DEMOCRACY’S PARADOX

(reflections on the 2010 decade’s upward tick of liberal idea dissemination, coinciding with the upward tick of reactionary trends in democratic voting)

The weakness of democracy:
The ballot box,
For it is a private space of,
Exposed tribalism.
This is a paradox for,
Democracy was meant as an antidote to tribalism.
The strength of democracy:
Agreed upon rights,
Agreed upon universal commitments,
Based on the unshakeable rule of law.
This has upended,
Tribalism’s death grip on history.
This is also a paradox of human nature.
What is to be done next?

© Marc Gopin

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