Apathy an enemy of democracy

Anzac Day remembers those who fought in the name of democracy. PHOTO/FILE

Black American activist Malcolm X said in a comment on the worth of democracy: "You can either have the ballot or the bullet."

The statement was quoted at the Bali Democracy Forum which I attended last week on behalf of New Zealand, presenting a short speech and chairing a session of debate on the conference floor.

As New Zealand is a country with such stable, safe and secure democratic institutions, many Kiwis might question the need for us to be represented at such a conference. Apart from those who are politically active or aware, so want to see democracy take centre stage in our everyday lives, most seem to be most concerned with what is immediately in front of them - work, family, remuneration and aspiration.

It seems that many seem to treat democracy in New Zealand like taking a long, hot bath - they lie back bathed in freedoms, rights and privileges without regard for the responsibilities that come with those freedoms.

Funnily enough, it also seems that - free as we are - many strive to constrict and constrain rights and freedoms as they should apply to various sections of society or the community who tend to disagree with what those seeking to constrain would deem to be "mainstream".

This is almost to say that democracy has gone too far and we need to ration it.

I write this column on Armistice Day and note that this apparent apathy about democracy comes at a time when we have year-on-year record attendances at memorial days such as Anzac Day, when we commemorate those who fought in the name of democracy.

Contrary to this complacency, I think democracy should be like a mid-winter swim rather than a hot bath - it should be bracing, arousing and a constant threat to the nether regions. A wake-up call and not a pacifier.

In Bali, I heard speakers from countries with a hunger for democracy, those who struggle and stumble but yet resolve to see democracy eventually borne out of bitterness, and, in the end, well worth it all.

It gives huge pause for thought on just how lightly we treat democracy on our own shores, albeit we have those who still cry out for even more democracy in our own country.

In 2015, it will be 800 years since the signing of Magna Carta, which limited the power of the state over the people and set up a system of government which we inherited and did not have to struggle to achieve.

We should never forget the privilege of living in a society which has had democracy for so long.

Nor should we patronise those who are achieving levels of democracy in their countries incrementally, recognising the reality that one size does not fit all. The truth is that the journey is not over for any of us.

New Zealand is more democratic now than it was 20 years ago and will probably be even more democratic in 20 years than it is today.

Our responsibility is to support and encourage; to watch and learn and listen - not to patronise and belittle those currently on a path that was taken for us by our ancestors.