Democracy

What is democracy? It is a form of government. It is way of life. It is a goal. It is an ideal. And it exists because we, the people, believe in, and practice it's principles.

No earthly governing system has ever achieved perfection. But I am proud to say that I am a citizen, a member of the country that has come closer to the dream of perfection than any in the world today. It has excelled by the application of it's governing pattern, democracy.

What is American democracy? The word democracy means "rule by the people" giving people complete control, every decision being based on each person's vote. Today this is a virtual impossibility, but in it's quest for perfection, The United States of America holds to it's own republican form of democracy. A likeness of true democracy that we live up to better than any current nation. It's steadfast commitment to the task of maintaining our tradition of democracy has not only provided us with the world's longest operating written government in existence, but has also encouraged the pride and patriotism that has built the American Empire.

Our most important contribution to America's and even the world's democratic forms of government was the idea that governmental constitutions derive directly from the will of the people. Of, The United States Constitution, James Madison declared, "In framing a system which we wish to last for ages, we should not lose sight of the changes the ages will produce." Encouraged by this statement they created the ability to amend, to change or revise, our Constitution. So we now possess a written form of government that changes to fit our times, flexible to the needs of its people. A "living document," so to speak.

What way of life is American democracy? It's way of life is freedom, and assurance of our renowned "inalienable rights." It is the leisure to speak our minds at any time, on any topic. To own our own lands. To practice our preferred religions. To have a voice, a decision in the progress of our nation and share the responsibility of its' governing. Even our obligation to follow the decree of our Declaration of Independence, to change or abolish the country if it interferes with the rights of it's people.

What is the goal of American democracy? It's goal, as stated in our constitution's preamble, is to"...Establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to us and our posterity..." It is to decide what is best for us as a nation. To yet expand our rights, freedom, and opportunities, making us a stronger unit, assuring our growth and future. It is the obligation to provide us with the opportunity to best utilize our abilities in society, so we all can have, and be part of, the American Dream.

What is the ideal of American democracy? This is probably the hardest to describe, because no words will do it justice. It is it's principles, "that all men are created equal," "That all are entitled to life liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Our ideals consist of complete equality in representation, opportunity, and individual importance. It is the striving of the government to maintain and broaden, the rights of the people.

So what do we gain from this government, that is only what we make of it? We gain peace of mind that we will all be evaluated in the same light, and that our rights will forever be protected. We gain the security that each of us feel from knowing that our country belongs to it's people, and will defend that property against all the world. What I and all patriotic Americans gain, is the pride that we feel by being part of the greatest nation on Earth. One that was established by and for the common man, in defiance of tyranny, to insure freedom. The pride in our pledge of allegiance to, our service for, and governing of The United States of America.

So what is American democracy really? It is what we have fought and died to establish and preserve, from the "shot heard round the world,"to the playing of "The World Turned Upside Down," to our victories in the modern day. It is the fact that we will never bend knee, or be subject to, another person as long as we live. It is the lures of our freedom, and equality in anonymous opportunity that men and women crossed oceans to be a part of. It is every citizen from New York City to Beckley, West Virginia, black, white, red, or yellow, man, or woman, rich, or poor, Christian, Jewish, or Muslim. It is you and me and all of us as a whole, the rulers of the American Empire.