The old saying that “Voters get the Government they deserve” is often cited during times of political turmoil or social unrest. It is variously attributed to the 18th century conservative French philosopher and diplomat Joseph de Maistre (1753-1821) and third U.S. President Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826).
Who stole it from the other given they both lived at almost exactly the same time is open to question!
The thuggery and fighting in Taiwan’s Parliament so soon after an election would seem to indicate that voters here have indeed got the government they deserve, if they desire closer links with China.
The pro-unification KMT's almost immediate trip to kowtow to China would appear to suggest that in democratic Taiwan the majority of people wish to eventually come under rule from Beijing. Otherwise, why vote for these people?
There is no way of knowing, but it is not a stretch to believe deals were done there, particularly as the guys that went have returned emboldened to aggressively and thuggishly pervert democracy here. They are clearly determined to wrest control of parliament and attempt to weaken the new President.
I guess to such minds, forcing out democracy in favour of dictatorship makes perfect sense given their apparent intent is to engineer reunification with China.
The fact these same voters opted for a DPP President who at his inauguration called on China to stop the threats and accept the existence of its democracy, is somewhat puzzling.
The desire for change is a powerful emotion and is hard to reconcile with another powerful human emotion, that of the desire for stability and certainty. Both can lead to apparently irrational and counter-intuitive behaviour and generational issues come into play.
It may explain younger people flocking to the TPP, as a new-way, and older people sticking with the familiar KMT they grew up with. Before the TPP split the KMT vote, the growing number of others who see the DPP as a good way forward has for years been undermining the KMT voter base. This is likely due to the demographic make-up of the population changing as older KMT voters drop out of the numbers.
It is easy to argue that it is the desire for change that has slightly tipped it the KMT’s way and we may now be in for a period of pro-China policies being forced through with the help of a lap-dog TPP. Ten's of thousands have gathered outside parliament to protest the KMT’s action recently, which is a fair indication that feelings are running high.
To my mind, reinforcing the idea the KMT trip to China was to cut some kind of deal is the fact China decided to stage war games around Taiwan last Friday, the very day of a big pro-democracy protest outside parliament. Their hatred of democracy is clear, and it is clearly supported by the KMT.
It would be really interesting to know exactly what the deal was and how the guys who went are going to benefit? It’s all too much of a coincidence.
If you voted KMT or TPP it is fair to assume you support them in their current actions, should not be surprised at what is happening in parliament right now, and you personally support closer ties with China.
Does the vast majority of those who voted for the KMT or TPP want that, of course they do not? The trouble is, they have got the government they deserved. I hope they all won’t be too disappointed if it all goes horribly wrong for them on a personal level.
Voting for the wrong people can certainly get you into trouble, although many appear to think that their ‘one little vote’ makes no difference in the grand scheme of things. They either don’t vote at all, pay scant attention to the issues, don’t read the news or just tend to believe what they read in politically biased media or the lies and misdirection of the politicians themselves.
Which is sad, and is pretty much the cause of what you are seeing unfold in the Taiwan parliament now. That would be - barefaced turncoats with no moral compass - rejected and unseated politicians who are now by some miracle in positions of power - and an ex-convict who is now an MP.
So have the voters in Taiwan made a blunder? Probably not, because this kind of thing happens all the time, and fortunately most democratic systems can undo damage after a few years by booting parties out if they are not happy with them. Laws can be reversed and in a democracy there is seldom enough time to do anything that can’t be reversed between elections. So voters have a safety net.
The major problem for Taiwan is China, so the safety net most countries have is far more fragile here. If the current group of screwballs attempting to usurp proper parliamentary procedure are able to make changes allowing China to gain a foothold here, it would be extremely bad news for us all. Other countries do not have this kind of overriding issue.
No political party is perfect, so voting for change for the sake of change is not a total risk, although I would question the motivation of some TPP voters who say they like the Chairman because he is “quirky and funny.”
I’m guessing China now has new puppets planted in Taiwan’s political arena to champion their cause, the ex-mayor has been dumped because of his abject failure to make any mark during the Presidential election. Subsequently the TPP will wither and die.
That said, there is always the risk of short-term damage if voters are hoodwinked into believing dishonest politicians by the media or by the politicians themselves. Of course, my example is going to be the poor land of my birth the, not so, United Kingdom.
The ruling Conservative Party won a landslide victory and a large parliamentary majority in 2019 on the basis of then leader Boris Johnson’s promise to “Get Brexit Done” amid a plethora of lies about the benefits of such a move.
Sadly for the voters who swallowed the lies, the desolate landscape beyond Brexit has proved to be a massive disappointment. In surveys since 2022, the share of the population who regret Brexit has consistently been above 50 percent.
Which is why, less than five years later the Conservatives are 20 points behind opposition Labour and it is now certain they face a major drubbing in this year’s general election. Pundits are forecasting they may even become the third party, ending decades of a broadly two party choice as to who runs the country. The outcome of the July 4 election will be a disaster for the Conservatives.
The new Labour government will likely then get to work undoing much of what the Conservatives did, particularly with regard to Brexit. My forecast is they will reforge Britians’ relationship with the European Union and try to set right other serious issues like public funding of the health service, education, prisons, infrastructure etc.
I’ll not go into the rest of Britain’s acute social, economic and funding problems but needless to say they are myriad.
But I would point out that a single issue, like Taiwan’s with China, is one that has the potential to destroy a political party quickly. The KMT and TPP would be wise to bear this in mind and look outside their small bubble for some hints when it comes to conducting a wise and thoughtful administration. Not the thuggish and crazed techniques they seem to have setted on for the short term.
They need to remember, the people have the final say and they do not. So crazed tantrums and fights in parliament have only a short shelf life. As the madness during the Trump post election insanity proved with the invasion of Capitol Hill, subsequent killings and hundreds of arrests in the United States. It failed.
More mature democracies suffer from similar issues of inconsistent, wild and incoherent government. Taiwan is not alone in that regard. My hope is Taiwan learns from these other more mature democracies and takes note of their mistakes.
But as I have often quoted in this publication. We never learn from history, muchless from other people.
Tinkerty Tonk...
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