IU prof addresses "Dilemmas of Democracy"
Friday, March 14, 2008, 12:07 EST
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Callais spoke of doing the best every Greek brother and sister can do to live the true meaning behind Greek rituals, objects and letters. In a large display of his effects on popular culture, Michael Pollan spoke to two crowds on March 3, one in the Reilly Room and one in a Gallahue lecture hall via closed-circuit television.
Both locations were filled to the limits of their fire codes due to the fact that people from all over the state had come to hear Pollan’s thoughts on "The New York Times" and the "Washington Post" best-seller “The Omnivore’s Dilemma.” Judging by the performances at Freshman Skits on the evening of Feb. 29, you might have thought the theme had something to do with ribbon dancing. The annual event, organized by Blue Key, gives the new members of every Greek house a chance to entertain.
Hosts Clark Taylor and Mackenzie Murnane, both seniors, presented the show as each new pledge class performed a 10-minute skit for a panel of judges and an audience full of students in the Health and Recreation Complex (HRC).
Craiutu is an associate professor in the department of political science at Indiana University and said the subject of the lecture, “Dilemmas of Democracy,” held a very strong personal element for him. He is of Romanian origin and witnessed Romanians fighting for their liberty in 1989.
Along with his own ideas of democracy, Craiutu relied heavily on selections of Alexis de Tocqueville’s writings. Craiutu explained that Tocqueville lived through a time of transition during the French Revolution. The fact that he lived through a transition dealing with democracy compelled Tocqueville to examine democracy in full.
Craiutu began by urging the audience to go beyond the idea that democracy is made of elections and political competition and to think about democracy as habits of the heart. He drew on Tocqueville’s idea that democracy is an expression of what people think and feel rather than their actions.
Craiutu even went further to say that Tocqueville believed the strengths of democracy did not originate from giving government to the people but in giving the people a chance to pursue common interests.
“Nobody forces us to be altruistic,” commented Craiutu. He explained that although this may be true, it is a fact that good things tend to happen when people work together.
According to Craiutu, democracy serves yet another purpose. “People make mistakes. The great advantage of democracy is that people can repair their mistakes,” he commented.
Democracy cannot simply survive though. It has to be purified, Craiutu explained. “Tocqueville pointed out that democracy needs to be beautified, needs to be educated, needs to be tamed.”
Craiutu concluded by listing three lessons he hoped everyone would take away from the lecture. The first lesson is to think critically about democracy.
He said Tocqueville noticed that problems with France were criticized by many people but when it came time to take action no one knew how to implement new plans.
The second lesson is to counter the tendency toward a money-hungry democracy. Craiutu urged everyone to focus more on arts or culture.
“I dream of a society where people are encouraged to read Marcel Proust rather than Stephen King,” Craiutu said.
Craiutu said for the final lesson, we need more outlets for arts and culture in order to get away from this tendency toward money. He encouraged people to create forums to discuss good music or books instead of money.
“Find meaningful islands in the midst of a society that seeks to get richer day by day,” he said.
Chris Chapman, sophomore history major, was pleased with the lecture. “I thought it was interesting. I liked when he discussed that democracy doesn’t just happen and that you have to be educated.”