I’ve heard it said that democracy is an experiment. I’ve also heard it said that life is an experiment.
And I’ve heard that they both ultimately end in failure. When life ends — we say, “that’s life.” When democracy ends — we say, “that’s history.”
Life is too deep a subject for me today, so I thought I’d go down the democracy road…
Democracy is a form of government that seems to have served the United States well for over 250 years. Obviously, it’s far from perfect and has gone through some rough times over the years. I think chaos best describes the current state of democracy in the US today.
If what “they say” is true — that democracy is an experiment that ultimately ends in failure, is our form of government doomed? Maybe the chaos so prevalent today is really just a sign of “old age” or the “end-of-life” for democracy. Maybe it’s not as nimble as it was a hundred years ago, maybe some of its brain cells are dying…
Until recently, the United States was a world leader in just about any category you could name — except maybe crime, violence, corruption… those things you don’t want to be near the top in…
I’m not sure when it happened, but somewhere along the way the American people lost their “say” in our political/government system. I should clarify that the “typical” American lost their say — people categorized as millionaires or billionaires not only have their “say,” they pretty much run the political/government system and therefore, the country. The three branches of government set up to assure checks and balances and, for sure, the “will of the people” are rapidly disappearing. When you think of the phrase, “We, the People,” it seems like the “we” has become more “they.” And, not to be overly critical, or to place the blame, but today “we” has become “him.”
Most Americans are not getting “more,” they’re getting “less” — and — have less say about what they’re not getting.
So our government is getting old, it’s dysfunctional and kind of broken. It may even be beyond repair… but we must, as the British say, “keep calm and carry on.” As human beings, we become old, a bit broken and dysfunctional, but we carry on. We should do the same for our government — carry on. For all our generation, that experiment of life will sooner or later be referred to as, “that’s life.” We should strive to make the best of what comes our way so that our children, grandchildren and their children and grandchildren don’t ever get to… “that’s history.”
There’s a line in Les Miserables something like, “Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise.” We should choose to be optimistic — it feels better.
— 30 —