The Roots of Democracy

(via azquotes)

There are few who could argue against the fact that we are currently living in an age of significant change. Of tremendous, fast-paced innovation, the likes of which has never before been achieved in all of recorded human history. In living in an age like this, many are often inclined to think of bygone eras as more simple times. More primitive, even. However, despite the inclination to perhaps think ourselves smarter, more enlightened, and just overall superior to those who have come and gone before us, there is also a great deal of common ground stretching out between us that spans thousands of years.

Philosopher George Santayana once said that those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it. Although it is a topic not many would think to relate to modern day politics, given the monumental influence democracy has in America's modern political structure, I believe that it is extremely important for Americans to have an understanding of its history, going right back to the roots. The first official democracy was developed in the fifth century B.C., in the Greek city-state of Athens. In examining the inner workings of Athenian democracy, many parallels can be drawn between it and modern American democracy. Through these, a better understanding of one of the most critical aspects of our modern day politics might hopefully be gleaned.

Among these parallels, one of the most notable is the fact that the initial establishment of the political voting systems for both societies allowed all free male citizens of eighteen years or older to participate in voting. While the segregation aspect of these systems may not sound like a terribly good thing, in the time of ancient Athens this kind of movement towards encouraging education, activism, and (relative) equality amongst the social classes was something rarely, if ever, seen before. America, of course, differed from the restrictions of who could participate in political voting later on, when years of minority groups fighting for equal opportunity (such as through the Women’s Suffrage Movement and the Voting Rights Act) eventually paid off with the government extending voting rights to nearly all American citizens. While the recounting of these facts and events may not hold nearly as much excitement for many now as it would have held for those living it, there is little doubt that during their respective eras, these movements to encourage democracy and equality were truly something to behold, and have had a significant influence on the world we know today.

Additionally, for both modern America and ancient Athens, much pride was (and still is) taken in the achievement and successful use of political democracy on a long-term basis. Despite the fact that America was neither the first nor the most prominent nation to attempt and achieve long-lasting democracy in its politics, it is something that is considered both a great point of pride and a fundamental part of its government even to this day. During the Gettysburg Address of 1863, President Abraham Lincoln himself declared, “Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth.” In ancient Athens, logic and democracy were seen as indisputable virtues. Pericles (495-429 B.C.), a famed politician and general of ancient Athens, greatly valued these traits and used them to help form the foundations of the kind of democracy with which we are all now familiar. In a famous funeral oration given by Pericles shortly after the end of the first year of the Peloponnesian War (431-404 B.C.), and later recorded in writing by political philosopher and historian Thucydides  (460-400 B.C.), it is stated that no man is capable of measuring up to the capability and versatility of an Athenian who bears these virtues. Within both ancient Athens and modern America, it is clear that logic and democracy have held both great importance and great influence over the formation of their respective societies, and the politics therein.

In learning of groups like the ancient Athenians through sources like academic textbooks or documentaries, we may sometimes be inclined to think of them as nothing more than text on a page. But they once lived and breathed just the same as us, and many of the practices that they gave birth to and lived by still affect and are emulated by us to this day. It is important to understand the history and the influence of the practices and the politics by which we carry out our daily lives. For us, they may serve as a reminder that history is not merely some dull, impersonal, long-past string of events. Rather, history is something that we are all building for ourselves, even now. History is made when we make choices that influence this country, and in turn, the whole world. In the upcoming elections, and throughout all the years to come, this is something that must never be forgotten.

(via quotesgram)