Falling Leaves

Democratic ideals set high standards that no polity really meets. But that does not make democracy meaning-less. A society may fail to make good on its values, even as those values shape its collective work. Really existing democracy is full of hypocrisy, and those of us in the dem-ocratic socialist tradition believe that significant economic changes are needed to realize its deepest potential. But democracy of any kind requires a commitment to work-ing for equality, inclusion, collective decision-making, and open debate. In autocratic societies where these features are truly absent, there are always people who struggle for more democracy. "Democracy may not exist," Astra taylor titled her 2019 book, "but we'll miss it when it's gone.