In a discussion about importance of public debate for Kosovo’s society, a worker 41 years old said that political debate is bad for our society. “There is nothing good in arguing about problems we face now, especially about political corruption, because we will deal with these things after we get independence”.
We tried to change his opinion about arguing things and after more than 15-minutes everything was clarified. “It is unbelievable”, he said “I never analysed these things from this point of view”.
So, he found out that he was wrong. Actually, Kosovo’s citizens are experiencing a political system where public gossips, political insinuations, and political corruption have replaced political dialogue, issues about the politicians’ responsibilities, and discussing about everyday’s problems. This political environment does not promise well for our fragile democracy.
Debate, as an activity essential to proper governance, has been an important part of most cultures and ages. Indeed, in lands ranging from ancient Athens to modern America, debate has been very important to the culture's social operation, intellectual discourse, and especially to political life.
It is undeniable fact that human beings are opinionated creatures. We hold strong beliefs about such various issues as which party should win parliamentary elections in Kosova, which is the best restaurant in town, or whether some politicians deserve to be elected or not.
In a broader sense, debate may be considered as the process of decision making in which alternative choices are expressed and compared. Debate is the process by which authentic values are advanced, and dubious occurrences are eliminated or prevented.
Democratic societies, it is true, may place a particular premium on public debate as the basic means by which citizens participate in the formulation of policy. But debate has played important roles in even the most feudal, doctrinaire, and totalitarian societies, if only among the privileged elites. Comparatively closed societies may place restrictions on who may debate, the topics that may be debated, and what may be said about the topics, but debate nevertheless persists even in such societies.
Consequently, the importance of the debate for a society, especially societies that are in transitional phase, is very important. Everything must be discussed; political corruption as a very frequent phenomenon in our country can not be considered as a taboo topic. If we wait till we get independence, as wide public thinks, and then resolve all our problems that is equal with disaster. Maybe we will get independence, but we will not need it then, because nobody wishes to have a fail state which is dominated by Mafia and organized crime. What may be needed is that as well as working on establishing of the state and getting independence, we should work on eliminating and preventing terrible phenomena within our society.
We need to construct a new paradigm of politics that goes beyond personal interests, and which rejects political corruption. Without a doubt, a political paradigm based on interactive dialogues and arguing about every problem will produce new ideas and rational decisions necessary for democratic state building. Therefore, the only way to implement these tasks is reinforcement of debate as a prerequisite for the attainment of wisdom and, ultimately, of liberty itself. The promotion of debate happens rarely, if ever; even a worker 41 years old criticizes this occurrence. “Why they’re doing this to us?” he wondered aloud.
We tried to change his opinion about arguing things and after more than 15-minutes everything was clarified. “It is unbelievable”, he said “I never analysed these things from this point of view”.
So, he found out that he was wrong. Actually, Kosovo’s citizens are experiencing a political system where public gossips, political insinuations, and political corruption have replaced political dialogue, issues about the politicians’ responsibilities, and discussing about everyday’s problems. This political environment does not promise well for our fragile democracy.
Debate, as an activity essential to proper governance, has been an important part of most cultures and ages. Indeed, in lands ranging from ancient Athens to modern America, debate has been very important to the culture's social operation, intellectual discourse, and especially to political life.
It is undeniable fact that human beings are opinionated creatures. We hold strong beliefs about such various issues as which party should win parliamentary elections in Kosova, which is the best restaurant in town, or whether some politicians deserve to be elected or not.
In a broader sense, debate may be considered as the process of decision making in which alternative choices are expressed and compared. Debate is the process by which authentic values are advanced, and dubious occurrences are eliminated or prevented.
Democratic societies, it is true, may place a particular premium on public debate as the basic means by which citizens participate in the formulation of policy. But debate has played important roles in even the most feudal, doctrinaire, and totalitarian societies, if only among the privileged elites. Comparatively closed societies may place restrictions on who may debate, the topics that may be debated, and what may be said about the topics, but debate nevertheless persists even in such societies.
Consequently, the importance of the debate for a society, especially societies that are in transitional phase, is very important. Everything must be discussed; political corruption as a very frequent phenomenon in our country can not be considered as a taboo topic. If we wait till we get independence, as wide public thinks, and then resolve all our problems that is equal with disaster. Maybe we will get independence, but we will not need it then, because nobody wishes to have a fail state which is dominated by Mafia and organized crime. What may be needed is that as well as working on establishing of the state and getting independence, we should work on eliminating and preventing terrible phenomena within our society.
We need to construct a new paradigm of politics that goes beyond personal interests, and which rejects political corruption. Without a doubt, a political paradigm based on interactive dialogues and arguing about every problem will produce new ideas and rational decisions necessary for democratic state building. Therefore, the only way to implement these tasks is reinforcement of debate as a prerequisite for the attainment of wisdom and, ultimately, of liberty itself. The promotion of debate happens rarely, if ever; even a worker 41 years old criticizes this occurrence. “Why they’re doing this to us?” he wondered aloud.
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