i am clean, therefore democratic

I indicated in a previous post that a new year brings new statistics. And here's another tidbit, measured recently, that we could all learn from.

An article on Forbes.com extensively identifies the World's Cleanest Cities. Among the usual suspects are two cities in Canada (Calgary, Ottawa), Helsinki, Honolulu and Minneapolis. I am usually not one to critique cleanliness, but I was bothered by a commonality between the cities that author Robert Malone pointed out: that the cities were democratic, therefore clean.

This is a classic case of Western mis-prescription of democracy. When a one-word diagnosis of an issue is needed, democracy is usually the front runner. Not far behind is another word, globalization. It seems like no matter what is wrong with the world, democracy is the generic answer:

Iraq? Democracy.
Sudan? Democracy.
China? Democracy.
Ozone layer? Democracy.
Kim Jong Il? Democracy.
Britney and K-Fed? Democracy.

Can we not attribute cleanliness to other things? Efficient public transportation, proper waste regime, non-use of styrofoam, hybrid cars... there are numerous things that could be taken into consideration. The only time I would consider democracy is considering the factor of formidable institutions (like the EPA), but last time I checked, not all democratic cities are clean anyway.

And, taking a lesson from history, Hitler wanted his Germany to be clean. He even included this important thought in Hitler Youth manuals!

Don't get me wrong, democracy is a wonderful thing, but when we use it as the causal variable to determine a city's cleanliness, maybe we mis-prescribed it somewhere.

Side note: Those 5 cities look damn good. Nice choices, Forbes.