Revolution?
Good Morning neighbors and happy Independence Day. For the last four letters we have discussed several topics and asked numerous questions. First was that you are not alone. You and over 60% (126+ million) of your neighbors think exactly like you, but our opinions differ on certain topics. I laid bare for you who is not in our 60. I introduced “them” to you by identifying their characteristics. Then we talked about who “we” are and what we represent. Lastly, I discussed our need for the neighborhood and the special place that front porches played, and once again could play in our neighborhoods. So where does that leave us?
Today July 4, 2024 marks 248 years since we announced our independence from England. We announced loud and clear in language that couldn’t be misinterpreted that, “when in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another…” and that “a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to separation”.
Well today my friends and neighbors we need to declare our independence from the political parties and establishments that have usurped the power of the people. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, and they are endowed 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.” Folks the Declaration of Independence directly states the importance of “consent” in our government for their powers to be “just”. Does our current political environment lead to the consent of the governed? Maybe that question is better asked thusly. Is our government currently deriving their powers from the consent of you and your neighbors? Or is the “consent” coming from somewhere else and can our government ever be “just”?
Well, that last question is easily answered. The way our government acts and operates today is by consent of the few to govern the many. But what exactly is consent, because I don’t remember agreeing to this, do you? Merriam-Webster defines consent as “to give assent or approval”. I can’t remember anyone asking me, much less me, giving consent to how todays government operates. So, who are our representatives receiving their consent from? It’s from less than 1% of your neighbors who are more powerful, richer, or simply louder than you.
The new contracts between Americans and their government are not represented by roughly equal bargaining power. Small groups of ORGANIZED individuals and entities have a disproportional influence over government and society. We have allowed those with sufficient power and resources to gain enough influence over our representatives, regulatory heads, and judges to ensure that our “democracy” and free market work mostly on their behalf and to their benefit. But how have these individuals, groups and industries accomplished this under our noses?
For one, public officials perceive their responsibility as acting in the public interest. But that “interest” emerges from a consensus of the organized special interests appearing before them (that word organized is the key). The larger, wealthier and more “organized” the group or interest, the better equipped its lawyers and experts are to assert what is best for them, not you or I. I’m trying to recall when I joined, gave money to, or better yet VOTED for one of these organizations that are telling my elected officials what’s best for me and my neighbors. When these powerful organizations or groups win power and influence, they then use their money and power to entrench their position before taking more.
A great real-world example in a physical sense is Russia and Ukraine. Here you have an organization, the Russian government” that has used it money and power to take ground from Ukraine, and Freedoms and Liberties from its people. Then this organization has literally entrenched itself against attacks from those it considers an enemy. Does that sound like anything happening in Washington DC today? Not that long ago special interests and powerful organizations wanted no less than to entrench themselves, when they proposed to eliminate a powerful tool of equality, when they proposed to rescind the senate rule on the filibuster. They wanted to reduce the most fair and deliberative body of legislators in the world to nothing more than a mob turning on and being blown by the vote of a few. BUT!!!! Two brave American senators stood up and said, Not on my watch!!
Joe Manchin and Kristen Sinema stood up against special interests, powerful organizations with billions of dollars, and their own parties to ensure that these groups would not be allowed to usurp the rights of the many for the benefit of the few. Personally, I believe these two to be among a long list of true Patriots and Heros. I don’t use those words lightly and neither should you. They truly deserve the medal of freedom. That was two, Ill say it again, TWO people standing in the gap for millions. Thats where We should have been.
Six years before the Declaration of Independence Edmund Burke said, “When bad men combine (organize) the good must associate (organize) else they will fall one by one”. Think of all the instances in recent history where the organized group beat the unorganized masses and the unorganized fell one by one. Even in a sporting event the organized team generally wins over talent. Its easy to see in today’s culture wars over gender, race, climate, and sexuality how small groups of organized individuals, backed by enormous amounts of money have outsized influence over the discussions and political process. And not just over government, but private institutions and businesses also. So, what can I, you, we, and us do to change that? Get organized.
In 1789 John Quincy Adams wrote to his father, “The country is so totally given up to the spirit of party, that not to follow blindfolded the one or the other is an inexplicable offense”. So just one year after the Constitution of the United States was ratified, John Quincy Adams described the political climate of 2024. Why is that? Because even in 1789 one side was more organized than the other.
Friends, neighbors, and fellow patriots we must understand and take to heart that there is Liberty and Freedom in the middle. Our trust should be in our neighbors and not the party of a candidate. Our 60% (more than 126 million) must simply become too organized to ignore. In the past, monopolies have controlled industry, but today’s monopolies control networks. Isn’t it time there was a Middle network. A network that works for us and not against us. The idea is simple but what we need is a clear set of goals. If we create, together, a set of commonly held goals and beliefs along with a set of measures that show progress towards these goals, we can force government to work for us and not against us. We must entrench ourselves by partnering together. By becoming organized.
So today I announce the founding of the Coalition of Neighbors. We have allowed the disproportionate influence over elected and unelected officials, and therefore our government, by organizations and Special interests that are allied against our Common interests. President Dwight D Eisenhower, who switched parties and ran as a Republican because he believed the Democratic party had too much influence at the time, said “when the center weakens, piecemeal disintegration and annihilation are only steps away”. The power in our country has found its way into the hands of liars and the mob instead of the honest and strong and it appears that “piecemeal disintegration and annihilation” might truly just be steps away.
My conclusion is that the only way to reverse course is for those of us who currently lack influence over the rules of the game, to become organized and unified to re-establish the countervailing power that is the key to widespread Freedoms, Liberties and prosperity. The seat of power in the United States of America does not lie in Washington DC it lies within our neighborhoods and amongst our neighbors. Plato said that “the idea of the good is discovered last of all and is perceived with great difficulty”. If you don’t believe this will be difficult and laborious you are misled. Revolutions are about people who care enough to challenge the status quo. We are the people; we are the change, and quite frankly we have our work cut out for us. This is going to be hard. But it also must be peaceful. We must use our power of the vote to change our lives for the better.
If you are surrounded no matter which direction you move you are attacking. Neighbors we must move and we must move together. The interests allied against us will push back as they realize a loss of influence but we cant simply “stand by” any longer. I am a lover of movie quotes and one of my favorites comes from Benjamin Martin in The Patriot. “I have done nothing and for that I am ashamed”. Frankly neighbors I am ashamed, and you should be too, for we have been silent for too long. We must shake off the shame and organize together for the good of each other and our country. Merril Hess in Signs said, “It felt wrong not to swing”. In today’s political climate doesn’t it feel wrong not to swing? Isn’t it time we swung for the fences?
Friends, Neighbors, fellow Americans you are not alone. There are hundreds of millions, 126+ million, of us. It seems abundantly clear that The Middle, where we live, is the majority. It’s time we started acting like it. Please join with your neighbors in revolutionizing our political process and regain the influence and power we ceded to those whose interests lie elsewhere. Happy 4th of July neighbors and remember you are not alone
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