US Government [Tuesday, September 11]
Josh was leafing through an old copy of the Congressional Record (because he's a dork like that) and mainlining coffee (because it was early and, well, he's Josh) when his government class arrived.
"Okay, before I can bore you all with American government, I need to give you some quick background." He clasped his hands together. "Prepare to be bored by Greek, Roman and early English government."
He looked over the class. "This'll be on the test, though, so don't get so bored you're not taking notes, or are drooling all over them or something. I also have pretty decent aim with a wadded-up piece of paper and absolutely no problem in throwing one at you."
He consulted his notes, then wrote DEMOCRACY on the board in bold strokes. "The word democracy comes from the Greek roots 'demos-' meaning 'people' and '-kratia' meaning 'rule.' In Greek democracy, political power wasn't concentrated in the hands of a small group of people, but among all of them." Josh raised an eyebrow. "If your definition for 'people' was 'free adult males,' of course." He looked down at the papers in his hands. "Okay. The main legislative body, the Assembly, was made up of no less than the first 6,000 citizens that showed up at the meeting. Jury duty was considered an honor, not a pain in the ass, and being a member in most other civic institutions, including the Supreme Court, was chosen by lot." He looked around the room. "Take a minute and imagine some of your family members, or people in this classroom, with the authority to be the ultimate arbiters of justice on some of the cases the Supreme Court has to decide and you'll see why the Greek system might have a few kinks in it.
"The Romans took the Greek system of direct democracy and modified it into a representative democracy, which at first glance seems a lot like the system currently in place in the United States. The Founders of this country borrowed heavily from the Roman system, implementing its bicameral--two chambered--legislature and its system of groups of people voting for one person to represent them, rather than the direct democracy the Greeks used. We also yoinked most of their legal system, especially the codification of concepts like equal protection, innocent until proven guilty, and the right to confront your accuser."
He put the notes down. "The Roman Republic eventually gave way to the Roman Empire, which, while incredibly powerful and terribly, terribly interesting, wasn't a democratic government and so we will skip it."
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm also, I'm pretty sure, required by law to mention that the Magna Carta--the piece of paper that nobles in England forced King John to sign that codified that no man, not even a king, is above the law--was signed in 1215." He looked at them. "So write it down. I'm definitely sure I have to ask you about that later.
"Almost done. I promise. Okay, the last piece of the puzzle was the Enlightenment. The 17th and 18th Centuries produced a bunch of prominent thinkers--you've heard of them--Locke, Hobbes, those guys--theorizing that there was a social contract between the rulers and those they governed, with terms that were binding on both sides. Of course at the time, countries were ruled by monarchs who weren't terribly anxious to implement these theories, as you might imagine.
"The 1500s and the first half of the 1600s in Europe were pretty much non-stop religious wars. After the political situation stabilized, there was a growing thought that maybe listening to only the churches--which were still very busy damning the other side to hell for their beliefs--to discover and understand, you know, all human knowledge was a bit of a bad idea. The Enlightenment began as a belief in a rational, orderly and comprehensible universe. And then the philosophers began wondering if the universe could be comprehensible, why couldn't governments make sense, too?"
Finally he looked up from his notes. "Everyone still awake? Or mostly? Great. In John Locke's Second Treatise on Government, he claims that by the 'law of nature', every individual has the right to punish those who cause wrongful injury to their life, liberty or property." He looked up. "This might sound terribly familiar for any of you who have ever heard the line in the Declaration of Independence that claims, among other self-evident truths, our unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
He grinned. "But we'll get to that next week.
"No homework tonight, but I want you to divide up into groups of two or three and discuss this question: Is direct democracy practical today? In a nation of almost 300 million people, is it possible to simultaneously gather all of their opinions? Should we chuck the whole thing and just put me in charge?"
"Okay, before I can bore you all with American government, I need to give you some quick background." He clasped his hands together. "Prepare to be bored by Greek, Roman and early English government."
He looked over the class. "This'll be on the test, though, so don't get so bored you're not taking notes, or are drooling all over them or something. I also have pretty decent aim with a wadded-up piece of paper and absolutely no problem in throwing one at you."
He consulted his notes, then wrote DEMOCRACY on the board in bold strokes. "The word democracy comes from the Greek roots 'demos-' meaning 'people' and '-kratia' meaning 'rule.' In Greek democracy, political power wasn't concentrated in the hands of a small group of people, but among all of them." Josh raised an eyebrow. "If your definition for 'people' was 'free adult males,' of course." He looked down at the papers in his hands. "Okay. The main legislative body, the Assembly, was made up of no less than the first 6,000 citizens that showed up at the meeting. Jury duty was considered an honor, not a pain in the ass, and being a member in most other civic institutions, including the Supreme Court, was chosen by lot." He looked around the room. "Take a minute and imagine some of your family members, or people in this classroom, with the authority to be the ultimate arbiters of justice on some of the cases the Supreme Court has to decide and you'll see why the Greek system might have a few kinks in it.
"The Romans took the Greek system of direct democracy and modified it into a representative democracy, which at first glance seems a lot like the system currently in place in the United States. The Founders of this country borrowed heavily from the Roman system, implementing its bicameral--two chambered--legislature and its system of groups of people voting for one person to represent them, rather than the direct democracy the Greeks used. We also yoinked most of their legal system, especially the codification of concepts like equal protection, innocent until proven guilty, and the right to confront your accuser."
He put the notes down. "The Roman Republic eventually gave way to the Roman Empire, which, while incredibly powerful and terribly, terribly interesting, wasn't a democratic government and so we will skip it."
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm also, I'm pretty sure, required by law to mention that the Magna Carta--the piece of paper that nobles in England forced King John to sign that codified that no man, not even a king, is above the law--was signed in 1215." He looked at them. "So write it down. I'm definitely sure I have to ask you about that later.
"Almost done. I promise. Okay, the last piece of the puzzle was the Enlightenment. The 17th and 18th Centuries produced a bunch of prominent thinkers--you've heard of them--Locke, Hobbes, those guys--theorizing that there was a social contract between the rulers and those they governed, with terms that were binding on both sides. Of course at the time, countries were ruled by monarchs who weren't terribly anxious to implement these theories, as you might imagine.
"The 1500s and the first half of the 1600s in Europe were pretty much non-stop religious wars. After the political situation stabilized, there was a growing thought that maybe listening to only the churches--which were still very busy damning the other side to hell for their beliefs--to discover and understand, you know, all human knowledge was a bit of a bad idea. The Enlightenment began as a belief in a rational, orderly and comprehensible universe. And then the philosophers began wondering if the universe could be comprehensible, why couldn't governments make sense, too?"
Finally he looked up from his notes. "Everyone still awake? Or mostly? Great. In John Locke's Second Treatise on Government, he claims that by the 'law of nature', every individual has the right to punish those who cause wrongful injury to their life, liberty or property." He looked up. "This might sound terribly familiar for any of you who have ever heard the line in the Declaration of Independence that claims, among other self-evident truths, our unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
He grinned. "But we'll get to that next week.
"No homework tonight, but I want you to divide up into groups of two or three and discuss this question: Is direct democracy practical today? In a nation of almost 300 million people, is it possible to simultaneously gather all of their opinions? Should we chuck the whole thing and just put me in charge?"