fbpx
  • Latest
  • Trending
Peaceful Revolution Is The Moral Imperative Of Every American

Peaceful Revolution Is The Moral Imperative Of Every American

4 months ago
Restoring Pride In The Stars And Stripes

Restoring Pride In The Stars And Stripes

15 hours ago
Who Are The Oath Keepers And What Are They Doing In New Jersey?

Who Are The Oath Keepers And What Are They Doing In New Jersey?

1 week ago
A Bridge Too Far

A Bridge Too Far

1 week ago
Objective Journalism Does Not Entail Telling Both Sides

Objective Journalism Does Not Entail Telling Both Sides

1 week ago
New Jersey Organizations Demand Strong Response To Insurrectionists

New Jersey Organizations Demand
Strong Response To Insurrectionists

1 week ago
We Need Amy Kennedy Now

An Open Letter To Congressman Van Drew

1 week ago
“This Political Climate Got My Brother Killed”: Officer Brian Sicknick Died Defending the Capitol. His Family Waits for Answers.

“This Political Climate Got My Brother Killed”: Officer Brian Sicknick Died Defending the Capitol. His Family Waits for Answers.

1 week ago
Florida Man Who Went Viral For Stealing Podium Identified

Florida Man Who Went Viral For Stealing Podium Identified

2 weeks ago
Donald Trump Must Be Held To Account For His Crimes

Donald Trump Must Be Held
To Account For His Crimes

2 weeks ago
All Our Sons

All Our Sons

2 weeks ago
It’s Not Enough For Joe Biden To Simply Be Human

It’s Not Enough For Joe Biden
To Simply Be Human

1 month ago
We Have To Stop Trusting Our Leaders To Do The Right Thing

We Have To Stop Trusting Our Leaders To Do The Right Thing

1 month ago
  • About
  • Privacy
  • Donate
  • Contact
  • Login
  • Register
The Standard
  • Home
    • All
    • Business
    • Culture
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
    • Immigration
    • Justice
    • Letters
    • Media
    • Military
    • National
    • Opinion
    • Politics
    • Satire
    • Sports
    • Uncategorized
    • World
    Restoring Pride In The Stars And Stripes

    Restoring Pride In The Stars And Stripes

    Who Are The Oath Keepers And What Are They Doing In New Jersey?

    Who Are The Oath Keepers And What Are They Doing In New Jersey?

    A Bridge Too Far

    A Bridge Too Far

    Objective Journalism Does Not Entail Telling Both Sides

    Objective Journalism Does Not Entail Telling Both Sides

    New Jersey Organizations Demand Strong Response To Insurrectionists

    New Jersey Organizations Demand
    Strong Response To Insurrectionists

    We Need Amy Kennedy Now

    An Open Letter To Congressman Van Drew

    “This Political Climate Got My Brother Killed”: Officer Brian Sicknick Died Defending the Capitol. His Family Waits for Answers.

    “This Political Climate Got My Brother Killed”: Officer Brian Sicknick Died Defending the Capitol. His Family Waits for Answers.

    Florida Man Who Went Viral For Stealing Podium Identified

    Florida Man Who Went Viral For Stealing Podium Identified

    Donald Trump Must Be Held To Account For His Crimes

    Donald Trump Must Be Held
    To Account For His Crimes

    Trending Tags

    • Politics
      Restoring Pride In The Stars And Stripes

      Restoring Pride In The Stars And Stripes

      Who Are The Oath Keepers And What Are They Doing In New Jersey?

      Who Are The Oath Keepers And What Are They Doing In New Jersey?

      A Bridge Too Far

      A Bridge Too Far

      New Jersey Organizations Demand Strong Response To Insurrectionists

      New Jersey Organizations Demand
      Strong Response To Insurrectionists

      We Need Amy Kennedy Now

      An Open Letter To Congressman Van Drew

      Florida Man Who Went Viral For Stealing Podium Identified

      Florida Man Who Went Viral For Stealing Podium Identified

      Donald Trump Must Be Held To Account For His Crimes

      Donald Trump Must Be Held
      To Account For His Crimes

      All Our Sons

      All Our Sons

      It’s Not Enough For Joe Biden To Simply Be Human

      It’s Not Enough For Joe Biden
      To Simply Be Human

      We Have To Stop Trusting Our Leaders To Do The Right Thing

      We Have To Stop Trusting Our Leaders To Do The Right Thing

      Trending Tags

      • politics
    • Justice
      Who Are The Oath Keepers And What Are They Doing In New Jersey?

      Who Are The Oath Keepers And What Are They Doing In New Jersey?

      “This Political Climate Got My Brother Killed”: Officer Brian Sicknick Died Defending the Capitol. His Family Waits for Answers.

      “This Political Climate Got My Brother Killed”: Officer Brian Sicknick Died Defending the Capitol. His Family Waits for Answers.

      Florida Man Who Went Viral For Stealing Podium Identified

      Florida Man Who Went Viral For Stealing Podium Identified

      Defund The Police Was A Raging Success And Everyone Missed It

      Defund The Police Was A Raging Success And Everyone Missed It

      Non-Violence Isn’t A Just Moral Imperative, It’s A Superior Strategy

      Non-Violence Isn’t A Just Moral Imperative, It’s A Superior Strategy

      The Future Of The Supreme Court

      The Future Of The Supreme Court

      Why We Fight (Part One): The Uphill Battle

      The Fight To Decide Whose Life Matters

      Legalize It

      Legalize It

      A Rational Response To Perpetual Atrocity Is Rage

      A Rational Response To Perpetual Atrocity Is Rage

      Community Concerns Fall On Deaf Ears

      Community Concerns Fall On Deaf Ears

      Trending Tags

      • Justice
    • Culture
      Restoring Pride In The Stars And Stripes

      Restoring Pride In The Stars And Stripes

      The Godless Piety Of American Idealism As Reality Television

      The Godless Piety Of American Idealism As Reality Television

      Why We Can’t Talk About It

      Why We Can’t Talk About It

      Defund The Police Was A Raging Success And Everyone Missed It

      Defund The Police Was A Raging Success And Everyone Missed It

      Why We Can’t Be Friends

      Why We Can’t Be Friends

      Arguing With Idiots

      The Weight Of Empathy

      The Problem With White Men

      The Problem With White Men

      A Walking Hard-On

      A Walking Hard-On

      One Conspiracy Theory To Rule Them All

      One Conspiracy Theory To Rule Them All

      Trending Tags

      • Satire

        Arguing With Idiots

        White House Criticizes Bob Woodward For Taking President Seriously

        White House Criticizes Bob Woodward For Taking President Seriously

        Senator Rand Paul Subpoenas Tooth Fairy

        Senator Rand Paul Subpoenas Tooth Fairy

        Mmm Mmm Good

        Mmm Mmm Good

        Trending Tags

        • Education
          Gold, Lies, And Genocide In The New World

          Gold, Lies, And Genocide In The New World

          Social Distancing Fails At Ocean City High School

          Social Distancing Fails At Ocean City High School

          The Covid Kids Are Alright

          The Covid Kids Are Alright

          The Problem With The Pledge Of Allegiance

          The Problem With The Pledge Of Allegiance

          A Boat Full Of Holes

          A Boat Full Of Holes

          Why I Don’t Worry About My Kids Falling Behind

          Why I Don’t Worry About My Kids Falling Behind

          Any Plan To Reopen Schools This Fall Is Irresponsible And Negligent

          Any Plan To Reopen Schools This Fall Is Irresponsible And Negligent

          An Acceptable Loss

          An Acceptable Loss

          Educating Children During Quarantine

          Educating Children During Quarantine

          Thinking Outside The Curriculum

          Thinking Outside The Curriculum

          Trending Tags

          • Education
        • Housing
          Let the Voters Decide

          Cape May’s Untouchables

          The Cost Of Homelessness in Cape May County

          The Cost Of Homelessness in Cape May County

          Who Cares For Cape May County’s Unwanted?

          Who Cares For Cape May County’s Unwanted?

          The Myth Of American Justice: Falling Through The Cracks Part Two

          Falling Through The Cracks: Part One

          Falling Through The Cracks: Part One

          Criminalizing Homelessness

          Criminalizing Homelessness

          We Are The Branches

          We Are The Branches

          Code Blue At The Beach

          Code Blue At The Beach

          In Small-Town America, the Public Housing Crisis Nobody’s Talking About

          In Small-Town America, the Public Housing Crisis Nobody’s Talking About

        • Health
          It’s Going To Get Worse

          It’s Going To Get Worse

          Trump’s October Surprise

          Trump’s October Surprise

          Social Distancing Fails At Ocean City High School

          Social Distancing Fails At Ocean City High School

          A Boat Full Of Holes

          A Boat Full Of Holes

          The Value Of Living This Life

          The Value Of Living This Life

          America’s Battle Fatigue

          America’s Battle Fatigue

          Gov Murphy Announces New Stricter Measures Concerning Social Distancing in New Jersey

          Gov Murphy Announces New Stricter Measures Concerning Social Distancing in New Jersey

          Victoria Manor Coronavirus Outbreak Reports First Fatality

          Victoria Manor Coronavirus Outbreak Reports First Fatality

          The Perils Of Living In Trump Country During A Pandemic

          The Perils Of Living In Trump Country During A Pandemic

          Cape May County Announces Drive-Thru COVID-19 Testing Site for Cape May County Residents

          Cape May County Announces Drive-Thru COVID-19 Testing Site for Cape May County Residents

          Trending Tags

          • Healthcare
        • Opinion
          We Need Amy Kennedy Now

          An Open Letter To Congressman Van Drew

          Donald Trump Must Be Held To Account For His Crimes

          Donald Trump Must Be Held
          To Account For His Crimes

          All Our Sons

          All Our Sons

          It’s Not Enough For Joe Biden To Simply Be Human

          It’s Not Enough For Joe Biden
          To Simply Be Human

          We Have To Stop Trusting Our Leaders To Do The Right Thing

          We Have To Stop Trusting Our Leaders To Do The Right Thing

          The Godless Piety Of American Idealism As Reality Television

          The Godless Piety Of American Idealism As Reality Television

          Why We Can’t Talk About It

          Why We Can’t Talk About It

          Defund The Police Was A Raging Success And Everyone Missed It

          Defund The Police Was A Raging Success And Everyone Missed It

          Why We Can’t Be Friends

          Why We Can’t Be Friends

          Something To Believe In: A Roadmap To Relevance

          Something To Believe In: A Roadmap To Relevance

          Trending Tags

          No Result
          View All Result
          • Home
            • All
            • Business
            • Culture
            • Education
            • Environment
            • Health
            • Housing
            • Immigration
            • Justice
            • Letters
            • Media
            • Military
            • National
            • Opinion
            • Politics
            • Satire
            • Sports
            • Uncategorized
            • World
            Restoring Pride In The Stars And Stripes

            Restoring Pride In The Stars And Stripes

            Who Are The Oath Keepers And What Are They Doing In New Jersey?

            Who Are The Oath Keepers And What Are They Doing In New Jersey?

            A Bridge Too Far

            A Bridge Too Far

            Objective Journalism Does Not Entail Telling Both Sides

            Objective Journalism Does Not Entail Telling Both Sides

            New Jersey Organizations Demand Strong Response To Insurrectionists

            New Jersey Organizations Demand
            Strong Response To Insurrectionists

            We Need Amy Kennedy Now

            An Open Letter To Congressman Van Drew

            “This Political Climate Got My Brother Killed”: Officer Brian Sicknick Died Defending the Capitol. His Family Waits for Answers.

            “This Political Climate Got My Brother Killed”: Officer Brian Sicknick Died Defending the Capitol. His Family Waits for Answers.

            Florida Man Who Went Viral For Stealing Podium Identified

            Florida Man Who Went Viral For Stealing Podium Identified

            Donald Trump Must Be Held To Account For His Crimes

            Donald Trump Must Be Held
            To Account For His Crimes

            Trending Tags

            • Politics
              Restoring Pride In The Stars And Stripes

              Restoring Pride In The Stars And Stripes

              Who Are The Oath Keepers And What Are They Doing In New Jersey?

              Who Are The Oath Keepers And What Are They Doing In New Jersey?

              A Bridge Too Far

              A Bridge Too Far

              New Jersey Organizations Demand Strong Response To Insurrectionists

              New Jersey Organizations Demand
              Strong Response To Insurrectionists

              We Need Amy Kennedy Now

              An Open Letter To Congressman Van Drew

              Florida Man Who Went Viral For Stealing Podium Identified

              Florida Man Who Went Viral For Stealing Podium Identified

              Donald Trump Must Be Held To Account For His Crimes

              Donald Trump Must Be Held
              To Account For His Crimes

              All Our Sons

              All Our Sons

              It’s Not Enough For Joe Biden To Simply Be Human

              It’s Not Enough For Joe Biden
              To Simply Be Human

              We Have To Stop Trusting Our Leaders To Do The Right Thing

              We Have To Stop Trusting Our Leaders To Do The Right Thing

              Trending Tags

              • politics
            • Justice
              Who Are The Oath Keepers And What Are They Doing In New Jersey?

              Who Are The Oath Keepers And What Are They Doing In New Jersey?

              “This Political Climate Got My Brother Killed”: Officer Brian Sicknick Died Defending the Capitol. His Family Waits for Answers.

              “This Political Climate Got My Brother Killed”: Officer Brian Sicknick Died Defending the Capitol. His Family Waits for Answers.

              Florida Man Who Went Viral For Stealing Podium Identified

              Florida Man Who Went Viral For Stealing Podium Identified

              Defund The Police Was A Raging Success And Everyone Missed It

              Defund The Police Was A Raging Success And Everyone Missed It

              Non-Violence Isn’t A Just Moral Imperative, It’s A Superior Strategy

              Non-Violence Isn’t A Just Moral Imperative, It’s A Superior Strategy

              The Future Of The Supreme Court

              The Future Of The Supreme Court

              Why We Fight (Part One): The Uphill Battle

              The Fight To Decide Whose Life Matters

              Legalize It

              Legalize It

              A Rational Response To Perpetual Atrocity Is Rage

              A Rational Response To Perpetual Atrocity Is Rage

              Community Concerns Fall On Deaf Ears

              Community Concerns Fall On Deaf Ears

              Trending Tags

              • Justice
            • Culture
              Restoring Pride In The Stars And Stripes

              Restoring Pride In The Stars And Stripes

              The Godless Piety Of American Idealism As Reality Television

              The Godless Piety Of American Idealism As Reality Television

              Why We Can’t Talk About It

              Why We Can’t Talk About It

              Defund The Police Was A Raging Success And Everyone Missed It

              Defund The Police Was A Raging Success And Everyone Missed It

              Why We Can’t Be Friends

              Why We Can’t Be Friends

              Arguing With Idiots

              The Weight Of Empathy

              The Problem With White Men

              The Problem With White Men

              A Walking Hard-On

              A Walking Hard-On

              One Conspiracy Theory To Rule Them All

              One Conspiracy Theory To Rule Them All

              Trending Tags

              • Satire

                Arguing With Idiots

                White House Criticizes Bob Woodward For Taking President Seriously

                White House Criticizes Bob Woodward For Taking President Seriously

                Senator Rand Paul Subpoenas Tooth Fairy

                Senator Rand Paul Subpoenas Tooth Fairy

                Mmm Mmm Good

                Mmm Mmm Good

                Trending Tags

                • Education
                  Gold, Lies, And Genocide In The New World

                  Gold, Lies, And Genocide In The New World

                  Social Distancing Fails At Ocean City High School

                  Social Distancing Fails At Ocean City High School

                  The Covid Kids Are Alright

                  The Covid Kids Are Alright

                  The Problem With The Pledge Of Allegiance

                  The Problem With The Pledge Of Allegiance

                  A Boat Full Of Holes

                  A Boat Full Of Holes

                  Why I Don’t Worry About My Kids Falling Behind

                  Why I Don’t Worry About My Kids Falling Behind

                  Any Plan To Reopen Schools This Fall Is Irresponsible And Negligent

                  Any Plan To Reopen Schools This Fall Is Irresponsible And Negligent

                  An Acceptable Loss

                  An Acceptable Loss

                  Educating Children During Quarantine

                  Educating Children During Quarantine

                  Thinking Outside The Curriculum

                  Thinking Outside The Curriculum

                  Trending Tags

                  • Education
                • Housing
                  Let the Voters Decide

                  Cape May’s Untouchables

                  The Cost Of Homelessness in Cape May County

                  The Cost Of Homelessness in Cape May County

                  Who Cares For Cape May County’s Unwanted?

                  Who Cares For Cape May County’s Unwanted?

                  The Myth Of American Justice: Falling Through The Cracks Part Two

                  Falling Through The Cracks: Part One

                  Falling Through The Cracks: Part One

                  Criminalizing Homelessness

                  Criminalizing Homelessness

                  We Are The Branches

                  We Are The Branches

                  Code Blue At The Beach

                  Code Blue At The Beach

                  In Small-Town America, the Public Housing Crisis Nobody’s Talking About

                  In Small-Town America, the Public Housing Crisis Nobody’s Talking About

                • Health
                  It’s Going To Get Worse

                  It’s Going To Get Worse

                  Trump’s October Surprise

                  Trump’s October Surprise

                  Social Distancing Fails At Ocean City High School

                  Social Distancing Fails At Ocean City High School

                  A Boat Full Of Holes

                  A Boat Full Of Holes

                  The Value Of Living This Life

                  The Value Of Living This Life

                  America’s Battle Fatigue

                  America’s Battle Fatigue

                  Gov Murphy Announces New Stricter Measures Concerning Social Distancing in New Jersey

                  Gov Murphy Announces New Stricter Measures Concerning Social Distancing in New Jersey

                  Victoria Manor Coronavirus Outbreak Reports First Fatality

                  Victoria Manor Coronavirus Outbreak Reports First Fatality

                  The Perils Of Living In Trump Country During A Pandemic

                  The Perils Of Living In Trump Country During A Pandemic

                  Cape May County Announces Drive-Thru COVID-19 Testing Site for Cape May County Residents

                  Cape May County Announces Drive-Thru COVID-19 Testing Site for Cape May County Residents

                  Trending Tags

                  • Healthcare
                • Opinion
                  We Need Amy Kennedy Now

                  An Open Letter To Congressman Van Drew

                  Donald Trump Must Be Held To Account For His Crimes

                  Donald Trump Must Be Held
                  To Account For His Crimes

                  All Our Sons

                  All Our Sons

                  It’s Not Enough For Joe Biden To Simply Be Human

                  It’s Not Enough For Joe Biden
                  To Simply Be Human

                  We Have To Stop Trusting Our Leaders To Do The Right Thing

                  We Have To Stop Trusting Our Leaders To Do The Right Thing

                  The Godless Piety Of American Idealism As Reality Television

                  The Godless Piety Of American Idealism As Reality Television

                  Why We Can’t Talk About It

                  Why We Can’t Talk About It

                  Defund The Police Was A Raging Success And Everyone Missed It

                  Defund The Police Was A Raging Success And Everyone Missed It

                  Why We Can’t Be Friends

                  Why We Can’t Be Friends

                  Something To Believe In: A Roadmap To Relevance

                  Something To Believe In: A Roadmap To Relevance

                  Trending Tags

                  • About
                  • Privacy
                  • Donate
                  • Contact
                  No Result
                  View All Result
                  The Standard
                  No Result
                  View All Result
                  Home Opinion

                  Peaceful Revolution Is The Moral Imperative Of Every American

                  byDavid Todd McCarty
                  4 months ago
                  inOpinion, Politics
                  Reading Time: 16min read
                  159
                  0
                  Peaceful Revolution Is The Moral Imperative Of Every American

                  Photo by Luke Stackpoole on Unsplash

                  131
                  SHARES
                  184
                  VIEWS
                  Share on FacebookShare on TwitterEmail this story!

                  One man’s idea for how America can finally become the greatest country on earth by doing nothing more than finding the courage to realize the dream.

                  By David Todd McCarty | Monday, September 28, 2020

                  Dalton Trumbo, the great contrarian, infamously blacklisted screenwriter, and defender of the American ideal once said, “Everybody now seems to be talking about democracy. I don’t understand this. As I think of it, democracy isn’t like a Sunday suit to be brought out and worn only for parades. It’s the kind of a life a decent man leads, it’s something to live for and to die for.”

                  The concept of the American ideal of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness—the American Dream of economic opportunity and equal justice under the law—is probably not that different today than from what the founders considered it to be nearly two and a half centuries ago. It was a concept of freedom and opportunity for the few, not the many.

                  That we have been able to expand that concept to be more inclusive over time, is really the great triumph of the American democratic experiment. That we started with a good idea is something. That we were able to evolve it to be so much more, is extraordinary. But somewhere along the way it became corrupted, as all things tend to do over time. It’s no one person’s fault. It happens, like a mutation in our nation’s DNA, with one too many deviations from the original causing unforeseen problems, that if left uncorrected, will destroy us from the inside out.

                  Thomas Jefferson believed in revolution, and foresaw America as a prime example of righteous revolution, one that would likely continue for decades and possibly centuries. It would have probably been inconceivable to him, however, to imagine that the country would have lasted this long without another interceding revolution. In his time, it had been just over a century since King Charles had been led out of his palace and beheaded for treason in front of his subjects. It would have been laughable to imagine the United States lasting as long as it has, without the need to cast off the yoke of oppression.

                  Trumbo also said, “Dishonesty in government is the business of every citizen. It is not enough to do your own job. There’s no particular virtue in that. Democracy isn’t a gift. It’s a responsibility.”

                  This has certainly never been more true than it is right now, but it’s also hardly our first incident. We have seen dark days in America. In fact, an honest accounting of American history would suggest that for some group or another, every day leading up until today, has been rather dark at times. There is no decade that one can look back on and not find a group of people, defined by race, religion, culture, gender or sexual orientation that has not been, or is not currently being, discriminated against in this country.

                  But having the courage to acknowledge our faults, understand our limitations, and admit our failures could make for a powerful country worthy of fighting for. We are a proud nation, but that has not always served us well. Our lack of humility is due in large part to our unbridled success, but everyone thinks they’re invincible until they’re not. In Bill Bryson’s book The Body, he reflects that there are something like 8000 things that can kill you, but in the end, we manage to avoid every one, but one. It only takes one. Harvey Weinstein was too powerful to bring down. AIG was too big to fail. Rome could never fall. These were all clearly, bad assumptions.

                  The Roman Empire lasted for over 1000 years. Great Britain, Spain and the Soviet Union had massive empires that eventually collapsed. Russia is a sad, cold place. England is in chaos. Spain can’t pay its bills. Italy is cute, but not currently ruling over anything more consequential than Parmesan. Nothing lasts forever, as it should be.

                  It’s not inconceivable that America could be brought down. We really are too powerful, both economically and militarily to face any sort of full frontal attack from an outside foe. A quote often incorrectly attributed to Lincoln, but true nonetheless, states, “America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we lose our freedoms it will be because we have destroyed ourselves from within.”

                  Never is a long time, but it’s more than likely that a collapse of the United States would come as a result of our own doing rather than anyone else’s. We are currently in a place where we can’t imagine that happening, and we are probably no where near that point, but we are going down a dangerous path that leads to authoritarianism with a sizable percentage of the population seemingly more than fine to go along with it.

                  For a good portion of the past half century, the Republican Party has been on a mission to ensure that white supremacy was the future of America. They cobbled together a seemingly odd coalition of interest groups, from business leaders to evangelical groups and developed a political ideology that combined conservative, Christian morality with laissez-faire, supply-side economic policies. The strange bedfellows of the adherence to a strict, legalistic code of religious fundamentalism, with the more laissez-faire approach to letting businesses “do whatever they want” was probably more of a marriage of convenience than of true ideological compatibility. Christian theology teaches a value system based on humility, generosity, and love, that leads to taking care of the poor and forsaking personal power and wealth. While the Republican economic theory of trickle down economics is more of a top-down approach to social justice. Get off the backs of the rich, and eventually everyone will be rich. It sounds more realistic when they say it, but not a lot more.

                  Ayn Rand described the theory as “the abolition of any and all forms of government intervention in production and trade, the separation of State and Economics, in the same way and for the same reasons as the separation of Church and State.” Being the atheist that she was, Rand took traditional Christian morality, which adheres to a model selflessness, and she flipped it. She believed that selfishness is a virtue, and the goal of life is to grow and develop as an individual, and that a moral social system supports the rights of the individual above all, not the collective.

                  Republicans in an effort to combine what they saw as the best of both worlds, entered into a compact whereby they concocted the notion that it was God’s plan for them to be wealthy, that selfishness was in fact a form of righteous, and that morality and economic independence were not only connected, but interdependent. They were doing the Lord’s work by not propping up the poor in needy reliance on the state. They were indeed loving the poor by ignoring them.

                  But the true catalyst for the birth of the modern Republican Party in America was the civil rights movement of the 1960’s. Blacks has long been loyal to the Republican Party, the party of Lincoln after all, but were unable to exercise their right to vote. When President Johnson pledged to sign the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Southern Democrat found themselves without a party. Until the Republicans saw the opening they needed. In what became known as the Southern Strategy, as the civil rights movement and dismantling of Jim Crow laws in the 1950s and 1960s deepened existing racial tensions in much of the Southern United States, Republican politicians such as presidential candidate Richard Nixon and Senator Barry Goldwater developed strategies that successfully contributed to the political realignment of many white, conservative voters in the South who had traditionally supported the Democratic Party rather than the Republican Party. It was during this time that the Republican Party was pushed much more to the right. The parties, in many ways, switched ideologies, one becoming the other, largely over the issue of race in America.

                  This is a simplification of a complex history to be sure, but I’m not writing War and Peace here. I’m simply making the case that we have a political party that has operated outside of good faith, in the name of God, to try to turn this country into the playground for the rich on the backs of hard working Americans.

                  This is not freedom for all. It’s not an open opportunity to achieve the American Dream of economic independence. It’s nothing more than a long con by the rich to convince the poor that they are necessary. It’s often difficult to discern who is keeping you down when the person telling you who to be angry with is the one standing on your neck.

                  It’s time for a Second American Revolution.

                  I’m a pacifist, as I believe killing another person is a crime against humanity. I don’t care if you call it war, capital punishment, standing your ground, or community policing. It’s morally and ethically wrong. The only way you can rationalize it as otherwise is to claim some afterlife where things will undoubtedly be better. But what if there is no after? Why am I to take your word for it? If you take away the ultimate thing of value, the spark of life that can never be replaced, you have stolen a thing that cannot be valued. That is immoral and unjustifiable.

                  But that said, I would not be surprised if a Second American Revolution turned to violence. Even India’s struggle with independence against British rule, while nothing like a conventional war, and largely peaceful, was not without violence. We have turned a concept of having militias to protect the country with muskets rather than resorting to a standing army, into a seemingly endless supply of anger and violence with the unprecedented arming of civilians in modern peacetime.

                  I do not advocate violence of any sort, but do support shutting down the country if that’s what it takes. I’d like to see us start with the plethora of legal remedies at our disposal beginning with exercising our right to vote. If we can get enough Americans off their ass, and out from behind their screens long enough to pay attention to the hell we are about to experience, we might be able to turn the tide. Here is my plan. It’s not comprehensive. Hell, it’s not even that well thought out. There are smarter people out there who can work out the details. I’ll leave that up to them. But we need to be thinking like revolutionaries and not frightened politicians.

                  The first thing we need to do is win control of the government. If you want to change the system you really only have two choices. Get inside and change it, or burn it down. For the moment I’m going with Option A, but I reserve the fundamental right to change my mind.

                  We need people of conscience to vote for Democrats. That’s the first step. We need to vote for Democrats, not because they’re so great, or have it all figured out, because they don’t. They’re the best of the worst that we have. Our current system of government is structured to support two political parties and the Democrats are our best choice.

                  Once we control the White House, the Senate and the House of Representatives, that’s just the beginning. Now we have to make the hard decisions necessary to change the government. I’m not talking about reaching across the aisle or any of that happy horseshit. I’m talking about dismantling half a century of racist bullshit. I’m talking about a whole new ballgame.

                  First, you get rid of the filibuster, a civil rights-era political device designed to allow the bigots to block legislation they didn’t like. A simple majority rules in all cases before Congress. End of story.

                  Second, you expand the Supreme Court. The number nine is not magic, or holy, or even Constitutional. It’s entirely arbitrary and set by Congress. It can be one hundred and thirteen if we decide, or three. The purpose should not be to pack the court with people we agree with, but to depoliticize it. We still need a court that the people trust to work shit out for us. There are plenty of opinions and strategies about how best to do this from a rotating body of judges to term limits. We can argue their various merits later. What we will not do is let the Republicans legislate via an activist Conservative Supreme Court long after they’ve lost control of government.

                  Next, you expand the House of Representatives. Congress passed the Apportionment Act of 1911, capping the number of House seats at 435. Arizona, New Mexico, Alaska, and Hawaii were each granted one representative when they first entered the union. The population has tripled since 1911 but we continue to hold the seats at 435. One proposal, called the Wyoming Rule, calls for adding enough members to Congress to reduce the population of the average Congressional district to the population of the least populous state’s smallest district; in 1990, this would have resulted in a total House size of 547. A total of 569 seats would have been required to implement the Wyoming Rule based on the 2000 United States Census results. The fact is, Congress sets the number of seats and this needs to be revisited.

                  The framers of the Constitution created the United States Senate to protect the rights of individual states and safeguard minority opinion in a system of government designed to give greater power to the national government. What this really means is that small states and slave-owning states didn’t want to lose power, so while the House was proportionally representative, the Senate was equally divided, with each state getting two representatives regardless of population. Of course today that means that the voting power of a citizen in Wyoming, the smallest state in terms of population, is about 67 times that of a citizen in the largest state of California, and the disparities among the states are only increasing. That is untenable in a representative democracy where most people are not farmers and ranchers and livestock can’t vote. So let’s change it to allocate one seat to each state automatically to preserve federalism, but apportion the rest based on population.

                  “Start with the total U.S. population, then divide by 100, since that’s the size of the current, more deliberative upper chamber. Next, allocate senators to each state according to their share of the total; 2/100 equals two senators, 3/100 equals three, etc. Update the apportionment every decade according to the official census.

                  “Using 2017 census estimates as a proxy for the official one coming in 2020, the Rule of One Hundred yields the following outcome: 26 states get only one senator (having about 1/100 of the population or less), 12 states stay at two, eight states gain one or two, and the four biggest states gain more than two: California gets 12 total, Texas gets nine, and Florida and New York get six each. This apportionment shows how out of whack the current Senate has become.

                  “In the new allocation, the total number of senators would be 110. The total is more than 100 because 10 of the smallest states have much less than 0.5/100 of the U.S. population but are still entitled to one senator each.”1

                  Next we’re going to write a few other wrongs by making both Washington, DC. and Puerto Rico states. DC has 702,000 residents, more than Vermont and Wyoming and comparable with other states including Delaware, Alaska, and several others. Not to mention that DC residents pay more in total federal income tax than the residents of 22 other states, but have no say over how those tax dollars are spent. Even though all Puerto Ricans are US citizens, the 3.4 million Americans who live in Puerto Rico have fewer constitutional rights than anyone living in the 50 states. Americans on the island can’t vote for president in the general election or elect a voting member of Congress. Both deserve statehood, simply because the people who live there deserve to stop being treated like second-class citizens.

                  That’s basically it for my structural plan, so now we can get to my legislative agenda. 

                  The first thing we need to do is reverse the debacle of Citizens United. This disastrous ruling is a large reason for the complete dysfunction of government today because representatives are no longer beholden to voters, but to their corporate sponsors. I don’t know the details on how best to rectify this, but now that we have reasonable Supreme Court, let’s strike that down while we work on changing all the state laws until buying Congressmen is illegal in all 52 states.

                  As long as we’re really getting rid of the swamp, serious campaign finance reform and near outlawing of corporate lobbying needs to be enacted immediately, shutting off the money pipeline that is corrupting our government. I’m not convinced that term limits need to be considered for Congressmen, because it seems like a life in government that doesn’t pay the exorbitant dividends it does now, will be less attractive to the money grubbing sorts if we remove that incentive.

                  It’s safe to say that in our new America, healthcare will be considered a right. No one should make a profit on whether you live or die. Everyone gets the best healthcare in the world. No health insurance. No profiteering from illness. Period.

                  Reform the tax code. Tax the rich till it hurts. You can be rich, even filthy rich, to a point, but then we’re taking the money. There is no moral reason to rationalize allowing a single person to amass a billion dollars. Seriously. No more fucking around.

                  Reform the insurance industry. (See strategy for reforming the tax code)

                  Cut the military budget in half, at least, to start. Stop going to war to protect foreign investments by multinational corporations that don’t pay taxes. Stop killing people for fun and profit. Fewer people will hate us and want to kill us. In the meantime, apologize to the world for pissing in everyone’s Cheerios.

                  Decriminalize drugs. This has been argued ad nauseam elsewhere, including by me, so just look it up. Prohibition didn’t work. It never worked. It wasn’t even intended to get people not to take drugs. People will get high no matter what you do, but maybe if life doesn’t suck so bad, less people will feel the need.

                  Reform our criminal justice system from how we keep the public safe to how we punish those who break our laws. We don’t need militarized police terrorizing our citizens. We need to completely rethink policing in America. Long prison sentences, except for the very worst cases, don’t do anyone any good. Work on rehabilitation. More education. Less prisons. Stop killing our own people.

                  Outlaw all but a handful of guns. Big buyback programs. Prison time for those who refuse. Send in the Marines if you have to. No more guns. Hunting only. Heavily regulated. Go visit Australia and ask them how to do it. Fuck the 2nd Amendment. Get over it. We’ll make movies about other shit.

                  If you really want to give everyone a better shot at the American Dream start with a first-class education, from nursery school to graduate school. Let’s train the smartest, most creative, most innovative generation ever to come out of one country. If we’d fought one or two less wars in the Middle East, for which we got nothing but a big bill and a bunch of soldiers missing limbs and pieces of their souls, we could have already done this.

                  Build a responsible social safety net that actually cares for Americans by giving them the tools they need to success. Stop thinking about it as welfare and start thinking about it as a way to provide everyone the American Dream.

                  Ok, let’s just get this over with. We never paid for those people we stole from Africa and the interest and penalties have been compounding for about 400 years. It’s a big nut, but we’re going to have to crack it sooner or later. Reparations will need to be comprehensive. Yes they will include some big payouts to individuals, but more importantly they will need to right some serious institutional wrongs. We will need to create a Reparations Commission that will devise a strategy for righting the wrongs of enslaving and oppressing a people for four centuries. They will also operate like a Truth Commission to effectively look back and tell the truth about what was done. It’s not just about payment, it’s about atonement.

                  I don’t think we can afford open borders, but we can afford to help people. We should not choose who gets to come based on what they can do for us today. The story of the American immigrant is what they can become. Let’s celebrate the possibility and welcome the world’s dreamers.

                  I know I’ve left it for last, and it’s not because it’s least important, but while we’re making sure kids can learn to read, their dads aren’t in prison, mom has a job, and no one is trying to shoot us, we need to see what we can do about the planet trying to kill us for what we did to it. Climate change will probably kill us all before we get to see the results of all this, but we have to try. Let use all our money and education to innovate our way out of this mess. It’s too big a problem to distill down to a paragraph in an essay, but we need to all be committed to this.

                  To some of you that probably all sounds like some sort of socialist wet dream. It could never happen in America and is entirely unrealistic, right? More than a dozen countries already operate this way. Why can’t we? We don’t lack the ability. We don’t even lack the will. We simply allowed a few wealthy autocrats to convince us we didn’t deserve any more than they already gave us. We could actually do this. None of this is even unreasonable.

                  Our patriotic duty as Americans demands that every citizen endeavor to realize the original ideal of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all. For all. To cast off any institution, law or tradition, however sacrosanct we once believed it to be, that impedes the moral imperative for a more perfect union.

                  It’s time for a revolution in America. A peaceful one. We really could make America great, but not because we are trying to recapture some elusive past that never existed, but because we finally have the courage to reach for the dream that was presented in the first place.

                  If none of that works, we’ll go to Option B. Burn it down.

                  —

                  P.S. I’m sure I left out all sorts of important shit, and it’s not because I don’t think your issue is important, but because I did not do an exhaustive survey of all Americans before sitting down to write this, in order to figure out what might be important to everyone. It goes without saying that civil liberties are important and that everyone should get a piece of the pie. The rest we can figure out as we go. I’ll edit this as I think about things if need be. It’s not the gospel. I didn’t send it to God to see if could be carved into stone tablets.


                  Follow David Todd McCarty on Twitter @davidtmccarty and The Standard @capemaystandard

                  Footnotes
                  1. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/01/heres-how-fix-senate/579172/[↩]

                  Related

                  Tags: American DreamCongressDemocratsReformRevolutionSupreme Court
                  Previous Post

                  Fixin Things Till They’re Broke

                  Next Post

                  It Doesn’t Matter That Your Trump-Loving Uncle Can’t See That The End Is Nigh

                  Next Post
                  It Doesn’t Matter That Your Trump-Loving Uncle Can’t See That The End Is Nigh

                  It Doesn’t Matter That Your Trump-Loving Uncle Can’t See That The End Is Nigh

                  Meta

                  • Register
                  • Log in
                  • Entries feed
                  • Comments feed
                  • WordPress.org
                  • Trending
                  • Comments
                  • Latest
                  You Are Not Welcome Here

                  You Are Not Welcome Here

                  August 14, 2020
                  Social Distancing Fails At Ocean City High School

                  Social Distancing Fails At Ocean City High School

                  September 9, 2020
                  Trump, Chauncey Gardiner, And America’s Accidental Presidency

                  Trump, Chauncey Gardiner, And America’s Accidental Presidency

                  January 29, 2020
                  It Is Time For Patrician Democracy To End

                  It Is Time For Patrician Democracy To End

                  2
                  Why Do We Resist?

                  Why Do We Resist?

                  2
                  Republicans Have A Casual Relationship With The Truth And No Moral Compass

                  Republicans Have A Casual Relationship With The Truth And No Moral Compass

                  1
                  Restoring Pride In The Stars And Stripes

                  Restoring Pride In The Stars And Stripes

                  January 20, 2021
                  Who Are The Oath Keepers And What Are They Doing In New Jersey?

                  Who Are The Oath Keepers And What Are They Doing In New Jersey?

                  January 13, 2021
                  A Bridge Too Far

                  A Bridge Too Far

                  January 12, 2021

                  ©2019 Hopping Frog Studios, LLC.

                  No Result
                  View All Result
                  • Home
                  • Politics
                  • Justice
                  • Environment
                  • Health
                  • Education
                  • Housing
                  • Business
                  • Culture
                  • Sports
                  • National
                  • Opinion
                  • Login
                  • Sign Up

                  ©2019 Hopping Frog Studios, LLC.

                  Welcome Back!

                  Login to your account below

                  Forgotten Password? Sign Up

                  Create New Account!

                  Fill the forms below to register

                  All fields are required. Log In

                  Retrieve your password

                  Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

                  Log In
                  This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Read More
                  Privacy & Cookies Policy

                  Privacy Overview

                  This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
                  Necessary
                  Always Enabled

                  Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

                  Non-necessary

                  Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.