Son, I’m worried. I know, you will tell me that intellectuals are often accused of “crying wolf”, but know that I have been holding back for a long time. I am concerned about the lack of popular consideration for democracy.
Do you know what it is, son, democracy? It is our most precious asset. It is what determines everything else: our rights, our freedoms, our possibilities, our public services, our quality of life…to all of us.
This week, as the news media announces Lula’s victory in Brazil, many of us hope that incumbent Bolsonaro will recognize and therefore accept the popular verdict. Yes, we are there, hoping that the candidates and the citizens respect their democratic rules. Bolsonaro finally “authorized the transition” on Tuesday and pledged to “respect the Constitution”, without however explicitly acknowledging his defeat.
In the United States, since the election of Joe Biden as President, many American citizens, including Donald Trump, the former President who lost the election, do not recognize and therefore accept the result of the 2020 vote. In Canada, citizens denounce what they call the health dictatorship and reject the idea of a truly democratic country. In Quebec, supporters of the Conservative Party of Quebec have explained the electoral defeat of candidates of their party by rigged electoral processes. It makes me very nervous. Really very nervous.
Son, do you know what democracy is? Of course you know that. You know that it is, according to the popular adage, the government of the people, by the people, for the people. You know that this results, in real life, in democratic election procedures where those who govern are elected by the population and are responsible for managing the common good in the sense of the general interest. Well, I know you know that.
However, do you also know that democracy is not an assurance that your individual preference will prevail? That when people you disagree with win an election, is that also democratic? Democracy allows everyone to express their needs, their wishes, even their desires, but it is not a guarantee that your preference, individually, will be the one that will win.
And you know what, son, even if your preference “loses,” it doesn’t mean there’s a democratic problem, that the elections are rigged, and the winners are corrupt. This means that this time, your preference was not shared by the greatest number of voters. Democracy is a way of governing by allowing everyone to be heard, to make decisions collectively and not solely for your individual satisfaction.
I worry, son, that the citizens that we are are losing sight of this great wealth and that by dint of only denouncing the imperfections of the democratic system (because there are some, certainly!), we give reason to those, ever more numerous, who want the overthrow of this system to respond to their sole individual benefit. And our human history, even recent, proves to us that all the other known options implemented until now are worse than democracy, even imperfect.
What would reassure me, you see, is if we began to recognize that our greatest wealth in Canada and in Quebec is the fact that this convoy of truck drivers has above all proved one thing, a beautiful thing: is that these people were able to express themselves in the streets with their disrespectful flags and slogans. Recognize that opponents of Lula were able to vote, and many did, and that this preference will have to be recognized by the new president because of the strength of numbers. Recognize, in short, that even when my preference is not the winner, when my candidate or my party does not win the election, that I had this power to make my choice known freely. That is the foundation of democracy.
Son, I’ve been voting for a few decades now, I’ve rarely ‘won’ my elections and yet I’ve always done so with pride and will continue to do so with the same commitment, even though I ‘lose’ frequently. Because I sincerely believe that the most beautiful legacy I can leave you is a democracy supported by its people who celebrate and defend it, despite its imperfections and the frustrations that these imperfections cause. The democratic ritual is the most precious thing I have to offer you.