Democracy here , democracy there , democracy failing , corrupted by greed and polished by double speak and false truths, hamstrung by old-school archaic mindsets . Democracy is broken and depressed .It is at times ridicules and maddening but at the same time brilliant and liberating. It is easy for someone like myself to forget or even not appreciate the liberties that democracy has afforded me . It gave me the freedom to develop my skills and passions , it gave me the opportunities to work hard and explore the world. I travelled to the usual safe destinations and lived life in the , to love and to explore realities outside my comfort zone.

  After living and working in several countries I found myself in my first communist country   The people didn't hate me , especially  if I was spending my hard earned white privilege money. The people were just like people in my democratic world. They woke up with sun and put their trousers on one leg at a time. They cared for their children and their families. they laughed and they cried and danced and they sung. They found love and they lost love but he thing that stayed with me was they smiled when I smiled and they laughed at me but respected me for trying and failing to speak their language.

  It was sure the story they told themselves was at times vastly different to my own story but somehow our stories intertwined . With full bellies and bloodshot eyes we would smile and say goodnight and good luck to your health. My world was cleaner and safer and there were more opportunities in health, education and vocation but there was something missing in all the worlds I have encountered . It seemed as though everybody was moving through time with shackles on . Technology has brought everything closer together and the false truth of scarcity was the shackle. there is enough food but people still go hungry, there is enough energy but people still were still living without. There are enough pillow and blankets but people still cold on the streets with no shelter .

  The struggle and suffering was apparent everywhere . the harder the struggle the stronger the connection between the people sharing the experience. The same thing cannot be said for suffering , suffering is a individual process. suffering cannot exist without perception and perception is as individual or as exclusive as a snowflake. A collective struggle is a character building exercise. Collectively in the time of turmoil or catastrophe people are forced to make crucial decision in the face of upheaval . It is at this time that natural hierarchical order takes place, the roles of the individual are formed into an order of necessity. The strong man will appear amongst the group to carry the burden of physical endeavor to save the group and behind them will be the support to facilitate their vision for triumph of adversity. Not always will the strongman be the solution to the problem , it might be a time of compassion and empathy , a time of passive wisdom and at this time the character of the care giver will rise to the top of the hierarchy and provide the comfort that is needed and behind this character the collective will fall behind and support the vision for triumph.

   In the same way that tragedy and hardship form the character they also form the structure of the story we tell ourselves , at the epicenter of this story is perception. At what level is the glass of water ? Is our democracy half full or half empty. Perception is not always true or just but pessimism is pessimism and optimism is optimism . In the face of certain oblivion pessimism is a tool for anxiety and division, leading to non acceptance . With non acceptance comes a struggle to hold on at all cost even if it leads to suffering. On the other hand optimism in the face of oblivion leads only to one thing that is acceptance and with acceptance you can find a way to let go or even a pathway to freedom , freedom is also wrapped up in perception . Freedom from oblivion or triumph over adversity is an exercise in letting go of suffering .

  I order to perceive or articulate the character of my democracy we need a narrative of the pros and cons . we need a story to tell ourselves and we need to believe the story so that we can hold onto and defend . the need to believe is tied up in the conundrum perception. The story we tell ourselves is nurtured by our culture . Culture is rarely true or just . Logic tells us the perception comes before culture therefore culture is the student and perception is the teacher. So in order to triumph over adversity we have to be sure to elevate perception and minimize culture. Culture harbors patriotism and non acceptance if we allow culture to be perceived as being before perception then we are on shortcut to oblivion.

 As soon as you truly accept that your democracy is half empty then only you can start to change the story to one of being half full. Acceptance doesn`t mean giving up on hope but for sure it means giving up on suffering. Holding on to suffering is the equivalent to buying a sports car and always driving with handbrake on. The pursuit of perfection in our democracy is ridicules but the pursuit of the optimistic glass is just and noble. Saying you have perfection is the same as saying that you must follow my culture or burn in the fiery depth of hell for eternity. Admitting to a floored but noble democracy and being open to acceptance and empathy is a pathway to and ever changing and ever evolving story. Fear of change is a dagger in the heart of perception . Collectively if we can change the story we tell ourselves then ultimately the story we tell others also changes . And through perception we can all change .

  It would be foolish and childish to burn down the system and create a vacuum of chance to be filled by another story. It would be am exercise in wisdom and perception to tweak the system one link at a time. With galactic patience we can get within one degree of perfection . That one percent is pure novelty and the only reason that there is a physical existence at all. Embrace the novelty of difference and endless evolutional perception and together we can change the world one perception at time