Kama Takunu Yuwalla Alaikum

"You will have the rulers you deserve"

My grandmother said almost the exact same thing to me a couple months ago when i said i was unsure if i would vote in the presidential election. Back then, i said what i did because i didn't have a lot of confidence in my politics. I still don't. I've never felt qualified to have a political opinion or stance because all it ever seems to be is at least two people trying to get me to follow them blindly, and i don't want to take responsibility for that (yet).

Anyways, the quote made me think about a couple different things. In Leo Africanus, Khali says this to his sister Salma after recalling the decline of Granada into civil war, a problem brought on by the incompetence of the last sultan. Abu'l-Hasan 'Ali, the sultan who demanded non-stop parades and festivities to celebrate his reign, more or less summoned the wrath of god (if you believe in such things), then drowned himself in luxury, and then started a fight with the Christians that he and his people could not finish. Then civil war ensued. Khali and Salma say this to each other and i wonder what its supposed to mean for a civilization ruled by a monarch. My grandmother meant that in a democracy, any fool who doesn't voice their opinion, who doesn't cast their vote, doesn't get to bitch and moan when the decision is made without them. She was right, and i voted because if nothing else i believed in that idea.

I thought about Hugo Chavez, the late president of Venezuela who reigned for 14 years, won four elections and survived a coup. He was adored by his people, despite some questionable politics (which i will not get into, due to my aforementioned lack of political savvy) and accusations of antisemitism. Did Venezuela have the ruler they deserved? They did elect him four times after all.

I also thought about the Arab Spring, a political movement in the middle east where, to date, governments have been overthrown in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Yemen, civil war has broken out in Syria and major protests have taken place in several surrounding countries. Over there, the people are demonstrating that they will have the rulers they deserve or die fighting for it.

And, i thought about our own country. As champions of democracy, we are still a nation marked by our polar politics. Every election, people go to the poles and vote for a person who represents the political party they associate with. Most often, it is the Democrats and the Republicans who fight over the majority of votes. Sure, there are plenty of people who vote based on a more personalized set of values, or who support smaller third parties, but one of the two parties always wins, and is subsequently checked in the senate or house of representatives. Currently in our country, people gripe about our government's inability to get things done. I believe (and i know i'm not the first person to say this) this is largely do to the strong resent between parties, and their inability to work together. It seems like what they're really trying to do is dominate one another. Are we getting the government we deserve? we're force-fed the notion that democracy is the highest, most enlightened type of government, and that it is our sacred duty to spread it far and wide. Sure, i'd rather live here than in a country that is experiencing famine or violence. But, it seems to me that by continuing to support our two-party democracy, we're asking for our government to continue to stunt itself.

I don't know the answer, but i think the question is important by itself: What does it mean to have the rulers you deserve? Do we? Does anyone?