“The future is not yet written.” Heather Cox Richardson
Many of you know who historian Heather Cox Richardson is. Some of you are familiar with Timothy Snyder, who is a professor at the University of Toronto and author of such best-selling books as “On Freedom” and “On Tyranny.” Snyder has spent much of his life researching and understanding what it means and what it takes to be a free people. In March there was an excellent conversation between Cox Richardson and Synder (on YouTube) where they talked about democracy and freedom.
Snyder had some amazing things to say that have really stuck with me. He said that in order to be free we need to collaborate; as individuals alone we are not free. When we collaborate, we can create a government and society that serves “We the People.” That feels lost right now. People in general have come to feel that their votes and voices do not matter. Some have felt that they never did. Many people choose not to vote, or don’t know how, or believe it is useless, or right now are too scared to do so. This is where we come in.
When the “founding fathers” developed the Declaration of Independence and US Constitution, they based their framework on landowning, and therefore wealthy white men. They may have stated that the revolution was based on the “inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” but this has never applied to everyone in the country. Of course, the structure of society was very different then. But our democracy and structure of our government has not changed to fit our current society. “In order to form a more perfect union” means that “We the People” need to participate. Everyone needs to have a voice. It doesn’t matter whether you consider yourself blue, or red, or none of these. This is the moment that we can say, as we have all been taught, that human rights—all human rights—need to be at the core of who we are. They need to guide everything we do. Everyone deserves an equal voice. Democracy is a participatory sport, not one watched from the bench. Everyone deserves respect, everyone deserves safety, equal opportunity, equal treatment under the law. Everything laid out in our Bill of Rights.
Our first step in returning our government to the people is in encouraging and helping every citizen to vote. Every citizen. We all have a right to our personal and political beliefs, and the right to express them when we vote. If we want to change the way our government functions, this is step one. That’s why we are here: because we believe in democracy. If we don’t defend it, and do so with enthusiasm and hope, no one will.
HopTonka Elections are for Everyone 