The concept of democracy is a noble one, but I don’t think we’ve evolved or matured enough to implement it within our society. Greed and self-interest still rule nations, from political parties to influential individuals alike. These privileged groups put their needs ahead of the people, try hard to coerce us to see their selfish plight, with the real objective of getting our votes. Oftentimes, they rely on the tried and tested methods of fear-mongering, which produces the desired effect of dependence. From religions to governments, they want us to see them as our salvation, and all they ask for is our voice. So choosing governance in many so-called democratic nations is less about what people want and more about what interest groups want, with the help of an indoctrinated population. This swings left and right depending on how successful indoctrination campaigns are. There have been monarchs who held a closer ear to people’s needs than many political parties nowadays, in part because they could not lose their power. The envisioned concept of democracy does not revolve around gaining and accumulating power, but sharing it. We’ve made strides towards that promise since the Age of Enlightenment, but perhaps we can accelerate it by removing ideological and purely intellectual labels that ultimately divide us. We are not just liberals, conservatives, libertarians – we are a bit of everything in different proportions. We are unique but complete individuals with innate common values. Values like independence, compassion, empathy, collaboration, and insatiable desire for strong, symbiotic social bonds. Values that seek to connect people, and not condition them into political fodder for the privileged few.