Democracy is a great advance in the process of deciding who will govern different nations and countries. The history of humanity is full of struggles of different people and groups who fight among themselves, even with their lives, to define or elect the government of different nations. Different ways have been tried to resolve this, whether by an interpretation of the will of one or several gods, where religious leaders are the ones who interpret the divine will, to cases where the violence and death of the different leaders defines who will stay with power. Thus, we have history full of wars and battles of large armies where millions of people die to define who will occupy the government.
Democracy has gradually been imposed, where the vote of the people or citizens defines who will be the ruler in different countries. For this system to work, rules are required that allow political transitions to be peaceful, such as having rules that all participants abide by, that there are defined terms in power or that the arbitrator is impartial. Furthermore, in some countries minimum requirements for experience, age or academic ability and others are required.
Democracy is not perfect and does not ensure that the best men are chosen to govern the people, but it does allow bad rulers to be removed from power by different voters. That is why sometimes the rulers in power try to change the rules, eliminate or control the referees, as well as modify the laws.
In Mexico we are in an electoral campaign and public debates allow voters to get to know the different candidates better. However, these debates do not always present strategies to raise the population’s standard of living, but rather become competitions of which of the candidates offers the greatest number of promises and gifts to the different voters.
On the one hand, new roads or refineries are offered, on the other hand, it is heard that there will be cash payments for young people, and even children, that will be granted once the candidate has the Presidency.
However, it is not said what the process will be to obtain the necessary resources to fulfill all these promises. The solution to achieve what the candidates offer and additionally improve the standard of living of the population is called economic growth. With it there will be better salaries, as well as more and better jobs and the government will have greater income from paying taxes, which will allow it to be able to grant what has been offered in the campaigns.
To achieve greater economic growth, a substantial increase in productive investment is required, that is, investment that in turn generates greater future production. Investment requires, in turn, an increase in savings, that is, sacrificing current consumption to obtain greater consumption in the future. People are willing to reduce their consumption in the present, to the extent that they are certain that they will recover the income they have channeled into investments. For this reason, the stability of the rules and laws over time, low inflation and taxes, as well as legal and physical security, among other requirements, are essential. Likewise, a great entrepreneurial capacity is required to identify where and how to invest, as well as competitive taxes.
The growth of the Mexican economy has had a clear downward trend in recent years and under the current government it is practically stagnant, while the population continues to increase. This means that the new generations have a lower standard of living than their parents and grandparents. To correct this, it is required that the next government be occupied by people with the capacity to generate economic growth and greater private and public investment, so that citizens can live better.
