Democracy’s Blind Spots

Govt of the people, by the people, for the people – Democracy sure is fab. But it can also be a war machine, wreaking senseless, hideous destruction. The very thing that animates democracy’s empowered core – its people’s vote – creates something like ‘demoscotoma’ – demos (people) + scotoma (blind spot). In an unintended, negative consequence, those who don’t have a vote, don’t count. Like civilians in the target country. Iraqis, Afghans, and Iranians, for example, have suffered because they have no electoral lever to pull in America.

There are creatures who pay even higher demoscotomic tolls. The Hormuz Strait situation doesn’t just mean GDP going bump, bump.
It’s also an ecological, ticking time bomb. From the world’s largest fish, the whale shark, to bioluminescent plankton, the region’s wildlife had no say in being flung in war’s way. This is a common situation. Bombing campaigns are continually killing animals and destroying ecosystems, because there’s zero democratic accountability for that. But animals pay for not having a vote in peacetime, too. Close to 100bn animals are killed annually, worldwide, for human consumption. Medicines, household chemicals, pesticides…so much of our convenience comes from cruel animal testing. Despite overwhelming scientific evidence to the contrary, we act as if animals don’t have sentience, don’t feel pain. The third group subjected to demoscotoma are the unborn. Future generations don’t elect present govts, so all the hurt to them is systematically underweighted.

Our ancient philosophy has something to say to all these blind spots: Ahimsa paramo dharm. This non-violence isn’t passive, it’s a radical insistence that all life is valuable. You wouldn’t walk past a drowning child without trying to save her, so why do children dying far away leave you unmoved? Connectedly, it’s in childhood that this proximity bias can best be cancelled. The brain is best inoculated against democracy’s blind spots, when it’s most plastic.

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