Modern democracy--Success or failure
I did not believe how easily the Republican establishment, people who had been in Washington for a long time and had professed a belief in certain institutional values and norms, would just cave. You think about John McCain: For all my differences with him, you would not have seen John McCain excuse a president cozying up to Vladimir Putin, or preferring Russian interpretations of events over those of his own intelligence agencies. And to see figures in the Republican Party do a complete 180 on everything they claimed to believe previously is troubling.
-- Barack Obama
True democracies, modern or not, don't fail. I know that sounds extreme and a bit insane, but here is my reason for believing it. Democracies don't fail, but the people in a democracy can. America is right on the edge of seeing whether we will fail or not.
Our democracy has been wrapped in too much myth and hasn't been seen as clearly as it should be. We have heroes of our democracy and that is a pretty sure sign of mythologizing. What many of us didn't realize was the weak points because heroic epics don't usually focus there. They focus on challenges, yes, but the assumption is that heroes exist to overcome the challenges.
Our heroes, the founding fathers, were the wisest of the wise and they put together a Constitution that would make our democracy bullet proof through a combination of checks and balances coupled through guaranteed rights that would always bring forth the truth. It has worked remarkably well throughout our history, especially considering that we began with slaves and only white male landowners with the right to vote. All while we rolled across the countryside in genocidal fervor.
Unfortunately, there were unanticipated holes in the safeguards. Checks and balances assumed that the legislative branch would check excesses from the executive branch, not aid and abet it. It also assumed that the judicial would be filled in a collaborative manner. It assumed that a free press would prevent the government from running wild and definitely not turn into effective propaganda. Finally, it assumed no interference from foreign governments.
All of this was to guarantee the capstone of our democracy, a free and informed vote for leadership by the people.
Right now, it is not functioning very well, although there are still some notable victories along the way. We are returned to the original premise, that success or failure relies on our people. We are divided in an incredible fashion. We don't know if we can come back together in a healthy way.
Most importantly, the health of a democracy is determined right now, always right now, actively in an evolutionary and a revolutionary fashion. So, stay tuned.
Please check out my other blog mates' takes on the same topic brought to us by Raju at their blogs:
I am staying tuned and holding my breath too. The drama is like a Hitchcock movie. Everyday, something new crops up but, the villain seems to somehow survive! The hero's nonchalance is admirable.
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