This is apropos a Business Recorder op-ed “The ‘myth’ of US democracy” carried by the newspaper on Monday. The writer, Abu Amman, has presented a highly informed perspective on the subject by arguing, among other things, that “the fact that the US is not a democracy has been cleverly shrouded in the mists of time and ‘pro-business’ and ‘free-speech’ myth. Every nation has its founding myths and the US is no exception in this regard.”

It is, therefore, important to note that John Adams, George Washington’s successor, had worried that “a division of the republic into two great parties … is to be dreaded as the great political evil.” The two-party system, in my view, is the real cause of present woes of the US system. America has, therefore, become a nation divided. The Capitol incident has shown that the fragile consent of the governed has broken down. The situation, therefore, underscores the need for delineating a new social charter in order to protect and preserve the integrity of the United States of America. Karl Marx must be laughing in his grave.

HUSSEIN BASHARA (BASRA, IRAQ)

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021