Democracy

When I think of democracy, many of the other “great American ideals” come to mind, such as freedom and the pursuit of happiness.  These concepts and ideas are deeply rooted in American culture and Americans themselves or as Whitman refers to them- “the peaceablest and most good-natured race in the world.”  He dreamed of a future of “a couple of hundred best men and women, of ordinary worldly status, have by luck been drawn together, with nothing extra of genius or wealth, but virtuous, chaste, industrious, cheerful, resolute, friendly and devout.”  We tend to emphasize the pros to democracy without facing the flaws. 

One of the biggest issues with democracy is the looming possibility of “tyranny of the majority.”  In a democracy, everyone is supposed to have an equal voice, but obviously this has not always been the case in America.  During the practice of slavery, the majority had the upper hand while slaves had no voice whatsoever.  Earlier in time, Thomas Jefferson felt that slavery was wrong and lived with his guilt, and simply decided to allow future Americans to take care of the issue.  In this situation, democracy did not serve this country well.  Jefferson expected a lot from the future as Whitman often does in “Democratic Vistas” when he says that the word “democracy” has an unwritten history because “that history has yet to be enacted.”  He also called for writers and poets to be a big part of the growing democracy and to continue the work he started.  However, as Brooks states, those people “have not arrived” and Whitman’s work is still “the best explanation of the nation’s energy and aspirations.”  Sometimes, even in a democracy, voices are silenced and the majority can be wrong, but have the power just the same.

However, at its best, I think democracy does some good things for us.  To me, living in a democracy means you have the ability and power to choose.  You can choose to change, influence, speak, and better yourself in hopes of making a difference in the place you are.  I think that is what Whitman was hoping for when he talks about people “freely branching and blossoming in each individual, and bearing golden fruit.”  The idea of democracy is more than just an outline for a government and a country, but also a basis that we can springboard from to become better individuals, and therefore a better nation.  Whitman wanted this idea to be rooted so deeply in the hearts and character of the American people that they would die so that others could experience it and possess such a kind of life, like the soldiers that he talks fondly of.

Democracy is the hope that you can make a difference in this country and change things instead of watching people decide the rules of your life for you.  Even if we do not have a direct democracy and can not single handedly pass legislature, we have the ability to change someone else’s mind or come together and stand alongside someone who has that power.  Although democracy can involve a give and take of freedoms like submitting to security measures in airports in order to receive the freedom from fear, we still have that ability to deny giving up a freedom; we have the choice to say no.  Other people in other countries do not have the choice of giving something up or not.  This option is very important to Americans, I think, but also is taken for granted every day.

Lastly, I think that the idea of democracy is important to the way we look to the future.  Being a college student, I think ahead in time and realize that the things I aspire to do are made possible by the existence of a democracy.  I know that I can better myself and the lives of those around me through being a nurse because of how the majority has deemed healthcare important and the fact that everyone should be able to reap its benefits.   Democracy allows us to have a say in what our future will look like and how we will live.  This alone is a distinguishing factor of our country and what I think Whitman had in mind when he wrote that Americans should be “realizing, above the rest, that known humanity, in deepest sense, is fair adhesion to itself, for purposes beyond.”