Democracy Discussion

(OK, I caved and made a new blog rather than trying to figure out all that technical mumbo jumbo. Anyway.)

"Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time." -Winston Churchill

When first viewed, this quote appears to be saying that no form of government is without any flaws, but that a true democracy can come fairly close to flawless. Of course, this is only true if the people decide to take responsibility, because in a democracy, the government and the people are very closely connected. Without one half of that connection, the whole system is going to crash and burn. This may be the problem with the current state of things in the United States. Nearly everyone is complaining about things like the government, gas prices, and the environment, but very few of them actually take any action. If you think about that for a while, a new interpretation of the quote comes up. The quote could be talking about the tendency of people to dislike things they don't really know anything about. People could be complaining about the government while at the same time putting down other forms of government even more. Of course, Winston Churchill died in 1965, so the quote could hardly be talking about the state of things now in 2008, but I think that it still does apply.

Recipe for Democracy:
-First take several political parties.
-Mix them with some non-government organizations.
-Add a fair election system that gives the citizens a large share of the power.
-In a separate bowl, mix together some equality, freedom of speech, and basic human rights. Set this aside for later.
-Add a dash of change. You can't have your democracy falling flat because it failed to adapt to new things.
-Carefully layer your two different mixtures into the crust, which should of course include a constitution and a good tablespoon of integrity.
-Bake at 450 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes, or until the crust is golden-brown.
-Enjoy your democracy!
All silliness aside, I think our democracy in the United States may have gotten a little overcooked. We might want to check that out, there's certainly still hope that it can be salvaged.