Equality, Justice, Democracy
There can only be equity and justice if there is true Democratic methodology in our group discussion. The questions brought up at the end of the class by A^2 really made me think.
Do people in a democracy have the right to choose whether or not they participate in that democracy in the first place? Should everyone operating within the Democracy voice their opinions? If people are forced to speak out when they are not ready to, is Democracy lost?
If only a certain group of people speak every time a question is brought to the table, the democracy seems to become solely about their interests instead of what the entire community agrees upon. I feel like this is the reason that "The Other" exists. The people who speak out begin to create the rules. Those who do not voice their opinion, or are not educated enough to do so, receive the rules and policies instead of forging them side by side. Maybe this is what, in a sense creates a cultural separation. The people who just accept the rules fall so far outside the circle of influence that they feel like they are no longer equal. Am I right? Maybe.
Do people in a democracy have the right to choose whether or not they participate in that democracy in the first place? Should everyone operating within the Democracy voice their opinions? If people are forced to speak out when they are not ready to, is Democracy lost?
If only a certain group of people speak every time a question is brought to the table, the democracy seems to become solely about their interests instead of what the entire community agrees upon. I feel like this is the reason that "The Other" exists. The people who speak out begin to create the rules. Those who do not voice their opinion, or are not educated enough to do so, receive the rules and policies instead of forging them side by side. Maybe this is what, in a sense creates a cultural separation. The people who just accept the rules fall so far outside the circle of influence that they feel like they are no longer equal. Am I right? Maybe.
Gunther: You seem to be making some very deep distinctions between "democracy" as an ideology, and "democracy" in practice. Our classroom is like a small microcosm of the larger U.S. political structure: when our communications break down, and you realize that some voices aren't heard, this realization makes it difficult to enact polices and procedures that are suppose to include everyone. I think you've rightly identified that when voices are lost, the potential for "otherization" grows.
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