Find below an article by Angelos Parmatzias, member of the Youth Ambassadors Group, for his experience at the World Forum for Democracy 2014.
I have to admit that every time I am getting involved with the procedure of democratic dialogues, I end up having more questions than answers. The reason is simply because there are so much that can be done for the survival of democracy, but unfortunately almost none of the pre-discussed theories is being implemented; a fact which inevitably raises a variety of queries: Who is actually responsible for the failure of such an implementation; in other words, is the failure interwoven with the capitalistic mode that society tends to espouse,οr is it eventually associated with the mentality of each citizen separately? Because, only when we are capable to identify the reasons which lead us to a weak democracy, the problem will get closer to its solution.
Angelos Parmatzias (member of Youth Ambassadors Group)
President
Citizens In power
www.citizensinpower.org
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Angelos Parmatzias’s report on World forum For Democracy 2014
Angelos Parmatzias
From participation to influence: can youth revitalise democracy?
Strasbourg, 3-5 November 2014
World Forum For Democracy 2014 was a lifetime opportunity to meet people from 100 different nationalities who were concerned about the democracy in their country. It was impressive to realize how democracy can affect our daily life in a way that we usually do not notice. Indeed, democracy does affect the way we feel about our nation or about the hope we hold for our nation and its people in as much nowadays it remains the only available mechanism which operates on behalf of other peoples’ voice.
I have to admit that every time I am getting involved with the procedure of democratic dialogues, I end up having more questions than answers. The reason is simply because there are so much that can be done for the survival of democracy, but unfortunately almost none of the pre-discussed theories is being implemented; a fact which inevitably raises a variety of queries: Who is actually responsible for the failure of such an implementation; in other words, is the failure interwoven with the capitalistic mode that society tends to espouse,οr is it eventually associated with the mentality of each citizen separately? Because, only when we are capable to identify the reasons which lead us to a weak democracy, the problem will get closer to its solution.
As regards our case, the ‘World Forum for Democracy’, the young participants deriving from all over the world, from Peru to Tanzania, managed to bring with them some innovative, brilliant ideas for the revitalization of democracy, which were based on the promotion of new measures such as sophisticated online voting, direct democracy and liquid democracy. In the basis of all these stimuli, I consider that we would have become better democrats than previous generations, if we had truly been interested for the prosperity of our nations and not merely about our families or ourselves.
After long end exhausting discussions at the World Forum, I had the feeling that young people do have the strength to revitalize democracy. We just need to believe in that strengths in order to face all the positive potentialities; we have to co-operate for a better future which will carefully be constructed by creative, anti-egocentric actions.
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| Jeremy Rifkin addressing the Conference Plenary |
In my opinion, the highlight of the conference was Jeremy Rifkin’s speech. The bestselling author and social activist stated as follows:‘The capitalist era is passing - not quickly, but inevitably. Rising in its wake is a new global collaborative Commons that will fundamentally transform our way of life. Ironically, capitalism’s demise is not coming at the hands of hostile external forces. Rather, the Zero Marginal Cost Society argues, capitalism is a victim of its own success. Intense competition across sectors of the economy is forcing the introduction of ever newer technologies’. Jeremy Rifkin explained that this competition is boosting productivity to its optimal point, where the marginal cost of producing additional units is nearly zero, a fact that makes the product essentially free. In turn, profits are drying up, property ownership is becoming meaningless, and an economy based on scarcity is giving way to an economy of abundance, changing the very nature of society.
More than ever, in this new era, identity is less bound to what one owns and more to what one shares. Cooperation replaces self-interest, access trumps ownership, and networking drubs autonomy. Accordingly, Rifkin concluded that ‘while capitalism will be with us for at least the next half century, albeit in an increasingly diminished role, it will no longer be the dominant paradigm. We are’, Rifkin says, ‘entering a world beyond markets where we are learning how to live together collaboratively and sustainable in an increasingly interdependent global Commons’.
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| Youth Delegates at Strasbourg |
You can watch a recording of the different workshops here: http://www.coe.int/en/web/world-forum-democracy/deferred-transmission-2014
More information from other participants at: http://www.society30.com/category/world-forum-for-democracy/
Angelos Parmatzias (member of Youth Ambassadors Group)
President
Citizens In power
www.citizensinpower.org
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