Before elected government, there were still governments. In many places it was by the wealthy, by the church, by divine right and that was the only right. There, law was based on status—blood and force and prophecy of who could pull a sword from a stone.
And then came the idea of natural rights, that everyone should be treated with a certain respect because we are alive and that is enough status by itself.
When we speak of democracy, we’re talking about a sophisticated cycle:
- People choose their government.
- The government performs for a time.
- People reevaluate and repeat step 1.
This kernel of scientific government is essential to progress and to maintaining a functioning society. It attempts to strike a balance between unfettered change and conserving the old. It sets a cadence, it gives a ritual, it provides a path forward.
Those who stand in opposition to democracy are standing opposed to the basic educational loop by which we can improve society. They propose something like:
- People don’t choose their government. The government is whoever can grab the reins and kick everyone else off.
- The government does whatever the fuck it wants. (To be fair, it could be good, but if it isn’t there’s no recourse.)
- Ashes, ashes. We all fall down.
Then, maybe, the survivors build something out of those ashes.
But the tried-and-true loop of democratic government is superior, adaptable, dependable. Only it has a flaw. Its flaw is that we have to give up our power and we have to trust that the people will make good decisions over time. Not every time, but that on average the decisions will be better than a dictator’s, better than a business’, and better than any minority interest of any kind, religious, ethnic, whatever.
And that requires the people have a say. But there are those who are afraid of what we have to say to each other. On both sides.
Many fear the racism, the batshit conspiracy, the anti-religious zealotry of so-called Christians. Others fear the cancel culture, the spectre of communism arising from greater social welfare programs, and culture that’s not aligned with their values or tastes.
But that’s society, and that’s what we have to work with. Fear. That we might fuck it all up, and ruin it all, and be left with ashes. But, for all the resistance to Donald John Trump, the conservatives of this country have not admitted that America trusted and allowed for such a grave mistake. We afforded this ruin, including thousands upon thousands who have given up their lives to a virus that this supposed leader did not prepare to act against and that he has largely neglected to manage.
We know our lives may be lost to blunders of impetuosity by our fellow citizens, but we still believe in the cause that over time, on average, we will do better by voting, by choosing. That the flaw that allowed Donald John Trump to exist as a candidate, and then as an elected president, is the same flaw that makes our system work at all. That yes, we can fuck it all up. But no, we do not want to fuck it up, and we will strive to learn the lessons and avoid the mistakes and purge the corruption and right the ship and sail into the bloody sunset!
Anyhoo. The election is in ten short weeks.