We are excited to share with you a Forensics piece by our high schooler, Carter.
P.s. – He’s going to State!
Democracy lives in the people, democracy is the people, democracy is our best hope. This is a quote of Vice President Kamala Harris, and I think her words are undeniable. Democracy, an idea entrenched in the United States. An idea that the United States has helped spread all over the world. But what truly holds a democracy together? What ensures that it will continue to thrive throughout the generations to come? The answer is the people. The people who work, fight, and use the freedoms given to them. They are the ones who love our democracy and hope to keep it every day. They are the people, they are us. We are the greatest piece of our democracy.
When creating our government, the founding fathers knew it would be a government that works for the people but is also of the people. This is why Thomas Jefferson began the Declaration of Independence with these words. “We the people.” He knew that a democracy is a government that belongs to the people and the people only. This is also why as Americans, our government gave the people a way to voice their opinions, by voting. Ensuring that the people are heard.
For a democracy to work, the people must be free, they must have a voice, and they must be heard through active participation in said democracy. The people are what keep a democracy alive and ensures that it works. Not just that it works in theory, but that it works for everyone. Without these conditions a democracy would not work, because the people are not engaged in it nor benefit from it. A lack of engagement from the people means a democracy does not exist. The democratic system we have is a system that works of the people, by the people, and for the people.
For our democracy to continue to work, Americans must ensure that they will always be heard, and that the government is held accountable to the will of the people. Voting is a key task in a democracy, and I believe that it is every American’s duty to vote in every election that they possibly can. Otherwise, you will not be heard. In data found from the Circle Tufts Education website, found that only 27 percent of Americans ages 18 to 29, voted in the 2022 Midterm elections. This is devastating to me, because that is the next generation of America, and only less than half of them voted. It is also important when deciding who you will vote for, that you are not misled by any person, news outlet, or candidate for public office. You see choice and truth are pillars of a democracy. Without them, democracy would not reach the heights that it does.
President Ronald Reagan once said. “Democracy is never more than a generation away from extinction.” President Reagan knew that keeping our democracy alive through the people is necessary, and ensuring that they are engaged in it, is what keeps a democracy alive. He knew that it is a citizen’s responsibility to participate in our democracy. And that it must be worked for, in every generation and future ones.
No matter who you are, as an American. We all have a duty to keep our democracy alive. Whether you vote, whether you work as a public official, or whether you are one of the many United States Armed Service members. We all are an essential piece of our democracy. We are the greatest attribute of our democracy. We are the people.