Excogitate & Internalize

Internalize is a word I haven't used, that I can recall. The other day I heard it used in terms of Democracy. One meaning of it is "to make internal, personal, or subjective". This act more than anything else makes democracy possible, making it part of oneself without really thinking about it. Internalized democracy is inherent, a life style, something that is in us permanently, which we don't have to always consciously think about. Having democracy internalized means that it is part of our DNA.

Another word I like is excogitate. It means, "to study intently and carefully in order to grasp or comprehend fully" For those of us who have internalized democracy that means we don't always have to rethink democracy with every political or judicial move we make because it's already in us, excogitated. It also means that if we don't always act democratically we will naturally be pulled back into being democratic because that's the way we are. It becomes like walking or breathing; we don't have to excogitate democratic acts every time we do them. Imagine if we had to excogitate or reinterpret it every time we did it? It would be confusing, chaotic and most likely violent.

Democracy, then, sounds like a very sophisticated system. It is because of the transition it has taken from it being an unnatural state in us to one of being natural, through excogitation and internalization. We were not naturally born democratic but have learned it. But we don't have to relearn it from scratch every time because it is passed down to us by previous generations who have excogitated and internalized it before us. What also makes it a sophisticated system is that it has taken many generations to learn it and put into practices.

It is no wonder then that peoples who have never practiced democracy or acted democratically have such difficulty with it. It takes a long time to become familiar with it. It takes a long time to excogitate and internalize this extremely convoluted system.