The moral foundations of democracy

By Lloyd Williams

July 05, 2008 12:30 am

— The public rarely recognizes the fact, but all human relationships are moral. That moral quality is a direct
product of humans interacting with one another; it is not something that exists independently of human
beings. It is not something defined principally by ministers, rabbis, priests or philosophers; nor is it a
commodity over which they have exclusive control. Moral qualities arise whenever individuals or groups
contact and influence one another.
Most Americans associate democracy with politics, although it is a much more encompassing idea. Factually
democracy describes any set of relationships of any social system where the people have the opportunity to
participate in determining social goals and influencing the identification of problems and how to solve them.
The key is that the more people participate, especially with informed intelligence, the more effectively
democratic the system will be; conversely, the fewer people participate, especially with uninformed
intelligence, the less effectively democratic the system will be.
Democracy is never a finished system. It is always in process, incomplete, always in a state of change.
Stability is temporary, brief; and the idea of absolute democracy is a contradiction. In interpreting democracy
we often misread history, for we think we have arrived politically. After all the revolutionary war was over,
independence was won, the constitution was adopted, and our "free" government was functioning. QED, we
"have democracy." This is self-deceptive. The facts are what we have is an unstable, imperfect process. It is
neglected by some, under attack by others. And it requires constant attention -- frequent tuning --
economically, socially and politically. Nor should we forget that democracy is usually inefficient. The
universe is in a state of perpetual change, our solar system is in a state of perpetual change, so understandably,
our world and its institutions are in a state of perpetual change. The energy devoted to readjusting changing
democracy is necessarily inefficient. It is not a question of whether, it is only a question of degree. One
characteristic of political maturity is recognizing the re-adjustment process goes on ad infinitum.
American democracy is sometimes self-canceling; it gets fouled-up in odd and unanticipated ways. One of
these is the assumption that democracy and capitalism are synonymous, the idea that to have one we must
have the other. This argument merely serves the interests of a push and pull, grasp and acquire, society.
Capitalism and democracy can function quite separately. Germany was capitalistic under Hitler although
violently anti-democratic; Russia under several dictators democratically elected hundreds of members to the
All Union Party Congress, the Central Committee and the Politburo although communism was anti-
capitalistic. Complicating these relationships is the fact that -- if functioning with authenticity -- democracy is
a moral process requiring concern for the rights of others; whereas capitalism -- if functioning according to
the canons of classical economics -- is a system that subordinates individuals to profit. This is why vested
interests, corporate wealth and privilege can and sometimes do corrupt the democratic process.
Habits of neglect are among the greatest dangers to democracy. Failure to consider emotional maturity as a
precondition for holding public office is a serious neglect -- especially in the Presidency. Recent
misjudgments in the White House during the Vietnamese War disrupted democracy and cost hundreds of
thousands of unnecessary deaths. The same emotional shortcomings caused Nixon to stumble over his own
deficient ego at Watergate. And the same kind of qualitative fumbling took place in the first decade of the
21st century when the U.S. decided to maul a small country of less than 25 million people because we
coveted their petroleum and because we thought they were a threat to Israel. The absence of emotional
immaturity in these cases was a tragedy leading to defective judgment. We failed in the latter because we did
not possess the former. There are numerous other blunders rooted in neglect. Failure to develop clear and
rational objectives is serious, so we continue to stumble. We are perpetuating a society where the
accumulation of material wealth is held to be the highest good; this falls short of an elevated and rational
standard of the good. In earlier days we bowed to the club or the sword; later we kowtowed to caesars,
monarchs and dictators. Now we obsequiously kneel to wealth.
One other neglect is helping to weaken America: failure to develop a healthy, habitual skepticism. Effective
democracy calls for a critical and suspended commitment to the endless affirmations advanced by the
politically powerful, socially eminent and financially wealthy. This is part of our failure to overcome the
neglect of intelligence -- our willingness to rely on comfortable emotions rather than using objective,
thoughtful analysis to guide us into the future.
Neglect is a form of drift, and drift is likely to produce tragedy. Without careful attention to its needs,
limitations and possibilities democracy drifts. This tells us why an educated citizenry is indispensable to a
healthy democracy. Those men of keen minds and staunch character who founded this Republic, the
Founding Fathers, were resolute supporters of learning and education. Washington in his first message to
Congress urged the support of science and literature, and in his "Farewell Address" urged the American
people to support the "general diffusion of knowledge." Our first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John
Jay, held knowledge to be the "soul of the Republic" and its dissemination the best way to combat the weak
and the wicked. John Adams said we must assure education not only for the rich but also for "every rank and
class of people." And James Madison thought popular education essential for the Republic. The final
ultimatum to those who oppose education was issued by Thomas Jefferson: "If a nation expects to be ignorant
and free in a state of civilization it expects what never was and never will be." This sure and concise principle
should be engraved in the mind of every citizen and especially congresspersons and legislators. What our
forebears understood is that moral awareness is brought to light by learning, reading and thinking. Without
these the Republic falls.
Nothing quite so illuminates the moral foundations of a democratic society more than contrasting it with a
totalitarian one. The totalitarian society is primitive; its mind is malicious. It suppresses the free intellect and
therefore stands in direct opposition to reliance on intelligence. The free intellect is one that does its own
thinking, reaches its own independent conclusions and rejects dictation from any source. The collective mind
determines laws and standards; it is the several minds of society in interaction that carries us to moral,
democratic conclusions. These conclusions are not handed down from on high; there is no magic engraving
on golden plates or mysterious etching on stone. Interacting human minds chisel the "truth" into the
intellectual, social and legal fabric of society. One necessary condition that characterizes authentic democracy
is full participation. This includes everyone regardless of race, color, ethnic background, educational level,
wealth -- or lack thereof.
Our democracy has parried the authoritarian, totalitarian mind with relative success. It has worked
surprisingly well in spite of many crippling flaws. Still we should remind ourselves of Goethe's counsel: "The
little ... done seems nothing when we look forward and see how much we have yet to do." If we extend this
insight to enriching and implementing the principles of democracy, progress may prove more than a shadowy
myth or an elusive dream.
Lloyd Williams is a retired educator. His interest in democracy is rooted in childhood acquired while listening
to his parents discuss such things as the governorships of Pa and Ma Ferguson and the evils of Jim Crow.

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