What Democracy Means to Me

Democracy seems to be the new buzz word in the world today, but do the countries currently mulling around the idea of democracy really understand what it means? Do Americans even understand what it means?

In this revival of liberty we are experiencing in our country today, I think these are questions every American should be asking themselves.

I think Benjamin Franklin defined democracy best when he said, “Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote.”

Our Founding Fathers realized the oppression of a Monarchy, but they were also aware of the failings of a Democracy. And while the world looks to America as a symbol of democracy, it is the combination of self-governance and representative leadership that is the secret to America’s success.

Photo source: Americans for Prosperity 

America is not a democracy, it is a Democratic Republic—the perfect combination to promote freedom and protect individual liberties.

If we are to have a discussion about what Democracy means, we must first understand what it is and what it is not. The American experiment is much more than a form of government, it is an ideal. It is the belief that man can, in fact, govern himself and if he will not, then the experiment fails. But our Founders fervently believed if ever there were a people who could do it, it would be us.

Many people are blaming the predicament our country is in on the president, his administration, Congress, and the government in general, but in reality, those are all just symptoms of the problem.

The real problem is that Americans are not acting American—we are not embracing our divine heritage of liberty, we don’t know our magnificent, providential history, and we are not fulfilling our civic responsibility. The harsh reality is, if we don’t like what’s going on in our nation today, we only have ourselves to blame.

We are a government of the people and by the people not just for the people.

If we the people are not “by the people,” if we are not willing to do our civic duty and watch over government then corruption will take root and consume our nation until we the people are strangled right out of existence.

If we the people are not willing to be “of the people” and run for elected office then there will be plenty of self-serving, power-hungry individuals who will.

If we are not fostering a love of liberty in our own homes and our own hearts then we will never understand and embrace the principles of liberty our nation was founded on.

If we are not willing to sacrifice our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor to preserve liberty and sustain the Constitution then freedom in America will cease to exist.

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We are the reason we are in the state we are in. And we are the only ones who can pull us out of it.

It is true, there have been many forces working against us feverishly trying to destroy this last bastion of hope for the world; but in the end, we are the keepers of the flame, not the schools, not Congress, not the media.

If our schools aren’t teaching our children about America’s history and heritage, then we need to be. If the media is not going to present truth and facts, then we need to. It is not the government’s job to raise and teach our children it is ours. We cannot count on others to do our job for us and we cannot legislate our rights and responsibilities away and expect liberty to simply sustain itself in the name of democracy.

If our children are patriots it is because we raised patriots in our homes. If our children know and understand the Constitution it is because we taught them. If our children embrace freedom and love their country, it is because we instilled that love in them through our own examples.

Democracy is the embodiment of self-reliance, self-governance and self-sacrifice; which, simply stated, means the American experiment can only succeed when we are able to govern ourselves in righteousness. As Alexis de Tocqueville so aptly stated, “America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.”

It is not our government, our wealth, or our rich soil that ensures our democracy, it is our goodness. And if American’s cease to be good, the American experiment will have run its course.

But goodness has not ceased in America. It is here, rising up in homes all across America.

[sharequote align="center"]The spirit of America is alive; it just needs to be awakened.[/sharequote]

And that should be our personal quest—to wake up the American people and infuse the light of liberty in their very souls.

Every American we convert to Liberty and the Constitution is one American closer to securing a free nation. It is very probable that the day is not that far off when our economy will collapse and our government will crumble—but America never will, because America isn’t a president or a Congress, it is us!

It is We the People. And We the People will rise from the ashes waiving the standard of liberty to the world. Every American who understands and internalizes the principles of liberty will rise up, holding the Constitution firmly in their grip and lead the people of this nation to freedom.

What does Democracy mean to me? It means hope. It means believing in something greater than yourself. It means personal responsibility. And if we don’t take that responsibility seriously, instead of explaining to our children what democracy is, we will have to explain what happened to it.

Labeled by the media as “an unabashed America-loving homemaker”, Kimberly Fletcher is the president and founder of Homemakers for America and author of “WOMEN: America’s Last Best Hope”. She is an Air Force wife and mother of 8 children, who has made it her personal mission to educate and inspire the women of America to realize their immeasurable worth and powerful influence on society simply by being who they are. Kimberly is an author, columnist and public speaker who has been heard on numerous regional and national media outlets and is a contributing writer with The Blaze.

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