Letter: No Kings rally about love for American values
I just returned from a No Kings rally, and I am cheered by the enthusiasm of all the participants who care enough about their state and their country to stand up for them. I was saddened to hear Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, along with numerous Republicans, state that those who protest the current administration “hate our country.” Apparently, Mr. Johnson and his cohorts do not even know what democracy is.
The American Revolution began as a protest against a king. We have had 250 years of representative democracy with the freedom to speak openly and criticize the government, central to its foundation and continuation.
Prior to that, most of our ancestors lived in autocracies of one kind or another, some benevolent; others much less inclined to protect individual liberty. Our current form of government is a legacy of earlier civilizations – the Greeks, the Romans, tribal societies – who recognized that almost every issue that arises in a civil society will have a division of opinion on how it should be handled. Democracy has allowed citizens to have their opinions carried out at least some of the time and helped to ensure that there is always the opportunity for changing leadership in order to represent the will of the majority. It also creates a check on the lust for power inherent in autocracy.
Democracy is messy. Autocracy is inherently more efficient than democracy. As we have seen in many of our neighbors’ regimes, it is a lot easier to tell people what they have to do than to get them to agree on what needs to be done. But inevitably, power corrupts, as autocrats demand more and more. Our democracy, with its built-in checks and balances, was designed to prevent this. Unfortunately, these safeguards have been eroded by ceding too much of the people’s power to corporate America, allowing them to use their money to corrupt the political system.
The current administration has exploited this flaw in our system to the maximum extent and is now governing without majority consent. It is on the way to ensuring that it can remain in power despite the will of the people. We are only one or two election cycles away from their turning this into reality.
Those of us who were out here today were here because we love America enough to work for change and to prevent our country from falling into despotism. We love America enough to protect our right to free speech, our right to free education, and our right to openly challenge the existing government. Only with these freedoms can the government “of the people, by the people, and for the people” continue to be a reality.
Sincerely,
Julie Melchior
Ferdinand, Indiana
