Ben_C

Have you ever thought about the way democracy has effected your life in both positive and negative ways? I know I have. One of the first times I can remember thinking about this concept was when I came across the issue of drug abuse. I remember being as a young child (9 years old), watching the news with my parents. a story came on the program about Canadian police cracking down on Montreal herion addicts. The stories described a man who had been sentenced to jail for five years. I remember asking my parents this aloud: "Dad, why are drugs illegal?" He replied with something along the lines of drugs are dangerous to people who take them and the government wanted to prevent a lot a health issues and societial issues by banning them. At first I accepted this a valid response and fell silent. I knew that drugs were a dangerous thing and it made sense to me in a way, until I starting thinking about it more. That night I layed in my bed and thought about that conversation I had had with my father. I thought about what he said and I wondered to myself. Is it really the governments job to protect peoples health? Would the police arrest you for drinking a dangerous chemical such as bleach too? I decided that I would ask my teacher in class the next day, and when I did she told me something similiar to what my father had told me and she asked me why I asked. My response to her was "should the police really stop people from hurting themselves? If they what to do drugs we should let them." a long debate with my 3rd grade teacher insued about the legallity of narcotics and I ever since then I have retained this Belief. I believe that Democracy is meant to enable and protect the common man. To protect him from violence, tyranny, censorship and other acts of oppression, so that he may be able to do what he pleases and live to his full potential. I believe this can be achieved through simple acts of moderation and mediation by a small but effective government, and is not completely impossible if certain steps are taken by individuals with good intentions. Government supposed to be a way of establish peace and order in the land, but is to often used as a method for gaining control. If people with good intentions set out to establish this type of government which will both protect the people and not shelter them too much then man will be better as a whole. This means that the goverment wouldfight for both the rights of the majority and the minorities. I believe this system would be the perfect balance between anarchy and totalitarianism, and would reap the benefits of both.