#4
11/8/10
“Democracy is a process by which the people are free to choose the man who gets the
blame.”—Laurence J. Peter
PARAPHRASE:
In a democratic nation, it is the people who have the right to elect their governing bodies.
In this proverb, Peter talks about something we have witnessed for many decades: the
people are never satisfied with their president, and no matter how hard he tries to govern
the nation to the best of his ability, people always assess blame to whoever is in charge,
regardless of the circumstances.
APPLICATION:
This proverb states exactly what has been happening ever since Barack Obama has
assumed the presidency of the United States in 2009. Many people complain about the
economic situation, not considering what occurred in the previous eight years when Bush
was president. How would it be possible for a president to make a nation recover from
eight years of unwise choices in such a short period of time? And who elected a
president who did not seem to care about his people’s opinions, doing what he wanted
only to satisfy his pride, for a second term? Who will we blame now? This proverb is
very telling.