Moreover, Burns is always looking at jazz as a microcosm or a metaphor. And you have essentially in jazz a model of what we become when we live out, as Dr. King would say, the true meaning of our creed. We learn also from Marsalis that a jazz band works the same way a democracy does. And Burns plays the patriotism card. We are told that only in America could jazz have evolved.
Every nation has something unique about it, for crying out loud.
Regarding the similarities between jazz and democracy, jazz isn't unique in being a form of collective activity that involves cooperation between individuals. Volleyball does as well. On the other hand, I'm sick of writers and filmmakers who use music as a means to an end to discuss their favorite political and social issues. Frequently they do this because they don't have anything important to say about the music. I wish more of them would deal more directly with the stuff that's most important to them instead of trying to get at it in a roundabout way that is sometimes ludicrous.