Voters from around the world have been asked to make decisions of great consequence this year.
Facing high rates of crime, Filipinos were presented with an opportunity to vote for a candidate who supports vigilante killings of drug dealers and users. Britons were asked whether they wanted to leave the European Union and, most recently, voters in Hungary were asked if they approved of mandatory migrant settlement on their own soil.
Next month, voters in the US will have their say on whether they support a candidate who promises, among other things, to oversee the building of a wall on their border with Mexico.
The democratic exercise has faced some extraordinary challenges this year, and a few of those decisions made by “the people” have made heads shake.
Brexit has pushed the British pound to a three decades low, some world leaders have expressed concerns with Rodrigo Duterte and global markets continue to react to US polling data.
Interestingly, had any of those votes occurred in ancient Greece, one would have heard voices arguing against giving the popular vote to the broad public. Democracy in ancient Greece – widely regarded as the political system’s birthplace – had its critics, who left us with substantive arguments against giving the vote to the demos (Greek for “the people”.)
Thucydides, a fourth-century historian known as the “father of scientific history”, sharply criticised the quality of political discourse in Athenian culture.
In his work, The History of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides writes critically about his fellow citizens, who he claims were easily misled into believing whatever was told to them, and lacked an energy to search for “the truth”.
Regarding the charged political debates that were occurring during Athens’s war with Sparta, he wrote: “So averse to taking pains are most men in the search for the truth, and so prone are they to turn to what lies ready at hand.”
As the war would eventually coincide with the end of the golden age of Greece, Thucydides saw the political dialogue among Athenian citizenry as unworthy of such a pivotable period in its history.
Historians say ancient Greece left us with no great defence of democracy, despite being its architect and producing critical thinkers such as Thucydides. Events today make him and his contemporaries as relevant as ever.
Nowadays, any critical look at the concept of the popular vote –an ideal American governments have spent billions of dollars promoting with both propaganda and military might – would draw fierce criticism.
While the ways of politicians and the people’s efforts to cultivate facts haven’t changed in millennia, it appears that a broad effort to critically analyse democracy is viewed as sacrilege. But the people are in need of prosecution.
Last June, mere hours after Britain voted to separate from the European Union, “What is the EU?” became one of the top UK questions entered into Google.
In the US, some prospective voters are still demanding evidence of Barack Obama’s American citizenship.
Political discourse is a two-way street though, and in the American example, both front-runners for the White House, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, have been criticised for their incessant carelessness with the truth.
Criticism of Athenian democracy continued through to the time of Plato, who believed governance should be left to those devoted to the accumulation of knowledge, the so-called “Philosopher Kings”.
In the Republic, he wrote that democracy was fundamentally unjust, as it “distributes a sort of equality to equal and unequal alike.”
With the US election only weeks away, the words of Plato appear to have a particular resonance today.
To avoid any erosion of democracy’s easily defendable virtues, we’d be wise to ask: how can we improve our democracies so they may produce competent leadership and good governance?
Emmanuel Samoglou is a multimedia producer at The National
Tips to stay safe during hot weather
- Stay hydrated: Drink plenty of fluids, especially water. Avoid alcohol and caffeine, which can increase dehydration.
- Seek cool environments: Use air conditioning, fans, or visit community spaces with climate control.
- Limit outdoor activities: Avoid strenuous activity during peak heat. If outside, seek shade and wear a wide-brimmed hat.
- Dress appropriately: Wear lightweight, loose and light-coloured clothing to facilitate heat loss.
- Check on vulnerable people: Regularly check in on elderly neighbours, young children and those with health conditions.
- Home adaptations: Use blinds or curtains to block sunlight, avoid using ovens or stoves, and ventilate living spaces during cooler hours.
- Recognise heat illness: Learn the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke (dizziness, confusion, rapid pulse, nausea), and seek medical attention if symptoms occur.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
RESULT
Manchester City 1 Sheffield United 0
Man City: Jesus (9')
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
The specs: 2018 Nissan Altima
Price, base / as tested: Dh78,000 / Dh97,650
Engine: 2.5-litre in-line four-cylinder
Power: 182hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 244Nm @ 4,000rpm
Transmission: Continuously variable tranmission
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.6L / 100km
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In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Company%20profile
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Who is Tim-Berners Lee?
Sir Tim Berners-Lee was born in London in a household of mathematicians and computer scientists. Both his mother, Mary Lee, and father, Conway, were early computer scientists who worked on the Ferranti 1 - the world's first commercially-available, general purpose digital computer. Sir Tim studied Physics at the University of Oxford and held a series of roles developing code and building software before moving to Switzerland to work for Cern, the European Particle Physics laboratory. He developed the worldwide web code as a side project in 1989 as a global information-sharing system. After releasing the first web code in 1991, Cern made it open and free for all to use. Sir Tim now campaigns for initiatives to make sure the web remains open and accessible to all.
'Munich: The Edge of War'
Director: Christian Schwochow
Starring: George MacKay, Jannis Niewohner, Jeremy Irons
Rating: 3/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The bio
Date of Birth: April 25, 1993
Place of Birth: Dubai, UAE
Marital Status: Single
School: Al Sufouh in Jumeirah, Dubai
University: Emirates Airline National Cadet Programme and Hamdan University
Job Title: Pilot, First Officer
Number of hours flying in a Boeing 777: 1,200
Number of flights: Approximately 300
Hobbies: Exercising
Nicest destination: Milan, New Zealand, Seattle for shopping
Least nice destination: Kabul, but someone has to do it. It’s not scary but at least you can tick the box that you’ve been
Favourite place to visit: Dubai, there’s no place like home
Blackpink World Tour [Born Pink] In Cinemas
Starring: Rose, Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa
Directors: Min Geun, Oh Yoon-Dong
Rating: 3/5
