Term Paper on "Why I Am a Democrat"

Term Paper 6 pages (2169 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Democrat

Motto:

Too many people expect wonders from democracy, when the most wonderful thing of all is just having it."

Walter Winchell=

There's not enough paper to fill with ink on the matter. Democracy is the muse of many and the scarlet woman of the rest, for it means both absolute freedom and heavy invisible chains.

According to the Wikipedia Encyclopedia, democracy represents "a form of government for a nation state, or for an organization in which all the citizens have an equal vote or voting voice in shaping policy" (Wikipedia, 2006).

I remember hearing about "democracy" ever since I was a little boy, when I learned in school about George Washington and the War of Independence. I was taught in school about the most democratic country in the world, one which allowed immigrants, legal or not, to take a bite of it's flesh and blood at the expenses of democracy, gave them sanctuary and made them free men; the United States then became the Promised Land and the words of Abraham Lincoln came to my mind: "Democracy is the government of the people, by the people, for the people."

Then one by one I thought the centerpiece of democracy lays in some other terminology like the freedom of speech, women's right to vote or respecting human rights. I was wrong though. Democracy canopies all these and a lot more.

Aristotle first defined democracy through freedom (Ball and Dagger, 2005), which has got two aspects: ruling and being ruled, and doing whatever one wishes and pleases. Although essential, his view was rather general and was later developed by many others, until it came to the shape of today: democracy has many election systems and even more categories one can remember.

When talking about democracy it is impossible not to compare it with other ideologies. John Patrick once said: "Democracy... is a system of self-determination. it's the right to make the wrong choice." Communism, which was born along with Marx and Engel's "Communist Manifesto" in 1848, was a mass ideology that promoted common ownership and social equality among people; communists believed social classes were only meant to bring wealth to the ruling class (the capitalists) on the backs of the proletariat. Communism later developed an over protectiveness that would lead to censorship, trespassing of human rights and freedom of speech and last but not least the intrusion of the state into the private lives of the people.

Fascism was no better. The word stems from the word "fasces," which in ancient Rome was the symbol of the power of the magistrates. "Fasces" designates strength through unity. Fascism was first developed in Mussolini's Italy (Ball and Dagger, 2005), between 1922 and 1943, when the charismatic ruler was over-throned. His oppressive regime was based on nationalism, militarism, anti-liberalism and anti-communism, which is why Mussolini later became a close ally of German dictator Adolf Hitler.

As one can easily see, neither communism nor fascism could measure to the rightfulness of democracy. While the latter's powers truly emanate from the people, the first two only pose as protectors of the masses; while in democracy the rulers are elected by means of free, secret, direct vote, communism only had one candidate to the elections, on which the people would express their will to make him their ruler. Fascists only had one ruler at all: Mussolini.

When analyzing facts from a social point-of-view, democracy also unveils as the ideology to choose.

Edmund Burke (1729-1797) is generally considered to be the founder of modern conservative thought (Ball and Dagger, 2005), although he was a Whig (the predecessor of the Liberal Party in Great Britain). His famous "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing" (Heywood, 2003) can also apply to his support to the American Revolution. His book "Reflections of the Revolution in France" has shown that this was owed to his conservative thoughts. That is, he considered the American Revolution to be legitimated by previous rights already stated in Great Britain's laws, while the French Revolution was not a movement towards constitutional democracy, but a rebellion against tradition and legitimate authority. Many, among which his former admirer Thomas Jefferson, have called him an enemy of democracy. Even so, Burke remains one of the first and most fierce supporters of the American Revolution. His controversial points-of-view were also regarded in contrasting ways: Karl Marx considered him to be "an out-and-out vulgar bourgeois "(Marx, 1867), while Winston Churchill wrote about him, in his "Consistency in politics": "On the one hand [Burke] is revealed as a foremost apostle of Liberty, on the other as the redoubtable champion of Authority. But a charge of political inconsistency applied to this life appears a mean and petty thing. History easily discerns the reasons and forces which actuated him, and the immense changes in the problems he was facing which evoked from the same profound mind and sincere spirit these entirely contrary manifestations. His soul revolted against tyranny, whether it appeared in the aspect of a domineering Monarch and a corrupt Court and Parliamentary system, or whether, mouthing the watch-words of a non-existent liberty, it towered up against him in the dictation of a brutal mob and wicked sect. No one can read the Burke of Liberty and the Burke of Authority without feeling that here was the same man pursuing the same ends, seeking the same ideals of society and Government, and defending them from assaults, now from one extreme, now from the other." (Churchill, 1925).

"All the ills of democracy can be cured with more democracy" (a. E. Smith). Let's analyze feminism from this point-of-view.

Everyone must be acquainted with Miss Mary Wollstonecraft. Born 1759, she was a British philosopher. Nothing unusual so far. But Wollstonecraft was one of the first promoters of "the woman question," by writing "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman" in 1791. In this book, she debated ardent subjects of the time, such as the importance of equality between men and women, the right of women to work and study, the right to vote, women's debased position in society. Wollstonecraft wrote "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman" as a response to Jean Jacques Rousseau's novel "emile," and stated: "Let not men then in the pride of power, use the same arguments that tyrannical kings and venal ministers have used, and fallaciously assert that women ought to be subjected because she has always been so... It is time to effect a revolution in female manners - time to restore to them their lost dignity... It is time to separate unchangeable morals from local manners." (Wollstonecraft, 1791).

Wollstonecraft stated that "I do not wish women to have power over men; but over themselves" (Wollstonecraft, 1791). And so it happened. She was a role model for the British and American feminists, and women in the United States and almost everywhere else in the world are now granted the rights she fought for. Democracy means equality of men and women, and Mary Wollstonecraft made a point in it.

Democracy is not only a form of government, it is a way of life. It is the ultimate freedom an individual can get, without endangering the freedom of others. It is the highest level of self-respect that one can get, and at the same time the highest degree of respect one can pay to the ones around him, without difference of race, age, sex, religion, sexual minority. It is the point-of-view of Libertarianism, whose promoter Murray Newton Rothbard was. Libertarianism is a political philosophy whose main idea is that all social contact should be consensual and deliberate. They also oppose to the welfare state, considering it to be unproductive- it is unethical to force someone to provide aid to people.

It is also respect shown to nature, if you come to think about it. it's the freedom to protect the wildlife, the natural environment you grew up in.

Communists found the way to a flourishing economy by financing the heavy industry, and thus destroying the natural habitat. Forests were cut down during the Capitalist period and pollution reached alarming levels.

Aldo Leopold (1887-1948) is known to be the founder of wildlife management in our country (Ball and Dagger, 2005). He was not only an environmentalist but also an ecologist, who dedicated his life struggling to bring his readers in intimacy with his nature writing and landscapes. The Wilderness Society he founded in 1935, and the Aldo Leopold Wilderness are considered the starting point of environment-conservation in the United States.

After all these, I can truly say I am a Democrat.

The United States' form of government is that of constitutional republic. It is the constitutional republic with the longest life in the world, and it is also the country with the oldest wholly-written constitution on Earth.

The United States have three levels of government: local, state and federal, and all of the officials are elected by means of secret ballot. The right… READ MORE

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