Democracy / Equality / Domestic Freedoms
The Audacity of Democracy
Author: Sheila Roche, Co-Founder, hive
I’ve taken democracy for granted my whole life. Until now, which has made me think about the concept and participation in it.
It started to strike me recently just how impudent the idea is…and certainly was when it was being born. Invented by the Greeks, and literally meaning ‘the handing of power to common people’ (mind you, they still left out women and others in the process), it’s breathtakingly daring. And to even start to imagine how the involvement of entire populations in ruling themselves could work is mind-boggling. Churchill got closest to it with his famous quote about the messiness of democracy —
“Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time…”
In 2018, with an increasing sense of urgency, I got serious about applying for my US citizenship, having lived in the United States — a country whose democratic idealism I have loved — for decades. As an Irish citizen living abroad for a long period, I wasn’t able to vote in the extraordinary elections recently held there. Elections that witnessed the majority of a tiny European island, known more for its colonization by the British for 800 years and the grip of the Catholic church, vote to legalize divorce, gay marriage, and a woman’s right to choose. A small personal aside — I remember in the '80s living in Ireland having to visit an illegal clinic run by brave doctors in Dublin to allow women access to contraception.
People in Ireland in the last decade embraced the power that democracy bestows to brush off centuries of being told what to do and how to think.
Exercising our right to vote isn’t just important because it will affect policies on climate, education, health care, housing, foreign policy, immigration, community infrastructure, jobs, racial justice, taxes, trade, or security — exercising our right to vote is important because it’s fueling our democracy, our political freedoms and civil liberties.
My first vote in a US Presidential election was at 8 am on October 14th, 2020 when the ballots opened in Chicago. The feeling was profound and as I watch the results of this election with bated breath, I do know that I’ll never take democracy for granted again.
hive will close its offices on November 3rd in recognition of the 2020 US Presidential Election as we encourage our network to exercise their right & privilege, to support the US democracy and vote.
hive is a global collective of creative, marketing, and policy experts who build new funding models, strategies, and campaigns for their clients and partners that accelerate change and make the world fairer. Founded by women, it donates 10% of its profits to empower women and girls. Everything hive does is designed to make a difference. @ahiveco // ahive.com
