“Je suis Je” or Let Me Be Myself: six thoughts for the elites of the 21st century to ponder about
First time I heard about the elite theory in my class on Foreign Political Thought while doing my graduate studies in China. Even though Moska’s book “Elements of Political Science” had its drawbacks, it surprised me that I was introduced to this theory in China rather than in my, what I thought “far more democratic country”. It got me thinking about my country, the EU, the Northern America and other “far more democratic places”. Are they really so? Is my government any different from “authoritative” regimes of North Korea, Russia and other counties? It seems like in Europe we have what we call “democracy”. Are people indeed the ones in charge? Or we just are being in charge of?
One thing we should remember is that democracy is a process not a result. With the development of the civil society, NGOs and the idea of corporate social …show more content…
There is no room for 1984 in the 21st century. In the era of the Internet and social media it is getting harder and harder to control the information flow and content. Agree with it and get real! Yes, there are clear challenges in the freedom of speech not only, as I would assume before my experience living in China without Google, Youtube and Facebook, but also in a “free” Western world. Why some events are given a considerable amount of the media attention while other issues are being left out? How well did the Western media cover the protests in Paris after same sex marriage was legalized? Why Erdogan’s speech on women rights and equality is so differently interpreted in the European and Russian press? There is a discussion on whether the masses create popular opinions and reflect them via media or the elites create them for the masses via media. For me, the answer is clear. Try to create value-free, baize-free media by giving us facts and letting us interpret them
First time I heard about the elite theory in my class on Foreign Political Thought while doing my graduate studies in China. Even though Moska’s book “Elements of Political Science” had its drawbacks, it surprised me that I was introduced to this theory in China rather than in my, what I thought “far more democratic country”. It got me thinking about my country, the EU, the Northern America and other “far more democratic places”. Are they really so? Is my government any different from “authoritative” regimes of North Korea, Russia and other counties? It seems like in Europe we have what we call “democracy”. Are people indeed the ones in charge? Or we just are being in charge of?
One thing we should remember is that democracy is a process not a result. With the development of the civil society, NGOs and the idea of corporate social …show more content…
There is no room for 1984 in the 21st century. In the era of the Internet and social media it is getting harder and harder to control the information flow and content. Agree with it and get real! Yes, there are clear challenges in the freedom of speech not only, as I would assume before my experience living in China without Google, Youtube and Facebook, but also in a “free” Western world. Why some events are given a considerable amount of the media attention while other issues are being left out? How well did the Western media cover the protests in Paris after same sex marriage was legalized? Why Erdogan’s speech on women rights and equality is so differently interpreted in the European and Russian press? There is a discussion on whether the masses create popular opinions and reflect them via media or the elites create them for the masses via media. For me, the answer is clear. Try to create value-free, baize-free media by giving us facts and letting us interpret them