COLUMN: Is American democracy dead?
I’ll preface this rant with a revelation and an observation.
First, the revelation: I love to talk 19 to the dozen. Call me garrulous, but I thrive on chatter.
This poses a problem. You see, there’s only so much to talk about. Especially in different countries and in more conservative cultures. So I have what I like to think of as spark plugs that are certain to fire up any rap session.
My favorite: Government, or the common man’s disdain for it.
It doesn’t matter which country you’re in; people generally dislike their leaders, and they can spend hours telling you why their country is in such a muddle. Americans on the political left are particularly good at this. They shilly-shally about how the country has been overrun by unfeeling rich white men oblivious to the concerns of the average American.
At first, I dismissed their rhetoric as typical liberal tattle. Then, last summer, I moved house, wife and cat to the outskirts of Detroit. It was an expensive move, to say the least. Our monthly bills shot through the false ceiling of our tiny apartment. Still, we had it easy. Around us, workers faced layoffs, factories closed and people greeted each other in the street with queries about available jobs. It was blue collar hell, to be sure.
I worked at Times Herald, a newspaper in the sleepy river town of Port Huron, Mich. I was the city hall reporter, and my beat allowed me to rub shoulders with many local and state politicians. Many of them were rich and white, and I could count the women off on one hand. The liberal argument was starting to make sense. The system functioned as a democracy, but was hardly representative.
Michigan’s Congressional delegation is another great white leviathan. Only two of the state’s 16 representatives in Congress are black. Both represent districts that include Detroit – the city with the second-highest percentage of blacks in the country; roughly 80 percent of its residents. The math doesn’t seem to add up, does it?
Demographics aside, I cannot help but wonder whether our esteemed representatives in Congress fully comprehend the harsh realities of life in the inner cities of an America still reeling from economic meltdown. It’s one thing to discuss elaborate laws over expensive latts at a coffee shop in Washington, and another to understand how that legislation affects some struggling American’s next meal.
Clearly, we live in a country that offers the semblance of democracy, but doesn’t actually deliver. Why do we – the voting public – allow this sham to go unchallenged? Consider the ongoing Democratic primaries. What choices do voters really have?
Jay Leno summed it up in a quip about Howard Dean’s loss to John Kerry in Iowa. Kerry’s triumph, Leno noted, had completely altered the presidential race.
“Now instead of the rich white guy from Yale who lives in the White House facing off against the rich white guy from Yale who lives in Vermont, he may have to face the rich white guy from Yale who lives in Massachusetts. It’s a whole different game.” Indeed!
We ought to reject the whole slate and demand leaders who aren’t in their position principally on account of privilege – people in touch with street realities. Dare I say men like Bill Clinton, or Jimmy Carter before him.
In the end, we can gripe to the high heavens about our uncaring reps in Washington, but it’s up to us to fix the system. Abraham Lincoln said it best:
“Elections belong to the people. It is their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters.”
Leon D’Souza is a senior majoring in journalism. Comments can be sent to leon@cc.usu.edu.