Oh Say Can You See: The Basics of Democracy
The Basics on Democracy
Oh Say Can You See- The Democracy Series
Why another Substack series on Democracy?
Simple.
Because Democracy takes governance by the people, and so every citizen must rise up to defend our Democracy when it comes under fire.
And so today, this citizen, Dr. Arthur Lavin, a just retired general pediatrician in the Cleveland, Ohio region, stands up for Democracy.
I begin with what Democracy is, then this series will take a close look at a series of ways in which our American Democracy is coming to close to ending, and just as importantly, how we, who still have the power, can keep it a Democracy.
Democracy- The meaning
Every nation must be governed, none exist without such. The choices are fairly limited.
One can live under Tyranny, or Oligarchy, or Democracy. Of all the choices, only Democracy offers the chance for every voice to be heard, and every problem to be considered for response.
Democracy means, quite literally, rule by the people. It comes from two Greek words, demos which means people, and kratos which means power. It is appropriate our concept of Democracy has Greek roots, because the first democracy practiced in historic time was that of ancient Greece. It lasted about 180 years (508-322 BCE), preceded by Tyranny and followed by Tyranny.
It is also apt because the great philosopher Socrates was a fierce fighter for Democracy. He is regarded as the Western philosopher with the greatest impact, because he asked questions that still challenge us, and given the state of America today, challenge is today for sure.
Socrates dared to raise this question. Power always seemed to concentrate in the hands of those most likely to kill you. Someone would threaten to kill you unless you obeyed their command, and that person would rule until another cowed or destroyed him (always him). Socrates asked, why can’t the voice of the people run the show? Why can’t the great majority of people decide which problems to solve? Why can’t the people keep the violent threats in check, and get on with their meeting their needs?
The 180 years of Greek Democracy were far from a full realization of Socrates’ challenge, In fact, it was the Democracy that sentenced him to death, his challenge exposed that the voices that ruled Greek Democracy were not everyone’s.
And so it has been since the days of Socrates. Violent powers wrest control of nations and punish those who dare to raise their own voice, with prison, exile, and death.
The idea of a major nation actually giving the people the power to fully govern took centuries to brew to fruition, with early movements in this direction emerging out of the Reformation in Europe. The Netherlands challenged Hapsburg rule and the nobility of England were able to create parliamentary powers to balance those of a King.
But it really was here in America, during our Revolution, that the notion of an actual Democracy with no Tyrant was put into its most powerful version since the days of the Athenian power.
The Declaration still rings loud and clear today, very much like the questions of Socrates do. Socrates asked, why don’t the people’s voices rule? And Jefferson answered that it is self-evident that they should.
We know his words, they include: …”that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness…”
These sound like nice words, but they are the words that establish the very concept that the people should rule. Think about it, if all people are created equal, then by what right can a Tyrant tell any person that the Tyrant’s needs trump all others? If we are all equal, then each person’s voice carries the same weight. Each person’s problems are equally valid of consideration. Each person’s attempt to stay alive (life), to be free to speak and act (liberty), and to find purpose and meaning in that life (pursuit of happiness), is of equal weight and importance.
This phrase can trace its origins, in fact, to Socrates, and his heirs, the colleague Epicurus and his Roman translator, Lucretius, who inspired the first modern Western philosopher, Spinoza. And we know these ideas and this line of thinking directly defined the approach to governing by Thomas Jefferson.
And so, here we have it, the result of the American Revolution created a structure of power that opened the door to the people ruling, all the people. We have never fully achieved this vision of Democracy. Vast segments of the population have been cut off from this power, but across our 257 years of trying, we keep getting closer.
And we launch Oh Say Can You See as we approach the Election of 2024 because this will be the year we decide on the outcome of yet another crisis that could end our Democracy. We have faced 4 real threats to being, becoming, a true Democracy:
The Founding of the Nation. The King could have won, and was expected to, in which case never mind on the question of Democracy.
The Issue of Slavery. This direct denial of Democracy came to a head in the Civil War, which could have been lost in 1865 ending any hope of Democracy. The win in 1865, of course, was overturned by 1877 when Jim Crow and the Klan created a Southern regime of Terrorism, ending only in 1965.
The Empire of the Fascist. This movement brought war to end American Democracy from 1941-1945. It could have won, and the same concepts are rising today, which will be the subject of future posts.
The Rise of the Fascist Today. This is today’s power that directly and very credibly threatens to end American Democracy.
At 257 years, we are the longest existing national, large-scale Democracy in the history of humanity. Which means, that Democracies tend to not last many centuries. The answer to Socrates’ question of why do the powerful always rule, is that people with the biggest guns still do tend to kill off anyone dreaming of a Democracy in time.
Many people wonder, can the collapse of a Democracy really happen here in America, the land of the free and the home of the brave? But if Democracy prevails in 2024 and beyond, history will not say, of course. It will wonder, how did the American Democracy defy the nearly overwhelming tendency of Democracies to die and Tyrannies to triumph?
I close this inaugural post of Oh Say Can You See with a quick request, take out a one dollar bill and look at it’s back. You will find on every dollar bill two circles with the big word ONE in the middle. Each circle is one side of The Great Seal of the United States. On the right, one side of the Seal features a majestic bald eagle, with one talon holding arrows of war, and the other talon holding the olive branches of peace, and in it’s beak it holds a banner proclaiming to the whole world: E pluribus unum.
This official motto of our United States means “out of many one.” This is the core meaning of democracy. Out of many, many, millions of voices, comes the one voice of the power of America. That the great power of the American government is ruled and defined by all the voices of all the Americans.
So, welcome to Oh Say Can You See. We will explore the meaning of being a Democracy further. We will talk about how it is now in at least it’s fourth brink of being extinguished. And, most importantly, we will talk about what you, and I and all of us can do to once again keep Tyranny at bay and make sure the power of America remains in each of our voices.