We The People
It’s time to remember. Time to reflect, and time to think again about how we’re living here on this planet. The particular issue that stands out for me this month is the fragile state of democracy in this country.
Spurred on by the posting from Heather Cox Richardson on Lincoln’s birthday, February 12, I reread the Preamble of the Declaration of Independence.
Richardson writes, “Lincoln dated the founding of the nation from the Declaration of Independence rather than the Constitution, the document enslavers preferred because of that document’s protection of property. In the Declaration, the Founders wrote that they held certain ‘truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.—That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed….
In the Gettysburg address, November 1863, Lincoln spoke these words to his audience : “Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”
I also noted that in an interview the CEO of Patagonia Ryan Gellert said, “The two big existential threats we, as humans, not only face but have created are the climate and ecological crisis and polarization. And polarization compromises our ability to deal with the first." Read the interview here.
On the same topic of democracy Frances Moore Lappe´ writes, "Time is running out for protecting our democracy. And, note well: No matter what one's central passion—be it the climate crisis, universal healthcare, extreme economic inequity, and more—democracy is the tap-root solution essential to progress" Read her article here.
The message is clear. We are on the brink of losing our democracy. It is being attacked in this country and all over the world. Will we stand up and defend it?
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