in the united states, the citizenry is free, in political terms, one day every four years.
on that basis, the governmental apparatus like to talk about democracy.
it has never been an easy fit.
the bush administration is to democracy what stalin was to socialism: both destroy the language they use, both reduce the ideals they claim for themselves to dust or less.
as for speculation about democracy: the informational and social conditions that might enable an actual democracy to operate are simply not in place in the states. so americans do not have much in the way of experience thinking in pragmatic terms about democracy. but they like to talk about it.
second: one reason they like to talk about it is because the "founders"--fetish objects for conservatives, sadly---oriented their view of democracy via plato and aristotle,. both of who opposed it because they were both appalled at the notion of equality. so are conservatives. but no-one should confuse plato/aristotle with meaningful theorists of democracy. they arent.
all this written between moments of laughter at the idea that napoleon bonaparte (or is it napoleon III?) was a benevolent dictator.
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a gramophone its corrugated trumpet silver handle
spinning dog. such faithfulness it hear
it make you sick.
-kamau brathwaite
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