humanism and democracy

Asked whether he was an optimist or a pessimist, James Baldwin said:

I remember the night of the 2024 election. I had worked from 5 AM until 1 AM. I was one of the few white, cis volunteers, and I remember sitting with the other canvassers at the end of the night. Trump's looming victory made me predict and worry about what was next for America. I thought of NATO, of the dollar, of ecology, of housing, of the S&P 500. It was a form of pessimism, an abstract and depersonalized pessimism. The other volunteers—overwhelmingly LGBTQ+, women, and/or of color—were confronting a much more intimate and harrowing reality. They were imagining a future where their passport's gender is denied, their federal-funded research is killed, their undocumented parent is deported. Yet it was their deep material, familial, and spiritual involvement that revealed a kind of optimism. Though tired and wracked with anxiety, they were already preparing for the next fight. I have found that those with seemingly the least evidence for belief in humanity are the ones most filled with hope and conviction.

That is because belief can either be a compliment in the existing form of something or a demand for a future version of that thing. Those satiated with the status quo believe because they benefit. But those locked out of power and privilege believe out of grace and aspiration. Baldwin wrote in The Fire Next Time that we "can make America what America must become."

Theologian Reinhold Niebuhr was both an ardent Calvinist and a committed socialist and pacifist. His insights on democracy and human nature best encapsulate what this pillar stands for: "Man's capacity for justice makes democracy possible; but man's inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary." Belief in humanity must budget for the failings of humanity. Democracy cannot exist without checks and balances, as well as education. An agency multiplier, education teaches us that we are responsible for shaping the world rather than passively receiving it. In that way, optimism is born not out of blind faith but active and passionate participation in future-building.