There was a time when I loathed democracy. It was idiotic, narrow minded and stupefied. Not that I loathed the concept, but how the idea surfaced in our times and how it appeared void of intelligence, yet so loud with intelligent phrases.
I’m interested in history, general knowledge about science, philosophy, psychology and sociology. I’m a practitioner of spirituality and I read up on things that interest me. I also apply or work with what I learn, therefore I felt perfectly vindicated about my opinion that modern democracy is an abomination.
Let me therefore correct the term. The kind of democracy I loathe is Representative Democracy. There are other kinds of Democracy but the one I favor and uphold and advocate is Direct Democracy as devised by the founders of the Icelandic nation.
When I observed the political discussion in our western society it seemed to me that shallow one liners ruled people’s opinions, that public memory was extremely short, and it seemed to me that far sightedness and accountability was generally absent.
When I was young I got fascinated by certain right wing factions and I read quite substantial amount of material on past agendas of that sort in different countries. Yet I felt strong distaste for the right wing tendency to discriminate, particularly their tendency to racism, and I feel utter contempt for tyrannical abuse of power.
Also it must be said that the Second World War made extreme right-wing politics obsolete and for good reason. Therefore I could not in good conscience adhere openly to right wing tendencies. Particularly I despise racism with utter contempt. It is idiotic, inhuman and evil; also when people from other races than the white race are racists.
There is no excuse for racism.
From these two standpoints I realized that I would be better off leaving politics alone, which I did. Yet soon after my fourtieth birthday I got interested in politics again. As happens with maturity, the feeling of responsibility evolves. I began to feel that society in my own country were just as much my responsibility as yours or those in power. That society and how it is shaped is a responsibility of everyone living in it.
As this feeling has matured and since we more or less live in a global village nowadays, this feeling or awareness has grown just as strong toward international politics as for politics within other countries. I feel that democracy or state of affairs in any society concerns me, at least as far as I can state an opinion about them. If a ruling class in one country abuses human rights; then it is of concern to me as a thinking and responsible individual.
And so I believe that you can and should form an opinion about state of affairs in my own country just as well. Countries are shrinking and communication is easier and faster which means that we’re forming a global community and it matters to all of us how we approach it.
When a feeling of general responsibility for the shaping of your society grows within you and you begin to feel the need for action, you are left with a choice. Either you begin to take part or you try to subdue this feeling within you and turn your energies elsewhere. Actually the more spiritually aware a person is the more often the latter choice is made.
Spiritually oriented people are usually concerned with authenticity and integrity. They find it difficult to lie or to approach agendas superficially and since they are generally more sensitive than the norm they feel safer outside the political discussion. Also it is common with intelligent people that they feel a lot of political arenas evolve around silly and even plain stupid approaches and the demagogic approach making it difficult to use common sense or values of integrity on that battlefield, or plainly boring, so they feel their time is better spent elsewhere.
Therefore it is common that politics are left for attractive psychopaths with strong oratorial and debative skills. You know the results.
I am not the kind of a person who can easily make the choice of turning a blind eye to matters I care strongly about. I cannot suppress my passions; it is impossible. I say this with regret. My strange ideas, my sense of integrity and my outspokenness has made me an outcast in my own country and it has cost me greatly. Well, to quote one popular Icelandic proverb, “let each bird fly as he’s feathered.”
There I find myself in middle age – seven years ago – with a growing passion for how my country is shaped culturally, politically and economically. And as I have described, I had developed a certain fascination for the extreme right early on, I did not know what to do.
This left me with one choice. Re-educate myself!
I realized that I must re-evaluate my views, or facilitate their growing up. So I began following the news on TV or Radio every day, reading news-papers daily, check out popular blogs. Also check upon the resources about the shadow powers and economical complications – and of course begin to pay attention both on a local and global scale.
Amazing as it may seem, when my teenage convictions – which had stayed dormant for three decades – began to wake up and mature, the first direction I took was surprisingly to the left wing. As time passed and I began to see what politics are like – how promises and agendas can easily sway back and forth and how compromises change people and leaders – I began to slowly slide to the right.
Then something amazing happened; I read about Direct Democracy the way my ancestors used it. Then I began seriously to take a hard look at the correalation between “democratic discussion” on one side vs. “self motivation”.
Self motivation is sometimes referred to as “self healing” or “self growing”.
I have researched this subject extensively for a few years, mainly through empirical self-research. Which means that I cannot say I’ve read to much upon it but I have devised my own approach to Self motivation, which I’ve given the name “The Process of Positive Willpower”. I have written extensively about that subject in Icelandic, using various media and published much of it through on hreinberg.is (in Icelandic) and am currently in the process of rewriting some of it in English on logostal.com.
Iceland was founded as a state for the first time in the year 930 CE. This event took place on the evening of Summer Solstice that summer. For the next four centuries the Althing of Iceland was always sanctified on that day and the assembly held in the following two weeks.
That state was in Icelandic named “Þjóðveldi” which in English is often translated as “Icelandic Commonwealth” but I refer to it as “National republic”. This is my first article of (hopefully) many about the revolutionary work my ancestors formed in those four centuries. It’s a story you’ll enjoy if you’re into democracy, history, and the human spirit.
