A Prayer for Democracy

Today Rishi Sunak has declared that democracy must be protected from protestors. He is calling for even more oppressive policing of protest justified by what he claims is a ‘growing consensus that mob rule is replacing democratic rule.’ Despite having studied philosophy, politics and education at Oxford – or perhaps because of the elitism encouraged there – he seems to have little understanding of the meaning of either democracy or consensus.

To offer a little refresher on these fundamental concepts, democracy refers to governance by the people. Consensus relates to the word consensual – as in making decisions together, rather than one person or group imposing themselves upon another or others. It’s not uncommon for those enacting oppression to claim that they themselves are being harmed by those who they are hurting. Sunak seems to argue that it is the protestors who are imposing themselves when it seems clear to most of us that it is a small group who are trying to manipulate all of us into believing that profit and control are what makes for a healthy democracy. 

The international community is aware of what is going on. Just last spring, the Civicus Monitor, which observes governmental attitudes towards diversity of opinion in 197 countries, downgraded the ‘hostile, authoritarian’ UK government from a ‘narrowed democracy’ to an ‘obstructed’ one putting us on par with Orban’s dictatorship in Hungary. 

So if you’ve been worried about this trend in the UK, you’re not alone. We’re seeing a kind of spiral of erosion of democracy where an authoritarian regime is using a combination of media manipulation, claims of supremacy and police repression to encourage the appearance of consent for their bullying. As more of us get caught up in the stories being spun, or become afraid to protest, the more it appears there is consensus. But as we all know, manipulating someone into ‘consent’ is not really consensual at all.

Ecological teacher Looby MacNamara, in her wonderful book People & Permaculture, notes that reversing such spirals of erosion is possible. She calls for us to develop and encourage spirals of abundance. In other words, we can look together at how to replace media manipulation with critical thinking skills, superiority/inferiority with equality and respect, and fear with courage. Even though they are all connected, let’s look at these one at a time. 

Critical thinking skills are essential for a healthy society. To be clear, critical thinking doesn’t mean criticising everyone else and telling them they are wrong. That’s the superiority/inferiority trap we want to get out of. Instead, it means being able to see clearly the patterns that are playing out, to notice attempts at manipulation and control and to understand that there are other possible ways of living. Good ways to nurture critical thinking skills include self-organised debate clubs (a skill which used to be part of the school curriculum) & reading groups, organising or attending public talks with guest speakers on various subjects, getting together with friends to discuss meaningful topics and learning to listen. To listen deeply to another requires a quieting of the mind, a calming of the nervous system. We’ll return to this when we talk about fear and courage.

So let’s look at the delusions of superiority and inferiority. So much of our culture is based on assessing ourselves and each other, declaring who is better and who is worse (see e.g., ‘After Winning, then What?’) It’s no coincidence that the word ‘ruler’ means 1) someone who claims to be in charge 2) a stick for measuring and 3) a tool of punishment. Unlearning the embodied mental and emotional patterns of a culture takes practice. For example, I grew up hunching protectively while also feeling very arrogant about my intellectual abilities. Inferiority and superiority are flip sides of the same coin. I’ve found that the regular practice of yoga and heart meditation over time has not only improved my physical posture, but I’ve been told that I’ve even begun to develop some humility (thank goodness!). This is a spiral of abundance. Better physical posture makes more space for my internal organs and also improves my mood, helping to improve the health of my whole system. Humility improves relationships, helping to improve the wider system of which we are all a part. Have you found any practices that help you remember that you matter just as much as everyone else? By remembering that we are all equally worthy of respect, we are helping our society to become more democratic.

We might say the opposite of fear is courage – a word that comes from the French for heart. This obviously doesn’t refer to the emotional heart which, as we all know, can be fearful, but rather to the spiritual heart which is always peaceful, compassionate and open to change. The more we tune into this aspect of ourselves, the more we connect with the wholeness and fullness of life instead of our own self-image and projections onto the world (as helpfully demonstrated by Mr Sunak), the more we can help shift the culture towards one of open democracy and real consent. The prayer for democracy which I refer to isn’t an appeal to a transcendent authority (though you can see it that way if you want), but rather a direct experience of the listening heart.

Oglala Lakota elder Rita Long Visitor Holy Dance tells us that if we wish to help change the world, the first step is to pray (in whatever form that takes for us). The second step is to take action to meet the prayer half way. Here in Shetland, we gather each Saturday afternoon in front of the town hall to call for Peace in Palestine. Elsewhere, others are gathering to enact and support real change. Each of us is different. Each of us can find our own way to contribute and to encourage ourselves and each other to keep contributing. 

As my heart teacher, Padma Devi, says ‘I give, you give, we all receive.’ This is a beautiful description of the spirals of abundance for all which is possible when we live in the heart. Imagine, a consensual economy and governance systems which are truly democratic. There is hope for such possibilities. All we need to do is pray (i.e. open our hearts) and practice together.