Sharing Our Way of Life
Sharing Our Way of Life
And just what is our way of life? We call it democracy, but others call theirs democracy too, and theirs are
different from ours; but the principles are similar - and vital.
Alexis de Toqueville, in Democracy In America, called it an art, and that's appropriate since all artists revere
both their independence and individual creativeness. He further explains it as "that set of institutions,
behaviors and virtues by which citizens of democracies knit all kinds of ties among themselves...but even
when his purpose is to bind himself, his first movement is to detach himself. Such is the ambivalence that
tests our soul under the reigns of the rights of man." But he said much more than that: he also called it "an
entire way of life, social, cultural, and even economic, just as much as narrowly political."
Even economic? Our way of life is certainly continually shaped by economics. In fact John Dunn writes (A
History of Democracy) "in the midst of impotence and despair, representative democracy is scarcely an
impressive recipe for building order, peace, security, prosperity or justice." Ernest Gellner is more explicit
(Nations and Nationalism) when he writes that it is a society built on the "expectancy of sustained growth" the
greatest weakness of which "is its inability to survive any temporary reduction of the social bribery fund (of
continuous improvement and material enhancement) and to weather the loss of legitimacy which befalls it if
the cornucopia becomes temporarily jammed and the flow falters."
Economics matters. When we talk about people putting themselves first, what are we talking about?
Economics - at least right there after survival and security. We care about comfort, convenience and things.
And the rest of the world? Do they not as well?
The point of this essay is not to extol the virtues of democracy, or even explain what they are, for that matter.
It is rather to discuss why creating one is as difficult as it is, because democracy is an entire way of life. That
is why democracies that have been created and function effectively are all different; their way of life going into
it was different and their democracies were necessarily constructed upon their particular take on what a way
of life should include, and what it will always include is, what's in it for me?
And what's in it for me has to contain (right after basic security) a better quality of life for which there must
be jobs, opportunities and all those other things we all want - and have always wanted, but in the past were
mostly monopolized by some form of social elitism from which most others were excluded. And how does
that all become possible? Investment. Someone must invest initiative, labor, time, effort, as well as capital
(of which there are many kinds) to get the ball rolling; and he will only do that if there is respect for the property
developed, necessitating laws and adherence to them. Add to that skills, training and education of workers
and managers and the mix becomes very complex. How does all this happen? Neither quickly nor easily.
So why do we call it democracy? What do human rights, voting, checks and balances have to do with all
that? Basically it doesn't develop without them because without the democratic accouterments those that
can take advantage of the rest, will - guaranteeing equality before the law is what makes it all possible. That
just does not happen overnight either. Why not? Because it is not part of the way of life that has developed to
support that which we call democracy.
In all societies there was a way of life that existed before any attempt to create and develop a democratic
environment was attempted - call it culture, for that is what it is. Democracy requires a certain culture, as
outlined above, and existing cultures have to learn to accommodate it. That means changing what has
always existed and developing something new. That also does not just happen overnight. Those with
unchallenged power have to learn to share it; those that have been subservient must also learn to exert their
rights and prerogatives. People who have always shared the same skills (agrarian) must learn new and
more specialised skills. And perhaps most important of all elected representatives must learn new skills as
well. Compromise does not come naturally, nor does working with others to achieve mutually satisfactory
results that might not be exactly what powerful constituents want or expect. How are such skills learned? A
little at a time, when that is the way of life - all of a sudden when it thrust upon them.
Global influence, that is as the result of international competition, also has an impact, mainly because
economics is not well understood, particularly by politicians, who believe they can decree things to happen in
a free enterprise environment without effects of unintended circumstances; things often do not work as
politicians, particularly inexperienced politicians, expect them to work. And just as often those politicians
blame other than themselves for the result (Michael Reid does a masterful job of explaining this in Forgotten
Continent - The Battle for Latin American Soul). But more than that, in a free enterprise environment, nothing
necessarily works quite as intended, since it is, in fact, free enterprise, and there are many forces at work that
are quite difficult to control.
Consider as an example the "trust state" situation as described by Fareed Zacharia (The Future of
Freedom) and seconded by Michael Reid. Existence of a natural resource (oil, silver, etc.) can have an
adverse effect on the development of a democratic society since it creates an illusion of riches that cannot be
sustained, and eliminates the contention that leads to democracy.
Yes, it's the economy, stupid, but economy does not exist in a vacuum. Before there can be viable economy
there must be an environment to develop and sustain it. And the elite of the state in which it is being pursued
must be understanding and supportive. We shall see whether a robust economy without democratic
principles can continue to flourish by watching China. We will also see if democracy can develop through
slowly evolving reforms by watching the states of the Middle East. Perhaps they will, but with numerous starts
and stops on the way.
Democracy does not just happen. Unfortunately democrats seem to lack both patience and
understanding of the difficulties entailed in its establishment.
.5
And just what is our way of life? We call it democracy, but others call theirs democracy too, and theirs are
different from ours; but the principles are similar - and vital.
Alexis de Toqueville, in Democracy In America, called it an art, and that's appropriate since all artists revere
both their independence and individual creativeness. He further explains it as "that set of institutions,
behaviors and virtues by which citizens of democracies knit all kinds of ties among themselves...but even
when his purpose is to bind himself, his first movement is to detach himself. Such is the ambivalence that
tests our soul under the reigns of the rights of man." But he said much more than that: he also called it "an
entire way of life, social, cultural, and even economic, just as much as narrowly political."
Even economic? Our way of life is certainly continually shaped by economics. In fact John Dunn writes (A
History of Democracy) "in the midst of impotence and despair, representative democracy is scarcely an
impressive recipe for building order, peace, security, prosperity or justice." Ernest Gellner is more explicit
(Nations and Nationalism) when he writes that it is a society built on the "expectancy of sustained growth" the
greatest weakness of which "is its inability to survive any temporary reduction of the social bribery fund (of
continuous improvement and material enhancement) and to weather the loss of legitimacy which befalls it if
the cornucopia becomes temporarily jammed and the flow falters."
Economics matters. When we talk about people putting themselves first, what are we talking about?
Economics - at least right there after survival and security. We care about comfort, convenience and things.
And the rest of the world? Do they not as well?
The point of this essay is not to extol the virtues of democracy, or even explain what they are, for that matter.
It is rather to discuss why creating one is as difficult as it is, because democracy is an entire way of life. That
is why democracies that have been created and function effectively are all different; their way of life going into
it was different and their democracies were necessarily constructed upon their particular take on what a way
of life should include, and what it will always include is, what's in it for me?
And what's in it for me has to contain (right after basic security) a better quality of life for which there must
be jobs, opportunities and all those other things we all want - and have always wanted, but in the past were
mostly monopolized by some form of social elitism from which most others were excluded. And how does
that all become possible? Investment. Someone must invest initiative, labor, time, effort, as well as capital
(of which there are many kinds) to get the ball rolling; and he will only do that if there is respect for the property
developed, necessitating laws and adherence to them. Add to that skills, training and education of workers
and managers and the mix becomes very complex. How does all this happen? Neither quickly nor easily.
So why do we call it democracy? What do human rights, voting, checks and balances have to do with all
that? Basically it doesn't develop without them because without the democratic accouterments those that
can take advantage of the rest, will - guaranteeing equality before the law is what makes it all possible. That
just does not happen overnight either. Why not? Because it is not part of the way of life that has developed to
support that which we call democracy.
In all societies there was a way of life that existed before any attempt to create and develop a democratic
environment was attempted - call it culture, for that is what it is. Democracy requires a certain culture, as
outlined above, and existing cultures have to learn to accommodate it. That means changing what has
always existed and developing something new. That also does not just happen overnight. Those with
unchallenged power have to learn to share it; those that have been subservient must also learn to exert their
rights and prerogatives. People who have always shared the same skills (agrarian) must learn new and
more specialised skills. And perhaps most important of all elected representatives must learn new skills as
well. Compromise does not come naturally, nor does working with others to achieve mutually satisfactory
results that might not be exactly what powerful constituents want or expect. How are such skills learned? A
little at a time, when that is the way of life - all of a sudden when it thrust upon them.
Global influence, that is as the result of international competition, also has an impact, mainly because
economics is not well understood, particularly by politicians, who believe they can decree things to happen in
a free enterprise environment without effects of unintended circumstances; things often do not work as
politicians, particularly inexperienced politicians, expect them to work. And just as often those politicians
blame other than themselves for the result (Michael Reid does a masterful job of explaining this in Forgotten
Continent - The Battle for Latin American Soul). But more than that, in a free enterprise environment, nothing
necessarily works quite as intended, since it is, in fact, free enterprise, and there are many forces at work that
are quite difficult to control.
Consider as an example the "trust state" situation as described by Fareed Zacharia (The Future of
Freedom) and seconded by Michael Reid. Existence of a natural resource (oil, silver, etc.) can have an
adverse effect on the development of a democratic society since it creates an illusion of riches that cannot be
sustained, and eliminates the contention that leads to democracy.
Yes, it's the economy, stupid, but economy does not exist in a vacuum. Before there can be viable economy
there must be an environment to develop and sustain it. And the elite of the state in which it is being pursued
must be understanding and supportive. We shall see whether a robust economy without democratic
principles can continue to flourish by watching China. We will also see if democracy can develop through
slowly evolving reforms by watching the states of the Middle East. Perhaps they will, but with numerous starts
and stops on the way.
Democracy does not just happen. Unfortunately democrats seem to lack both patience and
understanding of the difficulties entailed in its establishment.
.5