How an Athenian might view our present day Democrasy

I think an Athenian from the 5th century BC might view our democracy in many ways. He would probably disapprove of the amount of years the president serves. Whether or not he approves of the representative system is a choice that the person will have to make himself. I think he would disapprove of the variety of voters.

I think the common Athenian would disapprove of the amount of years an official is allowed to hold power in our modern day society. First off all back during the start of democracy the people that were elected were common people and a country was run on a relatively basic principle. The leader had to manage trade and war, there wasn't that much politics involved. He didn't have to know go to Harvard and learn all the laws because the laws (if they even existed) were pretty simple. Therefore giving a leader as much time as we give our current leaders would probably lead to him becoming corrupt and trying to maintain his power longer.

I think whether or not the common Athenian approved of the representative system was a matter of choice. Because if we're talking about a woman or someone not eligible to be elected then probably they would approve of the representative more, even if they weren't able to vote for him. Because a leader will be a lot nicer if he knows that he has to be elected than if he is forced to go to some meeting that he doesn't want to attend. I think if you're someone eligible to vote or be elected you would probably disapprove of the representative system. Because basically what's happening is that it's becoming harder for you to gain power. But if you're someone who doesn't care and goes to the meetings only because your forced then you'd probably enjoy a representative that goes and sits and talks for you.

I think a common Athenian man capable of voting and being elected would disapprove of the variety of voters. I think the fact that anyone over 18, that is a citizen of the country, would displease the Athenian voting population. Firstly and majorly because you have more people who want stuff and are able to get it. You can't please everyone and if more people need to be pleased, well, then it's likely that some of your pleasure will be removed. If slaves could vote, they'd vote for no more slavery, but that would bother the rich white man who uses them as cheap labor. Therefore the best way for the rich white man to retain power is by oppressing everybody else. Not letting people vote is a great way to oppress them.

Comparison between Mayan values and our own

There are many different ways that you can interpret Mayan values in our current day society. For example you could look at religion and the influence of the Church. you could look at the extents people will go to make there body fit the quota of "beautiful." War was a value. But mostly to see Mayan values you could just look at the time.

In ancient Mayan civilizations religion played a big role. Religious sacrifices were not uncommon, in fact being scarifies was one of the few ways you could go to heaven. Losing something as simple as a ball game could lead to you being sacrificed. In our modern world religion plays just as big a part. Even though over the past years the amount of Atheists has increased there is still a large population of religious people. There is an international holiday that has a very powerful relation to religion, Halloween. Maybe we aren't sacrificing people anymore but there is definitely still some violent actions in the name of god.

Then there is the value of beauty. Mayans valued beauty. They went so far as to deform a child's head at birth so it would look beautifuler when the child grows up. Though the Maya's idea of beauty greatly differed from ours today there are still people who go to great extents to be "beautiful." Look at all the make up women put on, and all the hours spent lying in the sun to get tanner. Beauty still plays as big a part in our society as it did in the Mayan.

War was a huge value for the Mayans. They needed war to prove a cities superiority. Even ball games often resulted in the sacrifice or violence. In our world war is not so prominent as in the Mayans. But still we soldiers in Iraq. We fight for different reasons and we fight in different styles but the point is the same. Mayans went out and killed people, and so do we. And in some less urbanized tribes there are still brutal wars going on for the same reasons as the Mayans.

But perhaps the biggest Mayan value was time. The Mayans had an obsession with time keeping. Their calenders are probably the most accurate in the history of the world. They predicted eclipses and other solar events with enormous accuracy. In our modern world we have just as big an obsession with time. Maybe we don't spend hours at a time staring at the stars at night but if we had more time we probably might. And if you think about it where ever we go one of the easiest things to find is the time. Watches, cell phones, ipods, and even TVs all have watches built in. Not to mention that most people beyond the age of 5 have their own personal watch on their wrist.

I conclude that even though the Mayans lived more than a thousand years ago a lot of their values are still present in our society. Beauty, war, religion, and time all still exist and are ubiquitous in our societies.