During State of the EU (#soteu) today, there were several references about the notion of democracy and whether nowadays – especially during the #COVID-19 pandemic – it is being guarded as it should be. On the one hand there was the argument that a united Europe, that functions as a single nation, is an undemocratic approach, given that the member states of the #EU are diverse in many senses but that is exactly what makes #europe such a unique continent. On the other hand there were voices that said that during crises, a need for cohesion, community, common goals and a common roadmap is essential if we want to be resilient and come stronger out of the crisis.
As I was listening to the debate I was trying to recall the concept of #democracy from my high school years. Is the “right” democracy the one of ancient Athens? The Roman “democracy”? Today’s representative type of democracy we have in #Greece?
Then I did a little googling and discovered this argument, apparently by #Aristotle:
“No democracy can exist unless each of its citizens is as capable of outrage at injustice to another as he is of outrage at unjustice to himself”.
I think I like this definition.
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