contradiction, and oxymoronism.
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| Students Pose For Photos During A Voter Awareness Campaign Ahead Of Lok Sabha Elections, In Chennai, March 19, 2024. (PTI Photo) |
The Australian Parliament states: “Political ethics require leaders to meet higher standards than would be necessary for private life. They may have less of a right to privacy than ordinary citizens do, or no right to use their office for personal profit. Personal or private morality and political morality are often viewed as a conflict of interest.”
How many political leaders today have one face and one life? How many do not use their office for personal profit? What was their wealth before entering politics, and what is it now? The answer to these questions lies with the readers and the broader public. If they are indifferent, life will continue, and they will change regimes periodically, re-electing them repeatedly as their expression of democracy without any examination and discussion about the deeper issues that afflict Sri Lankan society.
The last part of Socrates’s prediction is worth considering in light of recent news reports and social media messages concerning the killing of an influential individual with many shades of character, who appeared to have friends in high places in the country. From these accounts, it does not seem that the person killed had a character that the younger generation of the country could be proud of or should emulate. Even worse, if these social media clips are to be believed, those in high places who associated with this individual might be akin to the “thieves and fraudsters wanting important government functions, and democracy giving it to them, and when thieves and fraudsters finally, and democratically, take authority; because criminals and evildoers want power, there will be a worse dictatorship than in the time of any monarchy or oligarchy” that Socrates wrote about.
No doubt, many are questioning the moral and ethical values of politicians in general and the limitless price they will pay to achieve their ultimate objective, power. Means, it appears, are of no consequence as long as they achieve their end objective. Enforcers of the law of the land too, in some instances, appear to aid and abet individual immoral and unethical crusades for a price. Money, it seems, can buy anyone and anything, irrespective of considerations for the future wellbeing of the country and its morality and ethics. In a country predominantly Buddhist by label, the degraded moral and ethical values are entirely unBuddhistic, although the country seems to have the greatest number of Buddhist sermons delivered, with the most listeners of these sermons, but perhaps the lowest number of those who actually practise even a fraction of what they have listened to.
Democratic values
The Journal of Positive Psychology and Wellbeing poses the following: “What values are important in a democratic society? Respect for individuals and their right to make their own choices. Tolerance of differences and opposing ideas. Equity—valuing all people and supporting them to reach their full potential. Each person has freedom of speech, association, movement, and freedom of belief.”
No doubt these are essential values for a democracy. However, one could and should consider the degree to which these values are adhered to in Sri Lanka (and elsewhere) and how much lip service is paid to these in democracies worldwide.
Today, democracy is the dominant principle and practice worldwide to legitimise political power through the choices expressed by people. Yet, its relationship to moral and ethical values and traditions does not seem to be an integral part of democracies. Moral and ethical theories are universal theories, whether on account of religious faiths or otherwise, as they are based on basic human values of kindness, compassion, fraternity, and a sense of the wellbeing of a community rather than the individual. This thinking appears to contradict how people think and act regarding what is generally understood and practised as democracy. As noted by Patti Tamara and Margaret Moore in an article titled “Democracy-and-Morality-Religious-and-Secular-Views,” “the people who are the source of democratic legitimacy might support some things that are contrary to justice, as described in the tradition. Yet, appeal to democracy remains one of the most powerful appeals to legitimise political power in the contemporary world.”
No doubt the relationship between ethics and morality and governance is complex and multifaceted. Scholars argue that governance should not be just about legal and political administrative procedures but also about moral and ethical responsibility and that the contemporary world has transformed governance from a moral and ethical system to one of procedures for managing, and some would say, controlling society.
The relationship between morality and governance is unclear and confusing. While democracy is about people participating in decision-making and having a stake in the system, it is difficult to see how morality fits in here if people do not practise kindness, compassion, and fraternity from the heart.
The same confusion exists regarding the argument that “the ethical aspect of democracy is uncovered in the meaning of the three pillars of democracy: liberty, equality, and fraternity. They are fundamental values of democracy. They have an equal sense with the freedom from control, interference, obligation, restriction, hampering conditions, etc.; power or right of doing, thinking, speaking, etc., according to choice. Freedom from captivity, confinement, or physical restraint” (http://www.dictionary.com). While fraternity could be an ethical and moral issue, from a broader sense, liberty and equality do not necessarily have to be “moral and ethical” from a perspective outside that of governance, especially where governance is compromised when the end matters more than the means.
Of course, everybody must be equal in the eyes of the law, without any discrimination on grounds of race, religion, gender, caste, class, or birth. However, it is unclear whether these qualities are only applicable “in the eyes of the law” and whether they are or should be arising from the heart of people, so to speak.
Fraternity, on the other hand, has a direct community wellbeing consideration against just an individual wellbeing and, therefore, a sense of brotherhood and sisterhood among the country’s citizens and a sense of belonging. Genuine fraternity and kindness and compassion for each other are synonymous with morality and ethics as they refer to how people look at each other, look after each other for the betterment of the many. True fraternity cannot be subject to a law, except the law of nature, and it should be an uppermost consideration in a democracy.
World’s major religious faith perspectives on morals and ethics
Hinduism What are the morals and ethics of Hinduism? (Morality and moral development: Traditional Hindu concepts –http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) Dharma as universal moral principles
In following Dharma, a number of values and attitudes are listed in the Hindu scriptures as necessary for a human being, for example, absence of conceit, absence of hypocrisy, speaking the truth, harmlessness, accommodation, straightforwardness, and compassion for all beings.
Hinduism and diverse forms of moral discourse found in the Indian context – https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781118499528.ch76
Moral action is generated out of human nature or disposition. Hindu traditions recognise four distinct values or goals of human life: love and physical pleasure (kama), the acquisition of material well-being (artha), morality and the good (dharma), and spiritual liberation (moksha). Religious sentiment is paired with tenderness and moral sensitivity. In Hindu thought, normative discourses pattern or condition moral behaviour, inscribing the natural moral order on persons and behaviour.
Buddhism Sīla, in Buddhism, morality, or right conduct; sīla comprises three stages along the Eightfold Path—right speech, right action, and right livelihood. Evil actions are considered to be the product of defiling passions (see āsrāva), but their causes are rooted out only by the exercise of wisdom (prajna). Buddhist morality is codified in the form of 10 precepts (dasa-sīla), which require abstention from: (1) taking life; (2) taking what is not given; (3) committing sexual misconduct (interpreted as anything less than chastity for the monk and as sexual conduct contrary to proper social norms, such as adultery, for the layman); (4) engaging in false speech; (5) using intoxicants; (6) eating after midday; (7) participating in worldly amusements; (8) adorning the body with ornaments and using perfume; (9) sleeping on high and luxurious beds; and (10) accepting gold and silver. Laymen are to observe the first five precepts (pañca-sīla) at all times. In contrast to the English word “morality” (i.e., obedience, a sense of obligation, and external constraint), Sīla is a resolve to connect with what is believed to be our innate ethical compass. It is intentional ethical behaviour that is refined and clarified through walking the path toward liberation – Britannica
Christianity What did Jesus teach about ethics and morality? (College Ethics Symposium- http://ethicssymposium.org) Jesus asks his followers to choose righteousness and goodness for a responsible moral life. His righteousness is manifested by inward dispositions of the heart and moral actions. Integrity as a core virtue embodies a many-faceted combination of character traits.
What does Jesus say about morals? (Gospel coalition- http://www.thegospelcoalition.org) Another place where Jesus summarises the Law is in the Sermon on the Mount: ‘So whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets’ (Matt. 7:12). This is a different way of saying, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself’, and it confirms the practical nature of ‘love’.
Islam What are the morals and ethics of Muslims? Many virtues/good character traits/moral qualities such as kindness (to people and animals), charity, forgiveness, honesty, patience, justice, respecting parents and elders, keeping promises, and controlling one’s anger are commanded or encouraged in verses in the Quran and hadith -Wikipedia
What are the ethical and moral values of Prophet Muhammad? (Iqra Online –http://iqraonline.com) Our beloved prophet is the best example to follow; he was kind, merciful, forgiving, trustworthy, humble, honest, just, and brave. He followed the orders and guidance of the holy Quran in everything, so that when Aisha was asked about his morals, she said: “His manners were the Quran.”
Common thread in all religious beliefs
While some Christian and Islamic religious scholars may have differing views on ethics and morality and how these relate to God’s will, or Dharma as in Hinduism, in Buddhism, there is universal acceptance and belief in the Buddha’s teaching on Sīla as the ethical and moral compass for human beings.
While there are some differences in belief systems, what is common to all religions is the need to adhere to the fundamental human qualities of love, kindness, compassion, and fraternity, and the fundamental dictum as stated in Buddhism, Bahujana sukhaya bahujana hitaya cha, or “for the happiness of the many, for the welfare of the many.” All these qualities are and should be matters of the heart, not as a consequence of a law that has to be obeyed.
Conclusion
While there are no significant differences in religious beliefs about what ethics and morality are, and should be, it appears that despite professing to be ardent followers of one faith or another, in politics and democracy, the very people who elect political representatives and governments, by and large, do not practise ethics and morals as taught in their religious faiths. Ethical values and moral values seem to have two different meanings to people when it comes to politics and democracy and their religious faiths. This contradiction leads to poor governance, corruption, and unsavoury activities, with the means becoming irrelevant as long as the end is achieved. The calibre of political and administrative leaders, professionals in various fields, and business leaders elected and appointed, then represents the ultimate result of this overall contradiction. People then basically get what they deserve as they have collectively poisoned themselves and society and given opportunities for the unethical and immoral few to govern the many.
Will Socrates’s prediction of the fall of democracy come to pass? Probably not, as the meaning and purpose of democracy itself have undergone change and what is there now in the name of democracy, but in effect the opposite of it, will continue as that appears to be what a majority of people seem resigned to accept or willing to accept as their democracy.
Raj Gonsalkorale is an independent health supply chain management specialist with wide international experience. Writing is his passion.
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