Principles of democracy - a musing..

I was reading in the Newspapers today about Obama’s credit card being invalidated during his visit to a restaurant with his family, and how he had to ask Michelle to pay through her’s. This is an extraordinary instance in the practice of democratic values that makes the United States of America one of the truest representatives of democracy as a form of enlightened governance. The fact that the President had to pay for his dinner is a tacit acknowledgement that he is a citizen like anyone else there; and secondly, the freedom of the system to block his Credit card for non-usage, and the restaurant conveying that information to him without fear of retribution is an acknowledgement of mutually agreed laws; and thirdly, the President , taking no offence , requests his wife to pay – shows the character of his Presidency and tacit acknowledgement that he is as much a citizen as he is the President of a powerful country that values its integrity and honor.
The concept of democracy is a fragile thing. What does it mean to mankind to be democratically organized as a society? When the City states of Greece, ensconced in their little valleys, buttressed by oceans and Hills all around; declared themselves to be a free society of independent states of not more than fifty to hundred thousand strong - they realized the genuine need to create an order that will elect a few statesman to lead them, but never without the concurrence or opposition of its people. The Acropolis was not a politician’s podium to voice irrelevant promises, make irrational decisions or compromise the integrity and moral values of its constituent members. They were as accountable, as subservient to established laws of governance as anyone else in that assembly. That is the essence of democracy.
Alexis de Tocqueville, the Frenchman who visited America in its formative years, condensed what he found in his wonderful book “Democracy in America”. One of the important observations that he makes is: “...Nothing is more wonderful than the art of being free, but nothing is harder to learn how to use that freedom”. And democracy is all about using ones freedom - to willingly abide by common laws without clipping the wings of Individual freedom and expression, yet acknowledging a deep need to live by consensus, accepting responsibility, and understanding that such a political system is not a license to unbridled power and privilege; but merely a caretaker of a very precious intangible commodity called “social equilibrium”.
The other important principle is that Democracy is way of living, and not merely a system to be followed. It has to be renewed in every bosom afresh each time. Each act of social interaction should be tinged with a feeling that one lives in an egalitarian community, where every individual- no matter what his profession – is equally important in the order of things, and one’s social rights are only reflections of a common code of ethics and conduct. And especially, the governing class should be the most refined breed of people who can rise above the entanglements of power and orient their lives in fulfilling their individual destinies, and in the process help in creating and preserving a polity that generates enough freedom, opportunity and say for every member of it. The original democratic city states of Greece overflowed with Men like Socrates, Plato, Sophocles, Pericles, Aristophanes, Aristotle’s and many others – simply because the fertile ground of democracy was prepared and preserved through a common pact of enlightened citizenship.
I have always said this in a lot of my conversations. Democracy or democratic values are to be developed from within; they cannot be imposed from without. It really wouldn’t work if its citizens do not feel, experience the need and opportunity to be free and participate in society. Today, in the Middle East and elsewhere, we are witnessing the horrors of imposing democratic values on people who are simple not prepared for it. America was born free; its founding fathers and all those who migrated to this country, knew what they were looking for and understood the true meaning of creating a democratic republic. Whereas, a country like India, while wrenching itself from foreign dominion in an act of defiance, giving to itself a constitution with lofty ideals ; forgot to educate its people on what it means to living in a spirit of freedom and responsibility. After over seventy years of this experiment, all that we find is that the political establishments have usurped or rather abrogated all power, laws and opportunities leaving millions with dry hopes of equality, education and participation in their social organization ; and with each passing day, the rift between various sections of society is getting deeper and wide. I am hoping that this imbalance will be corrected soon. Unless, we raise the common denominator of living quality in a society, democracy will prove to be a sham or a compromise – at best.
Will Durant, My favorite historian writes: “Nature has never read the Declaration of Independence. It continues to make us unequal...”
But, in my opinion, it is the unique privilege of self-conscious Human species to honor inequalities, and yet provide for an order where the most talented and least endowed can stand together and shake hands; knowing that one cannot exist without the other, and common code of conduct is required to preserve both of them in a shared communal life. This is the bottom line of democracy…
God bless…

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