Major flaws in world democracies

In a rapidly changing world, there are moments where one feels like an alien on a foreign planet. The world is fast becoming unrecognisable: fake news is replacing reality; truth is becoming an outdated commodity; artificial intelligence is replacing good old common sense; honesty is becoming unaffordable; empathy a foreign concept; loyalty a rare quality; patience and tolerance in scarce supply; human decency optional; morality negotiable; and human lives mere pawns on the chess boards of the powerful.

The world in which these values were standard equipment and served as road signs on your journey made life easy.

In today’s world, you need a compass, radar and a seventh sense to navigate your way through a normal day.

It speaks for itself that the deThe terioration of the core values, the cement that keeps the building blocks of structures of national and global governance together and stable, has a destabilising effect on the way in which national governments and world governing bodies govern the nations of the world.

Peace and security are under threat – rogue leaders thrive in such uncertain conditions.

Democracies across the globe are sensing this and express their concern.

In the world’s oldest democracy, serious cracks are appearing in the structures of democracy.

A demagogue and liar with a string of court cases against him and openly flirting with dictatorship is a serious contender for the highest office in the US. Democracies shudder and dictators around the world rejoice.

If ever leadership anchored in the truth, fairness, basic human decency, freedom, democracy and the rule of law was in high demand, it is now. It is late in the day, but not too late for world leaders to get their act together. Dawie Jacobs

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