There is a challenge in the Democratic Party in these days. We try to find a way to move forward in a political climate that is, honestly, poisonous.

Can we, is there any way, that we can be inspired by the ancients in this regard.

Well, there are one or two wise men, that could teach us something if we try to understand what they are saying.

Democracy is founded, many say, by a little obnoxious character in the classical citystate of Athens.

In the classical time, this questionable character wandered around in the streets of Athens, and did some wonderous things. He was the soul of Athens, that city of an amazing cultural beauty.

This guy had a name, he had the name of Socrates.

Now, we say, that Democracy has the quality of freedom, and is the enemy of the tyrant. How is this exactly?

Well, what is a tyranny? A tyranny is a system, where the rulers do not listen to the people, but force their will onto the people.

But there is an interesting facet of tyrannies, that we often do not understand or think so much about. That is the fact, that tyrannies are never without ethics. Tyrannies are the opposite of freedom, it has all the rules of the world. Tyrannies are political systems where a bunch of rules regulate the people. Telling them what to do, sometimes down to the smallest detail.

The tyrants never see themselves as bad people, on the contrary, they see themselves as very good people. They have values and virtues, that they seek to impose on the people, for their own good, off cause.

This is where Socrates comes in, because he has this solution onto the problem of rulers, who see themselves as knowing better than everybody else.

He himself, who was, no doubt, one of the wisest men of Athens, went around in Athens and asked the people there about things. He asked the poets, the politicians and the soldiers. And they all “had the answer”.

Then Socrates thought about it, and he knew, that he DID NOT have the answer.

So he thought. I must be the wisest of all, because I know, that I do not know everything.

In other words, the wisdom and quality of Democracy is the knowledge, that you may have some answers, but you know that you don’t know everything. So you are open for a debate.

That is the core of Democracy, that you are open to what other people have of ideas and questions. This makes the Democratic republic move forward in true wisdom and with respect for those who are citizens of said republic.

Maybe we don’t know everything. Maybe we are not those who are the best in defining ethics and what is right and wrong. Just maybe Socrates was on to something.

So, this is the message of today, be open minded, don’t bury yourselves in “I know it all attitudes”. But listen to what other people have to say. I mean, perhaps even at the other side of the aisles there are actually principles and ideas that we can adopt and work on.

In that way, we try to avoid the fractioning of the great nation of the US in secluded and closed groups.

By that, we try to make unity again. Because, that is the core of the United States of America.

G-d bless that revolutionary idea, that we all love. G-d bless that beautiful nation. G-d bless that home of the brave and the land of the free.