To Work for Democracy

(Two posts in one— an announcement and a story, both about working for Democracy.)

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Announcement

Those of you who know me personally know that the philosophy of democracy is central to my intellectual project. My life’s work as an American writer is tied up with a quest to deeply understand, spread, and further develop the core ideals and culture that underpin democracy. That’s why the senior honors thesis I just wrote this spring was called “E Pluribus Unum: The Dream of Democracy”; you can read the introduction to the thesis here, and I’ll be sharing further sections of it over time.

This summer, I’ve been working with Harvard’s Professor Danielle Allen— truly a philosophical rockstar, who works harder for democracy than almost anybody, and whose recent book Justice by Means of Democracy is a fantastic 21st-century update to core democratic theory— to launch a new publication called ‘The Renovator.’ The Renovator is a platform to discuss the project of Renovating Democracy: it will feature essays on the philosophy of liberty and democracy, reports on pragmatic policy reforms happening all across the country, and discussions about the ideals and the messy practice of democracy. It will feature frequent contributor columns across many different domains related to the broad project of reforming democracy, whether that’s civic education, economic reform, or the cultural underpinnings of a democratic society; it will feature frequent ‘round-ups’ of many different information streams relevant to democracy renovation, which Danielle has unparalleled access to as a central figure in the ecosystem; and, it will feature guest-written articles by many great writers from across the political spectrum. The goal is to host a sort of modern ‘Federalist Papers’ discussion, and work towards forging an American supermajority in favor of maintaining and improving the basic structures of Constitutional Democracy.

I’m on the small editorial board for this new publication with some wonderful people all dedicated to democracy; I’ll also be a frequent writer. I’m really excited about this project; this is exactly the kind of thing I want to be working on, and I’m willing to work hard to make it a reality. I am hopeful that The Renovator will not only develop a robust life of its own, but also feed new subscribers back here to Beatin’ Paths. To prepare, I’ve been writing some new pieces about democracy, but I’m saving them for the launch. I’m also saving a lot of my old unpublished democracy-related pieces, especially things from this past year (like the other sections of my thesis), so that I can cross-post them on both Substacks simultaneously. This announcement is to let you know what I’m spending my time on right now— you can expect this next month to be mostly Aidan-y writer/adventure/poetry/philosophy/nature/hitchhiking/buslife posts, and the following month to be more about democracy in support of the Renovator launch.

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Story

But why work for democracy at all?

One of the best friends I made during my time at Harvard in the class of 2020 was a man named Adam Harper; we share many similarities, including a passion for democracy and philosophy. When I returned to school this past fall, I was surprised to see a familiar face in my ‘Rights of Nature’ class taught by Jill Lepore at the Law School— Adam was now a law student, while I was finishing my belated senior year of undergrad. After class, he took me to Widener Library to show me something very special hidden in the stacks of books— a collection of Walt Whitman’s unpublished notes, including a quote that Adam had used in his own senior thesis on democracy:

“About this business of Democracy & human rights &c, often comes the query— as one sees the shallowness and miserable self-ism of these crowds of men, with all their minds so blank of high humanity and aspiration— then comes the terrible query… Is not Democracy of human rights humbug after all?— Are these flippant people with hearts of rags and souls of chalk, are these worth preaching for & dying for upon the cross?

May be not— may be it is indeed a dream— yet one thing sure remains— but the exercise of Democracy, equality, to him who, believing, preaches, and to the people who work it out— this is not a dream— to work for Democracy is good, the exercise is good— strength it makes & lessons it teaches— gods it makes, at any rate, though it crucifies them often.”

This quote fascinates me for a number of reasons. Firstly, it’s just so uncharacteristic of Whitman— his public persona is Mr. Optimism, Mr. Democracy, buoyant and encouraging, almost a caricature of American confidence. Yet here he is, in his private notes, not playing the character, and instead grappling with a serious, human moment of personal doubt.

What if Democracy doesn’t work? To work for Democracy requires a certain faith in expanding human potential, a faith that we can’t prove correct in advance, a faith we can only justify with mixed evidence from the past and present. The work for Democracy is fraught, and sometimes it’s demoralizing. When the masses do something really stupid or selfish or wrong, it can feel difficult to want to fight and sacrifice on behalf of their rights and their empowerment.

But, working for Democracy is not only a moral thing to do on behalf of others— it also makes us stronger as individuals. The ‘exercise’ of communication, cooperation, interconnection, absorbing perspectives, and empowering others ends up empowering ourselves. Nietzsche to the contrary, a more fully interconnected democratic humanity is the primary means by which super-individuals will come into existence.

I’m also fascinated by the ‘crucifixion’ language here. There is, after all, something so very ‘democratic’ about Jesus dying on behalf of a kind of universal moral equality. Whitman here makes working on behalf of the ideal of Democracy something both self-serving and self-sacrificing, something religious and meaningful, something practical and perilous. And it seems clear to me that he’s right— Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., Bobby Kennedy, Fred Hampton, and so many other democratic idealists were killed because they worked on behalf of democracy, on behalf of mutual empowerment and interconnection across divisions. They worked because they believed in something. They believed in the Dream of Democracy: forging one mutually empowering family of evermore free individuals.

Those of you who know me well know that Walt Whitman is my favorite human being from another time— my core intellectual and artistic inspiration. This special moment with Adam was the first time someone else who loved Whitman had ever shown me a quote of his I hadn’t seen before, and it was interesting to see this hidden side of a character I knew so well. Adam told this same story on his Fourth of July Substack post the other week (which features a fantastic poem of his own):

With Antecedents (2025)

I’ve recruited Adam to write an essay/column of his own for The Renovator. If you, or anyone you know, might also be interested in writing for The Renovator, feel free to connect, shoot me a pitch, or send me an article you think is relevant to the project of Renovating Democracy.

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If you’re interested in Democracy, you might enjoy the introduction to my thesis…