For the first time, I read an ebook in its entirety. Oh, yes, I do prefer physical books. Reading this ebook made me realize how often I flip around in physical books to remind myself what I have already read. And how often I rely on remembering visually where words lay on the physical page in helping me remember concepts.
But I did all right, and I got better as I learned how to use the table of contents, bookmarks, highlighter, and so on. Maybe I’ll even read another ebook one day. (Ahhh, I’ve become such a dinosaur!)
Anyway, the ebook I read was The Great Experiment: Why Diverse Democracies Fall Apart and How They Can Endure, by Yascha Mounk. (Note: it’s available as a physical book at stores, but my local library carried it only as an ebook, which is why I encountered it that way.) With so many people talking about our United States democracy, I was curious to learn about the underlying causes of democracies either functioning with longevity or imploding into an autocracy.
Mounk makes an interesting point about the metaphors we use to describe democracy. First, there was the metaphor of the “melting pot.” This is when people from different cultures adopt one another’s values (especially those of most prominence) until they are all alike.
Later, there was the metaphor of the “salad bowl.” This is when people from different cultures retain their identities while living in the midst of others, who are also retaining their identities, and these different groups constitute the nation.
Here’s what Mounk has to say about these two metaphors:
“Some people want to impose one strict set of rules and cultural norms on all citizens. Others are seemingly giving up on the hope that members of different groups could ever see one another as friends and allies rather than competitors or even enemies. I disagree with both.”
He proposes a new metaphor: that of the “public park.” He likes this metaphor because it combines the best qualities of the melting pot and the salad bowl. It’s also a metaphor that corresponds to the best-functioning democracies throughout history (a short and sparse history though it may be).
Like the situation of the melting pot, people in a public park are enjoying the same land and surroundings, all unified in their love of the outdoor space. Like the situation of the salad bowl, people in a public park are free to practice their own cultures and traditions (as long as they are not harming someone else, of course).
Unlike the situation of the melting pot, people in a public park don’t all have to do the same thing. And unlike the situation of the salad bowl, people in a public park who are from different cultures are able to meet one another, participate in activities together if they wish, and learn new things from one another.
This is brilliant—except for one thing. This metaphor is perilously close to being not a metaphor at all, but just, like, the actual thing. So if Mounk could think of a food or something, that would help matters.
Nonetheless, if it works to save democracies, I say, let’s go for it. The point he’s trying to make is that the extreme right and the extreme left are both wrong. Don’t force people to all be the same. And don’t focus in on identity so deeply that you end up grouping people in separate, locked boxes. Both of these stances, when upheld on a societal level, lead to tyranny.
The stance that leads to democracy is when everyone is allowed their own identity (again, as long as your identity doesn’t involve harming someone else) and also everyone is getting to know people of other identities and generating a feeling of unity as a nation that embraces democracy.
Mounk says that one of the best things we can do is participate in community groups [insert unsubtle plug for silent book club here!] that bring together a diversity of people. He says, don’t go bowling alone.
Do you regularly attend events in your community that draw together a diverse group of people?
