The roots of our being reach further and deeper into history than we are usually aware. – William Barrett, The Illusion of Technique.
I am going to take a quick break from our series on democracy to try to summarize what we have learned so far regarding a properly understood conception of democracy. I will return to our discussion of the American founding and develop more recent historical concerns soon.
So … what have we learned so far about genuine collective self-government? The ancient idea of government by the consent of citizens has been scorned, cheered, ridiculed, debated, and argued for and against by most of the greatest minds in the Western intellectual tradition. Within the idea of democracy, we see many of the virtues and vices of Western civilization itself. This should not be surprising because as human beings we carry over into our institutions, technology, and the societies we build, the deepest and most perplexing trait of human nature itself—that our efforts are always ineradicably a mixture of good and evil. This is the human paradox. Nonetheless, due to these seemingly contradictory qualities in human nature, history has shown that for a democracy to exist at all, important characteristics need to be in place such as the free exchange of ideas, the rule of law, public audit and accountability, discussion, debate, economic and individual freedom, dissent, and a constructive consensus among people for the purpose of building a government which serves the people. These ideals are central and inherent to the classical and Western idea of democracy. On the other hand, democracy can easily devolve into mob rule, partisan politics, and a mere clash of wills—the most illiberal aspects of our current political climate. Hopefully, this series has helped us understand human nature, our inherent need to understand why something is the way its, and a respect for our shared cultural heritage.
What else have we learned? History provides a helpful guide for understanding human nature. In fact, history is all we have to go on since it is impossible to study the future. More importantly, we study history because it gives us deeper insight into who we are as human beings and civilization generally. In a very real sense, it is memory that makes us who we are. Memories shape us—and our families, communities, and culture. This is why our cultural institutions preserve our history, learning, and collective memory. And this is true on the individual level. Anyone who has seen a loved one decline due to dementia, Alzheimer’s, or amnesia knows that the loss of memory is a loss of something deeply human and valuable. Without memory, an individual is a ruined imitation of what they once where. And the same is true for societies. Cultural amnesia can be devastating to a society. I believe this was one reason Pericles delivered his funeral oration. The historian Wilfred McClay put it this way, “Historical consciousness is to civilized society what memory is to individual identity. Without memory, and the stories within which memories are held suspended, one cannot say who or what one is; one cannot learn to use language, pass on knowledge, raise children, establish rules of conduct, or even dwell in society, let alone engage in science” (12).
We study history because it is fundamental to our nature as human beings and through such a study we realize the greatness and wretchedness of the human paradox. At the same time we have a drive for understanding and learning. We seem to have a natural tendency and desire to know why something is the case. We also seem to have an intrinsic desire to tell stories, pass down traditions, and to explore why or how something came to be.
History can be instructive if we choose to listen to it. Memory can be a powerful teacher. I believe that telling the story of the intellectual development of democracy will benefit everyone. Thucydides reminds his readers of the Athenian delegation that tried to resolve tensions between the Corinthians, Spartans, and Athenians prior to the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War. The Athenians desired to “call attention to the great power of Athens, and to refresh the memory of the old and enlighten the ignorance of the young, from a notion that their words might have the effect of inducing them to prefer tranquility to war” (367). Words and stories have a powerful impact on a society. When memory fades or cultural Alzheimer’s sets in, a civilization becomes empty and incapacitated. History is much more than dates and events, it is about the narratives and ideas that men and women have struggled with in an existential attempt to understand the human paradox.
Works Cited:
McClay, Wilfred. A Student’s Guide to U.S. History. ISI Books, 2000.
Thucydides. The History of The Peloponnesian War, Great Books Of The Western World, Vol. 5, ed. Robert Maynard Hutchins, Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica, 1996.
Here are a few other helpful guides on this topic:
Kagan, Donald. Pericles of Athens And The Birth of Democracy, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1991.
Lukacs, John. Democracy and Populism: Fear and Hatred. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005.
Richard, Carl. The Founders and the Classics: Greece, Rome, and the American Enlightenment. Harvard University Press, 1995.
Woodruff, Paul. First Democracy: The Challenge of An Ancient Idea. New York: Oxford University Press.
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