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Welcome back to Myths & Mischief! This is your Lovable Lord of Lore, today’s mischievous myth is about democracy.

 

After the blue wave, or blue tsunami, many Americans voiced their concerns about  the country’s state of affairs through their votes. Many of those who voted seem to be displeased. To understand with a broader perspective, we must look at the development of democracy over time in relation to its impact on present-day  America.

 

There is a debate over who established  the first democracy. While most people attribute the first democracy to the Greek city-state of Athens, a claim can also be made by the Iroquois Confederacy. It is tough to tell, since the history of the Iroquois Confederacy was spread by word of mouth in contrast  to the Greek government, which was well documented and their records were preserved by Arab merchants at a time when most of Europe entered the “Dark Ages.”

 

The Iroquois Confederacy was made up of the Five Nations including the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and the Tuscarora tribes, which joined later as the sixth nation in the Confederacy. Their first goal was peace between the tribes. Their subsequent concerns addressed trade, but eventually shifted to respond to the influx of Europeans and how to best deal with them.

 

Athens had a fully democratic society. While that is true, many people would rather spend their time doing other things. Talking politics in Athens meant gathering with other citizens in the agora (their marketplace). On days of voting, the people running the vote would use ropes and pull people into the place where they would vote. Each vote would have voters take a colored pebble and put it in a container. The majority  of one color won the vote. Athenians voted on all decisions. Even though Athens was considered the center of the intellectual world, women could not vote and had few rights compared to  places like Sparta where women ran their households and businesses as men trained to fight.

 

The first European democracy in America came from the House of Burgesses in 1619, with the intention of establishing laws and a path forward for colonists. This was followed by the United States Constitution that was written in 1787 and is still used today.

While there is some direct democracy in America today in the form of ballot measures and some small town halls, most of the United States is run by a representative democracy. That means that people vote for a representative who then votes for the people who  elected them.

Some people view the current system as archaic since we have the technology to allow people to vote on each issue. The founders of the country disagreed with this, and for good reason. They looked at what happened to the Greeks, and then the Romans, as their civilizations crumbled due to their unbridled popular rule that led to chaos and demagogues. 

 

While that may not mean much to modern Americans, it should. A demagogue is a political leader or orator who gains power and popularity by arousing the emotions, passions, fears, and prejudices of ordinary people rather than by using rational arguments or practical solutions. 

This may sound familiar if you recall politicians blaming immigrants for crime in America, or claiming that they eat peoples’ pets. Perhaps you recall harsh language and attacks on certain populations, such as trans-bashing (despite the rhetoric, no child has had their gender changed in school). Or maybe you are being asked to compare today to some revisioned past era when things are claimed to have been better. Maybe you remember some false promises like “I will end that war on day one.” Or perhaps you recall an elected official ignoring Congress and breaking laws, like putting one’s name on the Kennedy Center, or starting a war?

 

There are four tools of a demagogue. They use emotional appeals, scapegoating, oversimplification and false promises, and the erosion of deliberation to push their agenda. The Founding Fathers warned us about demagogues, and that is why we vote for representatives. This allows us to debate our course of action and come up with better solutions, even if it takes longer.

 

When Americans voted that they are tired of having a demagogue as a leader and elected a new group of people who intend to use reason and debate rather than fear brought by a person trying to consolidate power. 

 

Historically, demagogues lead to the demise of a civilization. Did America take a step toward saving its democracy, or does that depend on what these newly elected representatives achieve? If they fail to right the corrupted system, instead of the Golden Age of America, we could be witnessing the beginning of the collapse of this representative democracy that we put so much time and effort into improving and defending. What was seen as the beacon of hope, will be the demise of another civilization.

 

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Until next time, this is your Lovable Lord of Lore.