Shuttling between two countries, I was painfully made aware that democracy as we see it is a fallacy. Between the sedition arrests in India and the bombastic crudities of a Donald Trump, the demise of pure democracy has become a reality. When voters despair about their choices in the polling booths, representational democracy appears as an idea from the past. When the media focus on trappings and sensationalism to sell “news”, the people are being manipulated to the tune of the owners of the media. When PACs and SUPER PACs control the candidates and money buys opinions, what is an honest voter going to do? A lot of the anomalies are created by the media. We have candidates who make a mockery of the word ” leadership”. We have candidates whose antecedents make one tremble. A healthy democracy depends on a credible media. When that option is taken away, the only people who can keep their eyes open are those who are willing to read between the lines. With a minimalized public education, the capability to balance and judge one’s choices has dwindled. It is amazing how that great equalizer, the public education, has suffered drastically in the last few years. One wonders whether there is a sinister plot to thwart the ideals of democracy by debilitating the thinking processes of ordinary citizens.
RosyView
of a not so rosy world
RosyView 
Welcome back! I agree with everything you stated. What a presidential race it is this year!
What a strange path for us to perhaps end up with our first female president, but I shutter at what a debate between Trump and Clinton might be or be turned into by the media!
Even those who sound good on the campaign trail have clay feet. Only a responsible Congress can save the country from the brink.
Fair & Balanced: we need fewer Supper PACs and more Lunch & Breakfast PACs.
But why blame the media? All of the information is out there and accessible. The choice of what information to access is made by people. They choose to listen to the media that conform to their own perspective and tell them what they want to hear. How many people, from either side, actively seek out opposing viewpoints and seriously consider them?
I did not see that. I did it on the tablet
I agree with Chanakya. The people should be as well or more educated than the rulers. Only then the rulers will be held in check. The public school education is geared towards creating a herd of zombies.
I feel that we have uneducated and immature electorate.