Democracy is Worth Saving

Humans are hierarchal animals by nature. For thousands of years we survived under the leadership of clan leaders and chiefs. Only 2,500 years ago, in Athens, Greece, was true democracy born. So, we have a few hundred thousand years under tribal leadership against 25 centuries of democratic ideals. Democracy is not a natural institution and we must turn to our higher selves to make it work.

The beauty of democracy is that it's the only way we can be truly free. We elect representatives who rule our country by voting. If we don't like a law we can elect lawmakers to change it. Democracy is not based on human nature but rather an idea and a value. We are intelligent animals who want to control our destiny, so, thus, we chose self rule.

To make Democracy work people must believe in it, people must be engaged in politics, and most importantly, the citizens must vote.

Challenges

Democracy is fragile and is continually challenged by Murphy's Law — anything that can go wrong will go wrong. Here are just a few ways our American democracy is compromised every day:

• Citizens United — The Supreme Court basically said corporations are people and are allowed to contribute to political campaigns.
• Gerrymandering — The dominant political party in a state redraws districts to give them a political advantage. 
• Foreign Intervention — Meddling in the politics of another country to promote politicians who favor the foreign nation.
• Corruption — Ballot stuffing, vote buying, computer hacking, etc.
• Political Engineering — Closing voting precincts early in minority districts, etc.
• Control of the Press — Using or restricting the media to influence elections.

Trumpism

In 2016 we saw a new way of harming democracy. The idea is to say or do anything to get elected, simply for the sake of getting elected. When we see the daily demented ramblings of Donald Trump we must remind ourselves that his election was a protest vote from within the Republican Party. And his election to president was not a result of Russian meddling, but rather desperate people in Pennsylvania and Ohio who saw their good jobs go, and were hopeful that a wildcard candidate could bring a positive change. Like so many other people, I lost my good job in my mid-50s, so I can relate.

Keep It Alive

Democracy is an extremely beautiful ideal that must be protected, loved, savored, and kept alive. For without it we become hierarchal ants who are subject to the whims of a monarch or dictator. It's essential that we VOTE in every election, get involved in political races, and donate to good candidates. NEVER become disgruntled and say "my vote won't matter" because when you do you are killing humanity's most extraordinary ideal.

Nothing irks me more when people say "we shouldn't discuss religion or politics." My god! Now is the most important time ever to discuss these topics. What we really need is a return to civility and the maturity to listen to an opposing viewpoint without getting irrational and overly emotional.

Summary

Somehow, democracy manages to survive all the many attacks. Right now we have a president that is pushing our democracy to the edge. Sadly, various Democracy Index reports show that democracy is on the decline around the world. It's critical for us to reverse this trend. For democracy to work citizens must have some education and critical thinking skills. 

A friend once told me the world would be better off with enlightened dictators. This is furthest from the truth because there are a hundred ways to define "enlightened." During my teen years I wrote a novel about a group of countries that took over the world to fix everything that was broken. In this society all lawmaking was done by a central computer called Computo. All variables were entered into the machine and it made the decisions, which became law. This is a novel I wrote from 1973-1978 as a teenager. What a crazy weird kid I was, and now, 40 years later I realize I haven't changed one bit.

Photo: Aaron Burden