Democracy and the world today

Dear Editor, THANK goodness I am not a politician. Every human on this earth, as far as I am concerned, gets equal medical treatment. My father, who was recognised as a leading world eye specialist in the twenties, thought sight was more important than money. In Eastbourne, he tood no fee if Prince or Pauper said they could not afford it. You would be amazed how many Princes said they could not. So when I read that Phil Green (Daily Bulletin 11th July) says “everybody knows the President's views on Democracy”, I am left totally puzzled, and would welcome an explanation for the ignorant like myself. The last comment was on Russia, a vast area. The difficulty of governing it was satyrised in Gogol's “The Government Inspector General”. We hear of democracy for Afghanistan. When their only livelihood is poppies, is democracy likely? In Iraq, democracy may mean the only hope of paradise: Sunnis killing Shi'ites and vice versa. In South America, antidemocratic is if the people elect someone who is against U.S.A. foreign policy. The U.S.A. strongly supports Saudi Arabia where women may not vote. They also support Israel where all Palestinians who have been living there for thousands of years are not allowed to vote or have their own members of Parliament. In the USA, democracy costs such a lot to elect anybody that the money would feed the starving of the world for years ... and then that investment leans on the new Government for all to see. The latest is hoping for democracy in Cuba; is there any evidence that Castro would not again win hands down? O.K., so I am talking through my medical hat ... but where do I get my thoughts from? I have relatives and friends in the United States. In some places, I have found that Europe is too far away to know about. And certainly, the local press don't. But I still think we sould have a common understanding of what DEMOCRACY is today, rather than a philosophy which confuses even more than Plato. WHILST agreeing with you regarding the Palma bus service (i.e. excellent), I'm sorry but other parts of the island are not so lucky! Palma Nova in particular suffers badly. Some three to four years ago, someone in their wisdom, decided to withdraw the service (then no. 21) that terminated at Palma Nova, thus leaving tourists/residents to wait for buses that came from Magalluf/Cala Viñas/Santa Ponsa, etcetera, arriving at Palma Nova - full. Whilst on a recent holiday, my sister waited over an hour to try to get on a bus from Palma Nova to Palma, eventually giving up and taking the car. My sister, myself and Calvia Council (I know), have contacted the bus service to complain, but it appears we are wasting our breath. So perhaps Snra. Bennassar, if she reads this letter, would intervene and reinstate the idea of “a tourist, a friend”; especially at a time when we are being urged to keep cars out of Palma by using public transport. We would, if it were more consumer oriented!