Democracy and Human Rights

Human society evolution has been remarkable. In early times, a leader was chosen to reign over a group of people who had a common set of beliefs and values. This person was made responsible for maintaining justice and development in the society. As time progressed, Gods and many superstitions came into existence. People had fear of the unknown. This fear led to power being concentrated in a few hands, while the others had little or no say in the decision-making process. However, their frustration and anger against this injustice grew. With free thinking, came the need for change. Industrial revolution and ideals of freedom encouraged people to fight the existing system. Democracy had taken birth and the people had the power to choose their own leaders and administrators.
Democracy in true meaning should exist at every level and in each form of society. However, we see nowadays that many governments make decisions and policies, which are not liked by majority of the public. Many decisions involving tax, finance, defence, infrastructure, etc which the government enforces, are to the general dislike of the people. Yet, they go through without much protest or resistance. Somewhere, democracy lost its true path. Blame can be put on several factors. But the fact remains that, those that have more money are considered to be more important and have a greater say in the decision making process. Their influence leads to many changes in the society which help them, instead of benefiting the entire society. This situation is no different than earlier times, when priests had to be consulted every time by the kings and queens, before taking a major decision. The only difference is that now, the harm caused by selfish motives and indecision is much more and effects more people.
There are many countries in the world which poor in every sense, their standard of living, their economy and their governance. These countries have not experienced many of the changes and developments which have already taken place in other counties. Hence, democracy is not the major issue for them. Most often, it is basic survival, shelter and food. The declining democratic system in many countries is a smaller issue than human rights. In many countries in Africa and Asia, the people are exploited and their rights are ignored. Many big corporations set up factories and workshops in these countries, where they can find cheap labour and many resources. There have been delegations held and laws made, by the international governing bodies, but the implementation has been very poor.
Human rights issue is not only prevalent in third-world counties, but also in many of the developed countries. As discussed earlier, the democratic system with a capitalist set up is failing to provide for all and be just. Many people are losing their jobs and several others are not able to sustain. Human rights come into play in this case, as people are unable to change such a situation and cannot beat the established system. In any event, the major decisions are left with the governing body, while trivial and unimportant issues left to be decided by the general public.
In conclusion, we can see that both democracy in its true meaning and human rights, are on a slow decline. Western nations are not different many of the less developed countries, with dictatorship and state governance. There is a need for change, which can be only brought by education and spreading awareness to the public, regarding their rights and duties as citizens. At the same time, democracy and human rights should be brought to other countries, which have been exploited till now for their resources.