Democracy Can Work IF There's Proper Discipline

It's a problem that many Filipinos tend to have a democracy based on their stupid ideologies. While nothing's wrong with allowing opinion and having one's own views and choices but there's always a moderation to everything. Water may get rid of your thirst, wash your body and clean your house but it may also drown you. Fire may cook your meals, smelt metal for kitchenware and be used in disinfection but it can also destroy a community or burn people to death. That's why there's the need for rules and regulations. Just because you're in a free country doesn't mean that you can do what you want without any rules whatsoever.

The problem with the Philippines is not democracy in itself but the fact people just hate to follow guidelines. Give them some guidelines to follow and there's some of them who are probably going to say, "I'll kill myself if I have to follow those rules." It's not like as if rules like courtesy, politeness, falling in line, following traffic rules and throwing your garbage in the right place are burden. It's not like as if I'm endorsing killing people who break civil offenses. If you make a wrong turn, you need to pay that reasonable fine. If you throw garbage here and there then you need to pick it up and pay that reasonable fine. If you're going to show up late then you lose your opportunity. All these are part of trying to make democracy work for your country.


Democracy can work if you have discipline to go along with it. Try to take a look at some of the world's first class democracies in the world today like Singapore. While some idiots may think Singapore is "everybody's favorite tyranny" but in reality it's still a democracy. People have the right to vote and express opinion. The difference is that in the Singaporean democracy, things are put into moderation and there's always the need to be decent in expressing your opinion or correcting blunder. You have your freedom of choice but there are still rules to follow. You have the right to have a picnic in designated areas but you have to clean up the place after the picnic so the next group to have a picnic can enjoy the place. With rights come duties and that's what many Filipinos need to realize that because they feel they are duty free. There's the freedom of choice but not the freedom from the consequences of one's choice. You eat pagpag then expect to get sick. You eat healthy food then expect to get better. You have your choices but there are consequences to them depending on your actions. That's why people need reasonable discipline so they don't drown themselves, kill themselves by indulging in aspirins and morphine meant to relieve extreme pain, burn their houses and the like.

When there's discipline in your democracy you can actually enjoy that kind of democracy instead of a do what you want democracy. It would be better to have reasonable rules in the road and just imagine how nice it would be if there were less traffic offenders, if traffic enforcers had strict rules to professionally carry out their duties and follow the golden rule. If there's strict rules against throwing of garbage and vandalism then business operations can go smoother. Even if it doesn't bring a perfect environment because businesses do have problems like the import/export transactions aren't always easy but think how it can promote efficiency. Maybe production won't be instantaneous but at least there aren't any unnecessary hurdles caused by uncontrollable traffic, destruction of supplies and people who don't do their jobs properly. When criminals get punished instead of given the right to impunity then safety is guaranteed. This is not a dictatorship but a rule of government for the betterment of the people.

A free country shouldn't always be a majority wins type of rule either. Voters really need to be educated and there should be weighted votes against just counting votes. It's a problem when you have non-taxpaying bums given their freedom to vote. True there's the right to vote in democracy but it's a problem if voters are stupid. Sometimes, the government really needs to implement some rules like a "dictator" to save the country. Even if most people don't want economic liberalization but it should be implemented anyway if you know what's good for your country. Lee Kuan Yew wasn't afraid to oppose the majority which ended up changing the majority. It's a problem when you say, "Just follow what other people are doing." because that's what brings people to adore the undressed emperor's non-existent clothes. One needs to be like that child who'll stand by what's right even if everyone's wrong.