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A Mini Series: 9. Being Young Today
Mekila Wittman
age 20, USA
What is the role of democracy today?
I think that as climate disasters destabilize government, democracy will become less dependent on extra personal systems, such as governments, political parties and religion for its definition and instead become more dependent on the values of individuals. I think we are coming to a time, when our first world faith on democracy is going to meet a huge challenge. In the face of climate change huge economic disparity and the resulting rise of extremism. I think we will see a rise in a popular ideology, which does not look very much like classical democracy. So the role of democracy, will become personal work.
I think people choosing to behave democratically in a world, which is gradually becoming more afraid and consequently more selfish, the rise of individualism which in some ways in hugely celebrated in democratic countries is ironically the philosophical downfall of the core values of democracy which rest upon the principal of social unity. As we struggle to solve the enormous issues that we have placed before our global society today I think we will find that the role of democracy, must reach out beyond being a governmental idea and become a social global reality. We cannot have democracy in one small bubble of the world which is funded by totalitarianism in another part of the world. That is not truly democracy. And it cannot be sustained.
I think that we will see an interesting fusion of classical democracy with social discipline. Certain universal social disciplines. Ultimately a democracy where people are encouraged by the local culture to simply take advantage of all available resources, all available labor, lacks a certain moral aspect which makes democracy un-sustainable. And in negotiating for a new democracy, we will be treading on some dangerous territory of maintaining an ideology of freedom while promoting social discipline simultaneously. I think many global leaders will be faced with the moral problem of trying to control the actions of the people they are responsible for to avoid greater crisis while simultaneously preserving those peoples freedoms. In this process we may see some very beautiful and some very terrifying transformations of the idea that is today called democracy.
I think people choosing to behave democratically in a world, which is gradually becoming more afraid and consequently more selfish, the rise of individualism which in some ways in hugely celebrated in democratic countries is ironically the philosophical downfall of the core values of democracy which rest upon the principal of social unity. As we struggle to solve the enormous issues that we have placed before our global society today I think we will find that the role of democracy, must reach out beyond being a governmental idea and become a social global reality. We cannot have democracy in one small bubble of the world which is funded by totalitarianism in another part of the world. That is not truly democracy. And it cannot be sustained.
I think that we will see an interesting fusion of classical democracy with social discipline. Certain universal social disciplines. Ultimately a democracy where people are encouraged by the local culture to simply take advantage of all available resources, all available labor, lacks a certain moral aspect which makes democracy un-sustainable. And in negotiating for a new democracy, we will be treading on some dangerous territory of maintaining an ideology of freedom while promoting social discipline simultaneously. I think many global leaders will be faced with the moral problem of trying to control the actions of the people they are responsible for to avoid greater crisis while simultaneously preserving those peoples freedoms. In this process we may see some very beautiful and some very terrifying transformations of the idea that is today called democracy.
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