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@ Carl Tuckerson
2025-04-24 16:44:31By Carl Tuckerson, Who Weeps During City Council Meetings
Democracy is not a system.
It is a living, breathing organism, pulsating with the ancestral heartbeat of every barefoot revolutionary who ever composted oppression into community gardens of change.
It is consent manifested, a tapestry woven by the trembling hands of the marginalized and the mildly inconvenienced alike. It is radical accountability on a biodegradable ballot.
Democracy is the collective inhale of a million voices saying, “Yes, I matter,” and the collective exhale of power releasing its grip—not because it was forced to, but because it finally understood its own trauma.
It is fluid, non-binary, and consensually participatory. A polyamorous relationship between people, policy, and purpose. No labels. Just vibes.
It is the sacred act of showing up—in person, in spirit, in ethically sourced linen—because you believe that your voice, no matter how tremulously intersectional, is a note in the symphony of collective liberation.
Democracy is not red or blue. It’s not even purple. It’s the entire spectrum of human expression, from burnt sienna to sunset glitter sparkle.
It is brunch and ballots. It is protest and poetry. It is tweeting while crying while registering your roommate to vote.
It is government of the people, by the people, and for the people, but especially for the people who’ve been gaslit by history.
And when democracy falters, we don’t abolish it—we give it a weighted blanket, whisper affirmations into its ear, and tell it to take the day off, because healing is not linear.
So what is democracy?
It’s not a noun.It’s not even a verb.It’s a sacred energy exchange—and if you listen closely, you can hear it humming in the compost bin behind your community center.
Namaste. Vote. And remember: ballots are spells cast in ink. Use yours wisely.
— Carl, “Decolonize the Vote” Tuckerson
originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/956879