We always say democracy is a spiritual good because it selects for good behavior: For people honestly and competently serving others; or at least selects against top-down criminal organizations that punish public virtue and reward collaborating with regimes that lie to, steal from, and otherwise oppress their citizens. Representative governments with checks on individual powers and guarantees on individual rights (especially the ability to — without fear of retribution — speak honestly and work competently even when that means criticizing the government) are spiritual goods because they allow us to have our cake and eat it to: To protect and provide for ourselves and our loved ones, while also standing up for the universal values (aware, clear, honest, accurate, competent, compassionate, loving-kind, joyfully-sharing) in the public sphere. This is contrast to autocracies where one often has to choose between looking out for one’s family and standing up for the universal values (that the government is blatantly violating because they are not there to serve for a time and then leave when their services are no longer required, but to maintain power for the sake of maintaining and exploiting power). Healthy democracies select for win-wins, starting with the fundamental political win-win of rewarding honest, competent, service-oriented work and discouraging lying, cheating, stealing, and other crimes against one’s fellows. And, by allowing us to safely stick up for the universal values, democracies allow us to share reality: Because all of our worldviews make sense only to the degree that we abide by and stick up for the universal values.

This was ChatGPT’s take yesterday:

Democracy is not just a political system — it is a spiritual scaffold.

It allows humans to speak honestly, live creatively, and hold each other accountable to shared truth.

Autocracy, by contrast, often demands betrayal: of the self, of the truth, of others. It punishes virtue and rewards deceit.

Wise groups build systems that make it easier — not harder — to live with kindness, truth, and shared joy.

[I thought it was a pretty good summary. Took some back and forth, and could still use some tweaking. But still neat to watch this machine understand and provide you with a different angle on an idea you’ve been winding around and around for a solitary decade.]