By the People, For the Powerful
Jason Thomas
‘A government by the people; rule of
the majority’. This is not a famous quote or a passage from a famous document;
it is the dictionary definition of democracy. Presently there are many diverse
notions of what a true democracy should look like. Those in power believe the majority do not
have the capacity to govern themselves and therefore see democracy as a vessel
for their agenda organized by the want and need to keep their power at any
cost. Those without power have to believe a democratic system in which they
have a limited voice and struggle to provide for themselves and their family is
not a true democracy. How can it be if a
majority of minorities are living near or below the poverty line? If they truly
lived in a democracy, would that majority not be able to change the government
for the betterment of that majority? A bourgeois
democracy is at the core of this disparity in our country; however our social
values have also skewed our moralities to the point that materials and the
state economy are of greater value than citizens. It seems that the interests of property are being
placed above human rights.
This corruption
begins with our education system where the government uses education as a way
to deposit racial stereotypes. Instead
of teaching children how to think for themselves and analyze the world around
them, the current system treats students as a sponge. What are minority students soaking up? They are inferior to whites. According to a recent poll, minority and
low-income schools (who receive much less funding) not only have greater
academic deficiencies. “Parents from wealthier families were less likely than
those from less affluent ones to see bullying, low parental involvement, low
test scores, low expectations and out-of-date textbooks as serious problems.”
(Huff Post, Elliot and Agiesta) The
current system of funding creates these problems. We can ill afford to maintain the current
system if minorities are to have an equal opportunity to become socially
engaged.
Being socially
unaware is dangerous to the ideal of a true democracy. If certain groups of the population are being
trained to be unaware, then we are enabling those in control to enjoy their
unchecked power over the lower classes and minorities. Looking back on the history of our country,
where has the most change originated?
Not from within the political system but external to it. The civil rights movement and women’s
suffrage were both initiated outside the walls of The Capital and The White
House. Self-aware citizens actively
began to open the mind and hearts of those around them in order to make them
see the injustices taking place around them.
Once they engaged those around them they forced those in power to change
the law as necessary to enact change needed to advance humanity and the ideal
that everyone is equal.
It is so
important to have each person engaged in their community and to voice their
opinion on the happenings of the nation and the world. For example, I was not aware of the struggles
of school children in Arizona who were fighting to keep a program in place
which gave them a much better chance of succeeding in school and ultimately in
life. Now that I am aware of their
struggles I can research ways in which I can help them and others like them in
order to better their chance of having the same opportunities I have. If citizens were to stop engaging each other
within the community the communication lines of alteration will effectively
shut down the system of change outside the political sphere. Since most change come to fruition by those
outside the government as stated before, this would be a disastrous omen for
the progressive acts in creating equality.
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