Long term Prospects for American Democracy: A Counter Perspective
(Image: Wikimedia Commons)
During the interview, Amanpour asked, “Do you worry about the United States in terms of its commitment to democracy, freedom, and everything that these people died for if there is another Trump presidency? Hanks responded, “I think there is always a reason to be worried about the short term, but I look at the longer term and what happens. Look, our Constitution says, “We the people of the United States in order to form a more perfect union… That journey to a more perfect union has some missteps in it. We know it. I can catalog them as much as you, and you are a professional journalist, and I am just a guy who makes movies and reads books. Over the long term, however, we inevitably make progress. How does a more perfect union come about? It comes about not because of somebody’s narrative about who is right or who is a victim, but it comes about from the slow melting of the truth to the actual practical life that we end up living. It comes down to the good deed that is practiced with your neighbor or your local merchant. I will always have faith in the United States of America and the Western societies that have adopted the same sort of democracy, for they cannot help but move toward what is right.”
Wikipedia tells us that for the first time a type of democracy was established in Athens in 508–507 BCE under Cleisthenes. But where is Greece today? Many consider Greece to be one of the weakest links in the European Union. I have taught a six sigma class of the University of Kentucky in Athens, Greece for twelve years.
Going back even further, ancient Indians invented the Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagvad Geeta etc., at a time when much of humanity had barely begun to walk upright on two legs, but where has India been for the past several thousand years?
The list of civilizations rising to great heights only to decline in the course of time is extensive.
So, why do civilizations rise and then decline? If we understood why, maybe we could prevent decline or at least postpone it.
Understanding Internal and Emotional Excellence
According to the Bhagvad Geeta, human beings are endowed with three components of the mindset: S, R, and T. The S component includes truthfulness, honesty, steadfastness and equanimity while the R component encompasses ambition, bravery, ego, greed, and a desire to live, and the T component includes lying, cheating, causing injury in word or deed and sleep. The definition of the three components is such that perfection is not possible (pure S). On a scale of internal excellence, the maximum S is the at top of the scale, maximum T at the bottom and all other combinations of the three components somewhere in between. The noble ones among us are towards the top of the scale of internal excellence, the wicked ones toward the bottom, and the rest of us somewhere in between.
Relatedly, human beings are endowed with two emotions: positive emotions and negative emotions. Positive emotions include love, kindness, empathy, and compassion, while negative emotions encompass anger, hatred, hostility, resentment, frustration, jealousy, fear, sorrow and the like.
On a scale of emotional excellence, maximum positive emotions are at the top of the scale, maximum negative emotions at the bottom and all other combinations of the two somewhere in between these two extremes. The noble ones among us are toward the top end of the scale of emotional excellence while the wicked ones toward the bottom and the rest of us are somewhere in between.
A little reflection will reveal that positive emotions are strongly and positively correlated with the S component, while negative emotions are strongly and positively correlated with the R and T components. This is consequential since the S, R, T components cannot be measured, but emotions can. The scales of internal excellence and emotional excellence are entirely equivalent.
The Bhagvad Geeta asserts that the three components, or, equivalently, the two emotions, undergo transformation over time.
As the societal level of S component increases, the society rises, but the S component cannot increase indefinitely, and when it reaches its peak, the T component takes over and the society begins to decline, but the T component cannot rise indefinitely either and, when it reaches its peak, the S component takes over and the society begins to rise again.
This transformation of the three components over time induces repeated rise and decline of civilizations over thousands of years.
The Bhagvad Geeta does not explain why such a transformation of the mindset should occur, but we can be certain it does.
The detailed article, Why American Democracy is in Peril and How to Save it presents evidence of rise of decline of several civilizations (Greece, Great Britain, Germany and the United States). The evidence comprises of the plots of the number of persons from specific cultures listed in the twenty-three volumes of the 1993 edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica. Among the civilizations investigated, Greece is the most ancient civilization and the rise and decline of Greece is self-evident. The plot for the United States offers an ominous sign.
Rise and decline are natural phenomena and, as such, they cannot be avoided. The best we can do is to postpone decline.
Postponing decline means enhancing the societal level of internal excellence (or, equivalently, emotional excellence). This translates into cultivating positive emotions at the exclusion of negative emotions.
The cultivation of positive emotions at the exclusion of negative emotions is not an intellectual exercise. The required positive changes must come about from within, and yogic processes will help us do that, and, since emotions can be measured, progress can be audited.
ABC News reported, President Biden offered a forceful defense of democracy in a speech at Normandy on the same occasion. “When we talk about American democracy, we often talk about the ideals of life, liberty, pursuit of happiness. What we don’t talk about is how hard it is … The natural instinct is to walk away, to be selfish, to force our will upon others to seize power, never give up,” Biden said. “My fellow Americans, I refuse to believe, I simply refuse to believe that America’s greatness is a thing of the past,” he added.
In the language of this article, the President is also pleading for a shift from negative emotions toward positive emotions and the reason why it is hard is because the required shift is not an intellectual exercise; the required positive changes must come about from within.
Finally, the Global Union of Scientists for Peace published a full-page open letter in the Wall Street Journal on November 3, 2023 addressed to the President of the United States and all world leaders, urging them to adopt the Maharishi technology under the auspices of which a certain number of people, much smaller than the population, would meditate for peace.
This is the only way American democracy can be sustained over the long term.
Acknowledgments
The author thanks Tony Belak, a Mediation Consultant and former Ombudsman, University of Louisville for his editorial assistance.
About the Author
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Pradeep B. Deshpande is Professor Emeritus in and former Chairman of the Chemical Engineering Department at the University of Louisville. He is also president of Six Sigma and Advanced Controls based in Louisville, Kentucky. He is an author of eight books and over one hundred fifty articles in reputed journals that include Proc. Royal Society–UK, Chemical Eng. Progress, Ind. Eng. Chem. Proc. Des Dev, Chem. Eng. Science, among several others, and is a recipient of several international awards. He is a Fellow of ISA. pradeep@sixsigmaquality.com.
