The Deficit Of Truth And Collectivity In Our Democracy

 Many Americans believe that we are all entitled to our opinions, no matter how uninformed, incorrect, or immoral they may be. That's democracy, love it or leave it. 

The problem with that line of reasoning is that isn't how democracy works. In a democratic system of government, citizens have a duty to be well-informed and make decisions that benefit not only themselves, but the public as a whole. Self-government does not mean selfish government. And when citizens act in their self-interest, they should consider their interests not only as individuals, but as members of a community.

Many believe that things will simply come out in the wash, that democracy is a self-correcting system, and popularity of ideas is somehow tied to their validity. Yet they adopt this perverted version of the "marketplace of ideas" and use it as a way to abscond their civic duties. When people or politicians make decisions based on ignorance, selfishness, laziness, or bias, they affect the entire community. It is this faulty correlation between popularity and validity that allowed some of the worst injustices in American history to transpire.

Elected officials have been able to pursue the policies of slavery, segregation, imperialism, internment, McCarthyism, and the “war on terror” only with the support of the citizenry. Despicable viewpoints continue to serve as valid sides of “debates,” and sometimes result in formal policy. Consider some of the issues that have taken center stage over the past few years: Whether waterboarding is torture; whether global warming is real; whether Barack Obama is an American citizen, and; whether the 14^th Amendment should be repealed. We should be alarmed that any significant percentage of the population takes these ideas seriously enough that they dominate our national dialogue. These are not issues upon which reasonable minds can differ. The fact that Americans have adopted such deficient opinions illustrates their inability, or indeed unwillingness, to consider the facts or other viewpoints, much less put them into a context that extends beyond their own existence. 

In our world of moral relativism, the concepts of truth, justice, ethics, and morality carry little weight. Gays can be persecuted and marginalized because of "religious convictions" or "traditional sensibilities." Laissez-faire economic policies prevail because people cling to the beliefs of pseudo-intellectuals like Ayn Rand and Alan Greenspan; that everyone acting in their unfettered self-interest somehow creates the best outcome for society. The concept of freedom, in fact, no longer relates to individual liberation, but economic activity. People think the right to choose which big box store they shop at, or the right to smoke in restaurants, or the right to bring their guns into Starbucks are liberties that merit defending. Advocating for universal notions of justice merely inhibit their childhood fantasies and hillbilly indulgences. Never mind that they think access to affordable health care is a luxury, but their right to use incandescent light bulbs is a freedom worth fighting for.

A growing number of uninformed, yet politically active, citizens are advocating positions and supporting candidates based on falsehoods, hatred, or no information at all. This poses a direct threat to our democracy. The “marketplace of ideas” isn't self-correcting, if it exists at all. The citizenry must acquire the information necessary to make informed decisions on matters that affect the community, and base their decisions with regard to the welfare of the community. A democracy is a collective undertaking, not simply a collection of people motivated by self-interest. If we fail to embrace the basic concepts of truth and collectivity, we will continue to bolster the anti-democratic elements of our society, and pave the way for demagogues and dictators.