Democracy is not easy. You have to listen to others. You have to compromise. You have to persuade. Democracy often calls for sacrifice, persistence and attention to the common good over the private benefit.
The opposite of democracy is the kind of autocracy practiced in the past by Germany and Japan and now in Russia by Vladimir Putin. The late British Prime Minister Winston Churchill addressed this notion in a November 1947 speech in Parliament:
“All this idea of a group of super men and super-planners, such as we see before us, ‘playing the angel,’ as the French call it, and making the masses of the people do what they think is good for them, without any check or correction, is a violation of democracy.
“Many forms of government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time; but there is the broad feeling in our country that the people should rule, continuously rule, and that public opinion, expressed by all constitutional means, should shape, guide, and control the actions of ministers who are their servants and not their masters.”
Indeed. And so it is today. To put it simply, American democracy is being attacked by those who want to install an autocratic government. In the name of freedom and democracy, they somehow profess to admire a war criminal like Putin. They want simple answers and solutions to complex issues. They push hot-button, divisive topics to score points, not build America.
They whine about gas prices and blame President Joe Biden, when global markets, supply and demand are the keys to the price at the pump. If you want to promote democracy, fight Big Oil and the billions of dollars of profits it is reaping as Russia plunders Ukraine.
They promote and make laws to erect barriers to voting with time limits and identification checks. They wantonly shift polling places and fiddle with the kind of mail-in and early voting used successfully all over the world. So if you want to promote democracy, get out and vote in June’s primaries and the November general election with the passion of Ukrainians fighting for their country.
They work to divide us by promoting fear. They assail our liberties by trying to limit a woman’s right to choose. They are gaslighters who bully and exclude other Americans on race, ethnicity, age, creed, gender identity, sexual orientation and more. If you want to fight this kind of un-American division, get off of the couch and actively engage in civic life. Make sacrifices like the greatest generation did to win World War II.
Hate is not an American value. Let’s start re-engaging with our democracy. We’re at an inflection point in the nation’s history. Let’s not squander what we’ve fought to protect for generations by taking the easy way out.
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