„Vidiš li prijatelju ona tri čobana? Sve dok oni mogu da nadglasaju mene i Sokrata, i usled toga da donose odluke, ja u demokratiju ne verujem”!

Platon

Atinska neposredna demokratija je do današnjeg dana neprevaziđen način vladavine, koji je svim građanima Atine garantovao jednaka prava. Atinjani su glasali okupljeni na trgu – agori, dizanjem ruke. U odlučivanju su učestvovali svi građani Atine. Ipak, i ovakav oblik vlasti imao je svoje kritičare. Veliki filosof Platon bio je jedan od njih. Pravo većine da donese odluku, samo po sebi,  ne znači da će odluka biti dobra i poštena.

Ipak, ljudi su društvena bića. Govor – sposobnost da rečima izrazimo svoje interese, da saslušamo drugog čoveka i razumemo šta nam saopštava, da se složimo ili ne sa njegovim interesima ili stavovima – suština je ljudskog bića.

Demokratija izmišljena pre dve hiljade godina nije opstala zato što je lepa, nego zato što je korisna. Demokratska društva su mnogo fleksibilnija od autoritarnih i lakše prevazilaze društvene probleme, jer su zasnovana na demokratskim principma: razgovoru, saradnji, dogovoru – svojstvenom svakom čoveku, pa su iz tog razloga opstala toliko dugo. Istina, mnogo je teže doneti odluku poštujući demokratske principe, ali je odluka koju je donela većina daleko jača od one koju je doneo pojedinac, ma kako on sam bio uticajan u društvu.

Čak i autoritarna društva, kada su nastajala, nastajala su na demokratskim principima. U trenutku nastanka takvog društva većina se složila da jedan član društva postane autoritarni vladar, i on je opstajao dokle god je za to postojala saglasnost društvene većine. Istorja Evrope u 20. veku ima pregršt primera za to: Italija, Nemačka, Španija, Mađarska, Finska, Sovjetski Savez, Rumunija, Albanija, Kina, Vijetnam, Mongolija…

Mana demokratije je što se masama može manipulisati. U staroj Grčkoj bogati su lako podmićivali siromašne građane Atine, koji bi glasali za interes bogatih. U tom slučaju postoji samo privid demokratije, većina tada donosi odluke koje odgovaraju samo malom broju ljudi ili samo jednom čoveku.  

U današnje vreme koriste se sredstva manipulacije složenija i tehnološki razvijenija nego u Platonovo vreme. Ipak, još jedan recept možemo da prepišemo od starih Grka. Oni su, da bi sačuvali demokratiju, razvijali pismenost, otvarali su akademije, razvijali filosofiju i nauku.

Dozvoljavajući da se demokratija pretvori u autokratiju i diktaturu u toku prošlog veka, Svet, pre svega Evropa, načinio je ogromne greške. Pretpostavka za razvoj savremenog društva je osvešćena odgovornost svakog pojedinaca za funkcionisanje društva i pravila koja se donose u tom društvu.

Potreban je veći stepen obrazovanja u pogledu političke i medijske pismenosti,  upravo da bi se  greške iz dvadesetog veka izbegle i sačuvala demokratija koja, sa svim svojim manama, još uvek najbolje štiti prava običnog čoveka.

„Do you see, my friend, those three shepherds? As long as they can outvote me and Socrates and thus make decisions, I do not believe in democracy!“ 

Plato

Athenian direct democracy remains an unparalleled form of governance to this day, guaranteeing equal rights to all citizens of Athens. Athenians voted in the assembly – the Agora – by raising their hands. All citizens of Athens participated in decision-making. However, this form of government had its critics. The great philosopher Plato was one of them. The mere fact that the majority has the right to make decisions does not necessarily mean that the decision will be good and just.

However, people are social beings. Speech – the ability to express our interests through words, to listen to others and understand what they are communicating, to agree or disagree with their interests or views – is the essence of being human.

Democracy, invented two thousand years ago, has endured not because it is attractive, but because it is useful. Democratic societies are much more flexible than authoritarian ones and handle social problems more effectively because they are based on democratic principles: dialogue, cooperation, and agreement – characteristics inherent to every individual. For this reason, democracy has persisted for so long. Indeed, making decisions while respecting democratic principles is much more challenging, but a decision made by the majority is far stronger than one made by an individual, no matter how influential that individual might be in society.

Even authoritarian societies, when they were established, were founded on democratic principles. At the moment of the formation of such a society, the majority agreed that one member of the society should become an authoritarian ruler, and that ruler persisted as long as there was consent from the majority of society. The history of 20th-century Europe provides numerous examples: Italy, Germany, Spain, Hungary, Finland, the Soviet Union, Romania, Albania, China, Vietnam, Mongolia…

A flaw in democracy is that the masses can be manipulated. In ancient Greece, the wealthy easily bribed the poor citizens of Athens, who would then vote in the interests of the wealthy. In such cases, there is only an illusion of democracy; the majority makes decisions that benefit only a small number of people or just one individual.

Today, more complex and technologically advanced means of manipulation are used compared to Plato’s time. However, there is another lesson we can learn from the ancient Greeks. To preserve democracy, they developed literacy, established academies, and advanced philosophy and science.

By allowing democracy to turn into autocracy and dictatorship during the last century, the world, especially Europe, made enormous mistakes. The foundation for the development of modern society is the heightened awareness of each individual’s responsibility for the functioning of society and the rules that are established within it.

A higher level of education regarding political and media literacy is necessary to avoid repeating the mistakes of the twentieth century and to preserve democracy, which, despite all its flaws, still best protects the rights of the ordinary person.