Democracy Is Not A Dirty Word Once upon a time it wasn't obvious that democracy was a good thing. The idea of letting everyone have a say was terrifying for some. Some people are just not capable of choosing the sensible thing they said. Which really meant that they wouldn't choose the same as them. Democracy at this time was seen as being a step towards anarchy because if you let everyone have a say in political matters then the result would eventually be chaos and fragmentation. Should you really let the undesirables and stupid people have a say in how we are governed, they asked themselves. They concluded that only those capable of making an informed choice should be allowed to participate in political discourse. They used democracy as an insult because it was not seen as being something we should strive for. God forbid that there should be equality and equal rights for all, they seemed to think. Looking back to this time when democracy was not a given, or taken for granted. When democracy was a dirty word it makes me glad that today we live in a time when democratic principles are seen as a set of values society should strive for. Democracy is no longer a dirty word but now it is the ideal to which we all claim to be striving for.