How would an Athenian of the 5th Century BCE criticize our present-day representative democracy?

I think an Athenian of the 5th Century BCE would love/be very much pleased with our democracy. Our democracy is so great, that any Athenian would agree with it. They love freedom of speech, and basically a chance to be heard and choose their leaders. Thats exactly how we handle things in America. They fought so hard for democracy, and to see such a great country run by democracy, they might even break down in tears of joy. We learned that their democratic government, is almost the same thing as ours, except the white/black bean voting system. We have caucuses, but the style is a bit different. I understand an Athenian of the 5th Century as a person of great thought. They love to be heard, and to choose.

How do we see Mayan values exemplified in modern society?

We can see Mayan values exemplified in modern society by just observing a calendar. The Mayan calendar evolved into what we use in modern societies. They valued mathematics greatly. The Mayans were able to create a symbol for the number zero. Modern societies took that symbol and changed it into what they wanted it to look like. The Mayans advanced incredibly in astronomy, from what we see in their calendars. Their success in mathematics and astronomy led them to success in establishing accurate calendar systems In the agricultural society, the Mayans were very productive and had many surpluses. They worked very hard on producing their crops. The Mayans focused mostly on producing corn and maize. I think, besides from those two main products, they grew kidney beans, squash, and avocados. A very interesting value was sports. The ancient ballgame, pitz, was a big part of Mayan political, religious, and social life. They used a rubber ball that relates to a soccer ball, or a softball, depending on how big it is. The area which the game was played symbolized the cities wealth and power. Now, in modern day society, we worship many sports. We can see that basic sports like basketball, came directly from pitz. In pitz, the players had to bounce the ball into stone hoops on the walls. This is very similar to basketball. In my opinion, we would not play basketball as much if the Mayans did not invent pitz.