Day 814, Democracy
Are Homo sapiens well-suited for democracy?
(Societies are often governed by autocracy.)
Democracy means compromise emerges from debates.
Autocracy is simplified; just one opinion rates.
We Homos are a tribal species. Tribes, we know, divide,
For lines of color and religion frequently decide
With whom we live and speak and breed, so tribes stay well-aligned
And other colors and beliefs are usually maligned.
As tribal populations grow, the room they need expands.
They argue, fight, and skirmish over water, food and lands.
Or, tribes divide and separate and move to a new place,
And, over the millennia, evolve to a new race.
And, gradually our wanderings have almost filled the Earth,
From north to south, from east to west, the islands ‘round its girth.
We separated and mutated; now we’re everywhere.
That means, when we pick up and move, someone’s already there.
We know when we left Africa, skin colors slowly changed
And, as we kept on travelling, ideas interchanged.
We tried to conquer differences, convinced our tribe was right.
Skin color, right? Religions, right? Both reasons that we fight.
And now that we’ve spread ‘round the world, we see humanity’s
Varieties and also know its similarities.
Societies, once uniform, are now a polyglot
Of different cultures, races, all stirred into one big pot.
Let’s ask again, are we well-suited for democracy?
Our history is fighting to achieve supremacy.
We know our genomes differ just a tenth of a percent.
We humans are one family; genes make that evident.
We are the crew of spaceship Earth; we must cooperate.
Instead of lethal combat, we must learn how to debate.
If we don’t work together, let our differences divide,
And autocrats take over; we are risking suicide.
For autocrats are narcissists who stir us up to fight.
They do not care one whit for us; they think their might makes right.
They don’t want to cooperate; they seek to dominate.
They don’t debate but fight and kill to make “their” country great.