My generation has a thing for immediacy. We’re so used to everything moving so damn fast that having to hang around waiting is a deathly ordeal for most of us. Seriously, it’s easy to forget what kind of golden age we live in—we can order just about anything imaginable online, often being received within a week of ordering. News is transmitted by push notification the instant it occurs. Human knowledge, in its entirety, is available at the push of a button. It’s completely absurd.

    So it’s easy to see where things like Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign come from. It’s easy to see where Donald Trump comes from. It’s easy to see why kids (and anyone else used to living like we do today) wants to get behind something that tears the government up and makes it better. People want immediacy. (Heck, I’m writing this article really fast without citing sources or quotes, because I had an idea and I want it on paper. Am I making my point?)

    The trouble is that democracy is anything but immediate. Our government is set up in such a way that it denies overreach of power, but in order to accomplish this it was designed to exist in a state of perpetual stagnation. If any group is able to obtain a majority in one sector, another opposing will reject their efforts. The founders put a bet on people pushing their own agendas without regard for anyone else’s, and set the table so that clashes would cancel each other out. 

     In fact, that’s what everyone says they’re so pissed about right now. “It’s those damn politicians, failing to get anything done.” “We need a president who is willing to take a stand.” “We need strong leadership.”

     People are misunderstanding how their government is meant to function. Things like the the 2013 government shutdown are arguably necessary. In that particular scenario, the issue was that of the Affordable Care Act. Across the nation, and the world, people reacted with incredulity. Heck, more than that, they infantilized the Congress of the United States. “Idiots #shutdown,” Seth MacFarlane commented on Twitter. Idiots? Are they?

    They’re not idiots. I’m a goddamn socialist and I honestly believe that the Republicans who created the government shutdown of 2013, in order to stop the Affordable Care Act, were simply arguing their beliefs.

    Which is how our government is supposed to work. One side puts forward its opinion, the other puts forward theirs. If there is no agreement, there is no progress—because progress against another side’s ideals is nothing but oppression of the minority.

    I’ve heard an expression that says the best compromise is one that makes both sides unhappy. Guess what guys? This is it. This is that unhappy compromise. Yes, improvements can be made (campaign finance, congressional district lines, greater transparency). However, we cannot expect speed and efficiency from a democratic government. On the day after the shutdown, many commented on how the Japanese prime minister, that same day, was pushing forward a new tax hike. How the richest nation on the planet is still unable to provide free healthcare for its people.

    These are admirable sentiments. I personally agree with the proposed tax hike. I agree that the United States should provide free healthcare, paid by tax dollars. But I recognize that all Americans do not share this view, and that it is not acceptable for me to force my idea of “right” on an unwilling nation. Therefore, I embrace democracy, a system that takes both parties idealistic agendas, and turns them into weak, watery, stale versions of themselves. Because that’s better than the alternative. Honestly. My ideal world is a nightmare for someone else, and we need to do all we can to prevent that kind of abuse. You want fast government? I wonder—is “off with his head, by the decree of the King” fast enough for you?