The Hard Part: Defining Democracy
The conversation between Deborah Meier and Robert Pondiscio continues today.
Dear Robert,
Progress: We have our slogan. Education for democracy and liberty.
Now comes the hard part of the challenge: defining both terms. Sometimes the best way to do this is by shifting gears entirely and starting with stories that help make our point. Two come to mind immediately from my youth.
One, best told with an NYC lilt, goes like this. A man asks his friend: "Who makes the decisions in your family?" The other replies, "Well, my wife makes the little decisions, and I make the big ones." "Such as?" his friend asks. "My wife, for example, decides where we should live, what schools the kids should go to, who to invite for dinner, where we spend vacations, how to decorate the house." His friend interrupts, "But then what decisions do you make?" "Oh, I decide things like whether we should recognize Red China."
The second "story" consists of two quotes from my youthful reading of Eugene V. Debs. "I would not lead you to the promised land even if I could, because if I could lead you there, others could lead you back again." And, "While there is a lower class, I am in it, while there is a criminal element, I
