Welcome to the post democratic society

Welcome to the post democratic society.
We live in a post democratic society. Politicians have very few powers today especially within Europe, and especially at a national level. This may seem counter intuitive, but think about it. National leaders within Europe have to have one ear or eye on the markets, the great gods who decide on the fate of national debts and national growth, and another on the latest directive to come from Europe and its parliament.
democracy was the idea that the common people had a vote and a say , that they could influence political matters. this is still true, but the leaders they elect have programmes so similar , or basically the same, with a few presentational differences that the reality of choice or indeed change is an illusion.
In the past the voter would either vote for who they thought was best for the country, or probably more realistically, who they thought was best for them. Today politics within Europe has been reduced to limited choices because of the power of markets, agencies that note national debt and a dogmatic belief that the market knows best, when the market just pushes the price until the bubble bursts.
National debts within the western world have run into trillions, and we're looking at  generation of repayment, via taxes and a limited public service. people's health, and access to justice,retirement and basic services such as schools, police,libraries will be in jeopardy or privatized, become a commodity with a price; indeed, if we follow the dogma of the market everything is a commodity with a price, all the way to human life.
We watch whilst the North of Africa rejects their decades of abuse, forgetting that this could well happen within our own societies.The society we built within Europe post war was designed to protect and to nourish, with a health care system and public services to be proud of.However, red tape, corruption and stagnation have eroded these pillars and politicians have seized the opportunity of pointing out their expense rather that that of pointing out their success and comparing the cost of not having these systems in place.
2012 may be the year of elections, in the USA, and France, and indeed other countries around the world, some expected, some not. above all its a chance for us to decide if we really think that the beast called the market decides our lives for us, or, if we are adult and mature enough to take control and responsibility by rejecting this dogma. Human life has a value, but not a financial one; We must reject the push button philosophy and question and create new ideas.