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Go left: Participative democracy, direct democracy, social democracy!

Democracy means to me that everybody is involved and has a chance to take part in making decisions, on certain levels of the society. People should not be frozen out of taking part in making decisions, modern democracy cannot be elitist to let decisions be only made by privileged circles. Masses have to be involved, we have to reduce the distance between masses and decision makers at the highest levels. Democracy has to be formed to be as direct as it is possible, decision makers have to keep a constant contact with ordinary people, the voice of the people. This is how everyday problems can be solved, when everyday problems can be communicated via a constant channel between politics and the masses. This is how the information of the existence of problems can be delivered to decision makers efficiently and problems can be solved as soon as possible. Most of the voters care about the everyday problems. This is why left-wing has to make local levels of the democracy stronger. Supporting trade unions and civil organizations is inevitable. By supporting trade unions, we can step up for the rights and the interests of the employees and can accomplish social achievements. Going local and dealing with the everyday problems of the people, involving people to politics and letting them raising their voice will help us to solve problems, to make democracy stronger and to make people believe in democracy by providing the opportunity for them to be involved. I firmly believe that making democracy more direct and social will make people trust and appreciate the democratic values much more, since they experience that they can take part in it and they can add their voice. This is the alternative of the far-right politics that is only about identity politics without really caring about the everyday problems of the people. Supporting trade unions and civil organizations is thriving. For instance, unions are keeping on fighting out their demands in the United States lately, from teachers’ unions across the country to Disneyland workers, NYC airport workers, hotel workers in Chicago etc. Bernie Sanders gives a huge boost to this tendency, encouraging people to form unions, helping and stepping up for them, making more and more people believe in social democracy, making progressive tendencies unstoppable as an alternative of the politics of Trump. This is the way in my opinion, representing the interests of the employees, the solution of the everyday problems of the people, going local, initiating communication and channels between politics and people, being active on local levels, in local governments, supporting trade unions and civil organizations. I believe that this is the alternative of far-right based on only hate and identity politics.
8 months, 1 week ago in What does Democracy mean to you?
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Explanation

- Involving people to politics - Being active locally: initiating constant and direct communication between politics and the masses of the people - Stepping up for the interests of the people locally - Supporting trade unions and civil organizations, strong representation of the employees - Consequence: Making politics more direct and social makes people believe in democracy instead of far-right politics based on hate and authoritarianism where they would lose their chance to be involved and to let their voice heard

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As a Hungarian citizen and young social democrat activist I can say without any doubts, that the situation in Hungary nor the way the EU is handling int recently is good. I think I tell nothing new if I say, that the damage of the democratic state, the liberal rights or the independence of press is below critical level. It isn’t an exaggeration at all to say, that nowadays we live in an illiberal anti democratic country with a corrupt and power thirsty government, lead by a populist leader.
In the beginning of this post I feel it important to state, that we cannot identify the mindset of the Hungarian government with the mindset of the people of Hungary. They don’t approve the antidemocratic actions of the government. And this is the point when you could ask…”the why do you vote for them?” It is a fact that the party of Viktor Orbán (Fidesz) is in power for 8 years by now despite the fact, that three elections were held since then…The problem is, which is both the source of the weak performances and growth of the opposition parties and the people believing the lies of the government, that there are no more than a handful of independent media products in Hungary. Since most of the printed and broadcasted media products are owned by either the goverment or oligarchs close to the governing parties, most of the people among lower social classes can’t reach any source of independent media, they can only inform themselves from the government’s propaganda, which produces nothing but fake news. This way the government can manipulate dozens of people, and make it nearly impossible for the opposition to appear in any kind of media. Therefore, one of the few things the EU, or any aspiring state could do in favor of the Hungarian democracy and people, moreover for the whole EU is, to finance the remaining independent sources of media in Hungary to even the odds regarding the distribution of fake news and real news. This way the EU (or specifically any country which desires) could gain more influence in Hungary and would weaken the position of the government and also help the struggling opposition a great deal. Which takes me to the next point… The opposition in Hungary is fragmented and divided. (For now let’s just focus on the left wing parties) The major left wing party the so called Hungarian “Socialist” Party (MSZP) (Which is a member of S&D) is discredited and widely rejected because of it’s neoliberal governing and past scandals. The party lacks any kind of political innovation and is rejected by not only the majority of voters, but also by the left wing supporters. On the other hand the smaller left wing parties, which have trustworthy politicians and true left wing programs can’t break in to first line politics because of the lack of money and appearance in mainstream media. That is why, from my point of view the S&D Group should focus more on managing their members, helping them and in the times of need encourage them to learn from other members. In my opinion our parties would profit really much from sharing experiences with practices with successful fellow members of the S&D Group such as the Swedish Social Democratic Party or the Portugal Socialist Party. As I mentioned exchanging experiences and learning new practices would be really useful we can’t forget to mention that the S&D Group (or again any country which seeks to gain influence, or interested in having a west minded democratic Hungary) could also finance the innovative and promising but yet weak left wing parties of Hungary. Whereas forming opinion and criticizing the processes in Hungary is necessary, forming a unit and acting together as I proposed above would help to solve our common problem more easily, thus helping both our common cause in Europe as well as freeing Hungary from it’s current wannabe dictator.
8 months, 1 week ago in What does Democracy mean to you?
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Profile photo of Balazs Balazs

Democracy is an ongoing process which can shift a facade or illiberal democracy, etc. to a real democracy and even to a liberal democracy. Democracy is a fair and free opportunity system. Anyone can transform to democracy. Democracy is a given in certain regions, while in others, it must be fought for and even earned. Democracy is the better way of life that when installed within a country contributes to fighting poverty, disease, the lack of education automatically. Democracy is not just having laws, but also knowing they will be there and they will work and they should be respected. Democracy is not just about casting a vote, it’s about choosing your future.
5 months, 2 weeks ago in What does Democracy mean to you?
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Profile photo of a.a.peycheva a.a.peycheva

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