Some Controversial Democratic Themes

Some controversial democratic themes The Norman Transcript April 07, 2007 01:24 am — Lloyd Williams For The Transcript In our society democracy is a kind of verbal god. Seemingly everyone believes in it -- more or less. But those who uncritically reverence democracy deceive themselves for the system is imperfect. In fact, all politicalsocial systems are flawed no matter how carefully crafted. The extent is only a question of degree. On the other hand, those who demean democracy -- fascists, communists, cynics and miscellaneous authoritarians -deceive themselves for there is profound wisdom in the democratic idea. Such skeptics corrupt their understanding of democracy with subjective partiality. Little wonder the contradictions of our society leave us with uncertainty as to the functions of government and with fears that promote hostility and aggression. One reason democracy sometimes winds up as an ineffective muddle is our undisciplined inclination to confuse secondary mechanical processes with the essence of the democratic spirit. For example, the value of voting is probably the most misjudged aspect of democratic politics. This is naive. The question is not does the provincial minded citizen have the right to vote? The fundamental question is does the provincial have the informed understanding to vote wisely? Without serious, objective and intellectual education the odds of getting an informed vote are very poor. Its citizenry may not know it but a country with marginally informed electors -- in a world of increasing social, scientific complexity and growing population -- is in grave trouble. Voting is not synonymous with democracy, nor is it necessarily democratic. Sometimes it is in fact an obstacle to the flowering of the democratic process. It can impede reform. It can replace insight with misunderstanding; it can substitute confusion for order. The truth of the matter is we can have democratic arrangements with little attention to voting. There are two keys to effective voting -- participants must bring an active intelligence to the process and officials must be honest. American history is filled with corrupt voting, and we have within recent decades encountered the election of a senator who purloined the votes of Duval County to assure higher office, and a President whose people manipulated votes to guarantee the White House. Such indifference to integrity can destroy democracy. Morality and knowledge are absolute prerequisites for a meaningful democracy. Their rejection guarantees fraud, corruption and venality. What democracy inescapably calls for is cooperation, sharing and communal agreement. We deceive ourselves when posing as the exemplar of democracy and then try to export it at the point of a bayonet. Democracy is not a military commodity for export. In our present fumbling we are not likely to convince the people of the Near East of the virtues of American democracy. We presumptively demean the "near eastern mind" and what it can understand. That mind sees clearly the limitations of what we have to offer, and our disguised quest for oil is transparent. Democracy is not an institution we can package and transplant at will. Democracy is a vision, an idea, a philosophy that first captivates the human spirit and then is the object of slow habitual implementation. Its nurture requires will and understanding grounded on resolve and patience. All political movements need leaders if they are to advance. In authoritarian systems leaders pursue the dogmas of the cult and their personal ambitions. The fascists and communists are classical illustrations of such groups. Americans, although generally well-meaning and generous, tend to overlook the fact that the goals of these two groups are basically the same. Theoretically the goal of fascism is a corporate state; the goal of communism is a classless society. But in the power struggles of the world these goals prove to be rationalizations. Their real goal is power, unopposed control of all social institutions -- the military, the economy, labor, industry, education, churches and all youth and adult organizations. In a truly democratic state the mission of the leaders is entirely different. Corrupt political parties can distort their mission, but three

objectives govern the dedicated democratic leader: to lay out open and honest plans to promote the well-being of society; to teach and to encourage rational aspirations; and to bring parties, factions and dissenting groups into a cooperative pursuit of the common good. Of all the possible social-govemmental systems democracy is probably the most prudent even if it is run through with frustrations. We should have learned over the centuries that we are creatures who find meaning and fulfillment principally in our social institutions -- families, schools, churches, neighborhoods, friends and similar groups. This fulfillment requires habits of cooperation, mutual support and empathy. As these are intermingled they bring social cohesion. Authentic cohesion cannot be forced or induced by propaganda. That unity required for peaceful existence is a product of agreement through shared values and assumptions. Past social systems and governments have broken down or ossified or have been crushed for failure to accept reality. Free and honest communication lays a solid foundation for seeing reality. If we want the present social-political system to survive we must understand the requirements and conditions of democracy and implement them however painful. Understanding the requirements of democratic order and justice should be habitual in advocates of a free society. There should be no compromise with anti-democratic groups. Unfortunately, some "leaders" flounder in a morass of money, ambition, and naivet?'. In final analysis life makes demands on us that cannot be rationalized. Only those who really want democracy and who are willing to accept its intellectual requirements and practical demands are likely to have and hold it. The immobilizing squabbles of contemporary American politics signal our immaturity. And this in turn should signal a caution to us all: the bitterness of politics rarely guarantees wisdom, scarcely ever yields truth and almost always provokes cynicism. There is considerable untapped intelligence in America. Regrettably, much of it is arrested by cultural roadblocks. The three finest modem critics of democracy -- Walter Lippmann, Harold Laski and John Dewey -- had a clear grasp of these problems. With varying degrees of emphasis they saw that our education is not sufficiently incisive; that it does not adequately teach the young appreciation of the revolutionary socialintellectual impact of modem science; nor does it teach the wisdom of skepticism. There is the further obstacle of religion that does not produce the generous spirit. And journalism promoting the status quo barricades democracy and free intelligence. Perhaps the most serious roadblock of all is that portion of our pervasive value system whose standards are set by uncriticized custom and the "market" rather than by reason. This is reminiscent of the albatross bringing neither wind, nor rain nor happiness, yet it hangs about our neck smothering the mind of potentially free men and women. Lloyd Williams is a retired educator. His column runs monthly in The Transcript. Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.