“The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.” (Winston Churchill, 1874—1965)
Our country was
invaded, attacked, and weakened. Covid killed more than 800,000 citizens. More die each day. We failed to
coordinate a unified counterattack to Covid, and we responded to this invader
with neither common purpose nor common sense.
We argued about vaccines and masks. For too many, conspiracy theories prevailed. Rational discourse did not. In the past, we
rallied together to defeat the common enemy. This time, we did not. We are more
deeply divided now than ever. Our democracy, if not terminally ill, is in
desperate need of intensive care.
When a
patient is admitted to the Intensive Care Unit a list of problems is identified. If democracy is the patient, then here’s a
list of the problems:
1) COMPLACENCY—The apathy of a centrist
majority empowers the enraged and disenfranchised few, the right-wing and
left-wing zealots, those who would willingly exchange our two-party system
of democracy for single-party autocracy.
2) IGNORANCE—A failing system of public
education graduates too many students who are taught too little civics,
science, and critical thinking.
3) TRIBALISM—No longer the melting-pot
that honored our commonality, we are a nation of differences; blue and red,
black and white, us and them.
4) MISINFORMATION—Under the protective
umbrella of ‘free speech’ lies and falsehoods compete on equal footing with
truth.
5) BUREAUCRACY--Rules, regulations, threat
of litigation, and red tape have replaced judgement, discretion, and common
sense.
6) EXCUSES—Blame has replaced leadership
and responsibility.
7) ENTITLEMENT—Civic responsibility is a
thing of the past. We no longer ask, “what
I can do for my country.” Instead, we
ask, “what my country can do for me.”
8) MORAL TURPITUDE—We remain a nation of
laws, but no longer a nation of principles. There is no guiding moral compass. Sworn
oaths mean nothing. Political careers are guided not by principle, but by the quest for reelection and power.
9) GREED—Capitalism’s Achilles heel, the accumulation of vast wealth and power by the very few, has led to a declining middle-class and a society of haves and have-nots.
10) WASTE—National wealth has been squandered and misspent. We are trillions of dollars in debt.
Whether it
be information or misinformation, I read that a significant minority of
Americans, 28%, still believe that the last presidential election will be overturned. Some even believe that armed resistance
should be used to overthrow the current government. Biden flounders, Trump lurks in the
background, and too few have the courage to fight on behalf of
democracy.
“No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that Democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.” Churchill was the defender of democracy in a time of rising fascism. His words remind me why, despite the daunting list of problems, I pray the patient recovers.
