The Declaration of Independence opened the way for the experiment of a republic with a representative democracy that once again faces an existential crisis that can only be resolved with electoral participation. There is no other way out.
Our country faces, as it did in the past, a profound challenge that questions the foundations on which the governing institutions are based. It is a generational challenge that requires a total commitment to the values of a democracy where the agenda of the majority of voters prevails.
Opinion polls show a discontent among the majority of Americans as a result of the deterioration of the intolerant political civil discourse, of the ineffectiveness of the federal Congress and a Supreme Court of Justice that, far from reality, wants to return to the past with unpopular and incomprehensible rulings.
A large part of the problem is the permanence of a relic like the Electoral College that allows the election of a president who lost in the majority of the votes. There are countries, like Argentina, that based their institutions on the US but later left the Electoral College for recognizing its dangers. The one that allowed the election of presidents in 2000 and 2016 by a minority, who later appointed judges for life with an agenda rejected at the polls by the majority of voters.
The division that exists in society today has been compared to the period prior to the Civil War of 1861. The country is divided in its values that guide policies from social to educational, economic and environmental.
Our nation has become the Disunited States of America.
The challenge is immense to channel the course. The good thing is that we have at hand the elements to do it. It is the vote and much more.
The only way to stop the ultra-conservative avalanche is to participate in all instances of democracy. Each vote is a battlefield for the ideas and values of respect, tolerance and humanity. The intolerance of today’s Republicans must not be left free field.
In all elections, from the members of a school board to the President, through local and state authorities, the present and future of each community. The federal government and even less the High Court cannot be expected to repair the injustices against minorities and the rights of the individual.
We must participate in democracy. Encourage and inform family, friends and relatives of the importance today of voting for a politician who unambiguously protects the rights and freedoms of all Americans.
It is essential that Democrats have control of the state legislatures, Congress and the White House so that tolerance returns and the judges look at the present with their rulings. It is a fair purpose for this July 4th.