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| Canberra's Old Parliament House is a museum of Australian Democracy. |
Democracy and chaos are somewhat symbiotic.
As a political process, democracy appears to be at its
best when the noise is loudest, opinion discordant and the idea of a civil and
just society seemingly lost in a fog that obscures the common good.
However, beneath all that jarring chatter, flows a placid river of common intent; a commonality that bonds people, a mutual understanding and a strangely silent agreement that the process will, finally, enliven and enrich the lives of all.
That, of course, doesn’t make the art of democracy any easier.
Wrestling with the seemingly unassailable dichotomies of democracy we should remember what the formerGreat
Britain
The success, or otherwise, of democracy is deeply subjective for personal judgment is shaped by ideology, morals and ethics.
Where you stand in life, a position that might have fell your way because of hereditary fortunes or the circumstantial happenings that might have simply dumped you where you are, is what shapes your views.
Should you have landed on your feet among the favoured few, then, for you, democracy works perfectly; the machinery of politics is in good working order; but if the events of life have not been so kind, then democracy seems weighted in the favour of others.
From this unappealing mess of personal wants and needs, peppered with ideological passions evolving from nurture, society must plot a course toward some sort of social good that allows for diversity, but in the same breath encourages a discipline that keeps the barbarians at bay.
Athens
However, beneath all that jarring chatter, flows a placid river of common intent; a commonality that bonds people, a mutual understanding and a strangely silent agreement that the process will, finally, enliven and enrich the lives of all.
That, of course, doesn’t make the art of democracy any easier.
Wrestling with the seemingly unassailable dichotomies of democracy we should remember what the former
The success, or otherwise, of democracy is deeply subjective for personal judgment is shaped by ideology, morals and ethics.
Where you stand in life, a position that might have fell your way because of hereditary fortunes or the circumstantial happenings that might have simply dumped you where you are, is what shapes your views.
Should you have landed on your feet among the favoured few, then, for you, democracy works perfectly; the machinery of politics is in good working order; but if the events of life have not been so kind, then democracy seems weighted in the favour of others.
From this unappealing mess of personal wants and needs, peppered with ideological passions evolving from nurture, society must plot a course toward some sort of social good that allows for diversity, but in the same breath encourages a discipline that keeps the barbarians at bay.
Considering Churchill’s view, democracy does appear
the best of societal administrative processes, but right now the idea that a
free market unimpeded by government is testing its inherent fragility.
Free market ideologues argue the democracy they favour
encourages endeavor, entrepreneurship and rewards individual effort, while
those who might be called “social-democrats” see an enriched life for all
arising from an understanding and appreciation of, and the application of, all
that is public.
Through whatever prism you see democracy its validity
depends on people engaging with the process; it depends on a willingness to
declare ownership, a willingness that can only be expressed by expanding your
life to encounter that of others.
It is both our business and in our interest to
participate in politics and ensure the chaos continues.
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