A comment about my “A Woman’s Response To Our Current Politics” post on TMV the other day talked about how democracy takes some critical thinking. I’ve been corresponding with Larry Swetman, an organizer with Occupy Philly, InterOccupy, and the National Gathering Working Group, and he had some views on the subject I found interesting. Here’s a few of his quotes I really liked:

“Democracy, as a system, requires an educated and participatory populace that can take responsibility for making the decisions that affect their lives… The ideas of freedom, liberty, and taxation with representation are good in themselves…

… But as the system became more complex so did the power dynamics. The ability to vote is contingent on an educated population capable of discerning wisdom from folly…”

And here’s another one that inspires me:

“Ideas such as equality, freedom, and liberty are not unobtainable abstractions. They are intrinsically valuable for a flourishing society and achievable goals. However, we cannot look to the past for a roadmap to a democratic future. The rich and the powerful have owned this country since its inception. We live in an aristocratic oligarchy masqueraded as a two-party system. But if we commit ourselves to the core values of human dignity for everyone, compassion, integrity, and justice then we can begin to chart a map to a truly democratic future. But wide is the road to folly. To obtain such goals we must all- in our communities and in our society- commit ourselves to the narrow path and cast off the old ways of division, fear, and hatred.”

Quite a lot to think about here, I’d say. Thank you Larry for your passion and your deep love of the ideals I pray will flourish here in America.