Thursday, August 28, 2008
Democracy takes effort
I found it very interesting that the foundation of democracy taking place in Athens only really lasted for about 70 years. It then turned into a aristocracy under Pericles. It seems that it's hard to maintain this kind of government (democracy) and that societies tend to adopt a government of aristocracy easier. I wonder why that is? Survival of the strongest and fittest? Do we feel most comfortable being ruled by a person we deem to be stronger, smarter, etc. than us? Personally, I consider a government of democracy to be further advanced than aristocracy. So to think that societies would naturally slip into aristocracy makes me think humans are lazy. It takes time and effort to make your voice, the common man, be heard. To step up and not let the biggest among us to decide everything for us. And to organize and arrange a government where huge groups are involved and the common man has a voice takes a lot of effort. Just a thought I had... I hope you all give me your opinions on this matter.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
It does take a lot of effort to keep a democracy going. You've got different class types all pulling in opposite directions at the same time. Getting anything done takes a lot of energy and time (I'm sure a lot of us can agree on that in our country). Maybe the reason that the democracy in Athens only lasted about 70 years was that there were really only two classes, the rich and the poor, there really wasn't a middle group to help even things out so they ended up with the one best man becoming the aristoi leading to aristocracy.
I too believe that democracy takes just not effort but work. I however do not see Athens slipping back into an Aristocracy as laziness. We have seen many times through out history how often new things are tried. I believe that while Athens had a great idea they were not ready to make that idea work or able to. Athens had a war based Sparta not to far away maybe the hurdles of democracy needed to be set aside to protect the people of Athens from being conquered by Sparta. The first attempt at most things often fails that is how we learn to make the changes needed. I do think Athens was lazy I think they needed more time to learn.
Maybe it's not just that people are lazy, but it may have something to do with us feeling like someone stronger, more educated, and more gung ho about leading would look out for our best interests. That we as people with a lot of things going on in our own lives feel comforted in the fact of someone (one of us hopefully) is taking the initiative to fight for our needs.
I agree not only that it takes effort to maintain a democracy, but also that it requires resources. For some it requires more resources than others which leads to the necessity of extra effort. For those in Athens that were poor it would require more work to have their voice heard. Most had their head down and were focused on survival, just making sure that they had their basic needs met. Those that had more resources at their disposal had the ability to focus on other issues such as government /education. Perhaps lazy is what it is on some level but we must also keep in mind that each class level brings with it opportunities that may not be available to other classes without sacrifices from all concerned. Those leaning towards Aristocracy may not be willing to make such sacrifices caused by the belief in their own superiority to begin with. Their resources may out number that of other classes, which enables the slip into an Aristocrcy.
I think Anita hit upon a very important aspect to not only democracy, but the success of most civilizations - a middle ground. We call it the middle class, but there is that group in the middle who has historically pushed for change. It was the middle class in the french revolution who made the loudest squeeks and reformation.
yay comments! I'm glad I'm not the only one who observed that democracy takes quite a bit of effort, even more so than most forms of government. I think I sparked a nerve when I used the word "lazy" though. I guess indirectly I was calling the Athens lazy when I read it again, but that wasn't my intent. I was observing that humans as a whole gravitate towards government that takes less effort. Everybody wants change but very few are willing to step up to the plate to make change.
Post a Comment