thought provoking

I was speaking with someone recently and heard something quite interesting about democracy & our society. I can't remember the conversation but the point made was that Americans aren't taught how to participate in a democracy, we're taught to support a winner. Part of of the democratic process is supporting whoever you think is the best candidate, expressing your views and ideas.

That may seem obvious but let me give a personal example: One of the main reasons I didn't do much *real* campaigning for Dennis Kucinich is because I didn't truly believe he could win even the Democratric nomination. I did believe he was an excellent candidate and that he represented much of what I believe but I witheld real support because I didn't feel he had a chance. Even though he ultimately didn't receive the nomination, that's not the point. The point is, I neglected my responsibility as a citizen of a democratic society, my right to support whom I choose. The desire to win is so ingrained in my psyche that I never truly considered fully supporting him on the basis of his beliefs but only on whether or not he could win.

That mindset now seems an almost complete opposition to democracy. My understanding of a democracy is that citizens participate in their own governance and that participation should also extend to supporting candidates based on their relevance to your life, not on whether or not they may win. Witholding support from someone you believe in ultimately allows someone other than you to decide who you're going to support. True enough that you may end up voting for someone else but that's not the point. The point is that you participated, you spoke up and you voiced your opinion.

That is the true responsibility of anyone who lives in a democratic society, not picking a winner.