America250 and the Three-Step Dance of Democracy
On May 11, we hosted a very special event here in Mason in honor of our country’s major milestone year – 250 years since the original signing of the Declaration of Independence. We invited residents to join us for a community reading of the Declaration of Independence, with readers of all ages. All in attendance had the opportunity to sign a large banner version of the Declaration as well.
We’ve covered a lot of ground over those years, much of it multiple times. We’ve made incredible inventions, built a tremendous amount of wealth, and stayed intact through a devastating Civil War. There’s a lot to celebrate.
As a member of the America250 committee, I had the opportunity to speak at the event. I decided to address something I’m hearing and seeing this year – that some Americans aren’t feeling much like celebrating right now.
I decided to publish my remarks here, as I know this is difficult for many of us. Even if you are all in on America250, I know many are bothered by those who aren’t. I hope you find a new perspective, regardless of how you’re feeling about 250 years as these United States.
You can watch the entire event, including the inspiring reading, here on ICRC-TV’s YouTube channel.
Good evening, and thank you to my colleagues on the America250 Committee for their leadership and vision. Thank you also to our city staff who have done so much of the legwork and logistics for this year’s milestone celebration!
I want to take a moment to acknowledge that some people I know don’t feel much like celebrating right now. And some people I know are really struggling to understand that, even wondering if it’s unpatriotic.
I’d like to suggest a different perspective.
When people genuinely CARE about something or someone, they usually have feelings when things are going well or not so well.
The people who are struggling to celebrate 250 years care deeply about our country, just as much as those of us who are celebrating wholeheartedly.
I would 100 times rather talk with someone who has big negative feelings, than try to make someone care who just doesn’t.
When we don’t care, we don’t feel any kind of way, and when we don’t feel, we don’t DO.
I believe one reason that the US has made it 250 years because her citizens keep caring and keep doing.
As I reflect over the past 250 years, I see a pattern in our history that mimics the whole human story. This pattern is like a dance - the most human dance of all. I call it the 3-step and it goes like this: 2 steps forward, 1 step back.
Here in the United States, we’re doing the 3-step dance of democracy. We need to reflect on all that we’ve learned along the way, in those steps forward and the steps back, to ensure that we continue to exist as one for another 250 years.
It’s possible to hold these two truths at the same time: that 250 years of striving to be a democratic republic of the people, by the people, and for the people is worth celebrating AND that the United States hasn’t always lived up to her ideals (and is falling short of them for some of her people right now).
I recently listened to a podcast interview with David Frum, a Canadian-American conservative political commentator and a former speechwriter for President George W. Bush. He hosts a podcast with the tagline, “To defend democracy, one has to believe in it. To believe in democracy, one has to understand it.”
If democracy is a belief, or a faith of sorts, and we need to understand to believe and defend, then what is democracy, besides being this thing we do here in the US? Frum’s answer is NOT that democracy is built on the belief that the individual has good ideas. “The individual is foolish, …the species is wise,” (Edmund Burke in writings on the French Revolution in 1790).
Instead, Frum contends that democracy is built on the concept of self-defense - that the individual has a right not to be stepped on, exploited, or dominated. He says, “Democracy is a doctrine of protecting the interests of the many against the capabilities of the few by giving them a vote as a weapon of self-defense against the few.”
In the US, we defend democracy and defend ourselves against exploitation and domination through the collective wisdom of our votes. The results are far more sound than the individual opinions of any single one of us, no matter how intelligent.
What’s amazing to me, is that when the founding fathers wrote the Declaration of Independence, we weren’t a democracy yet. They didn’t use the word democracy. But they clearly believed in this doctrine of the collective wisdom of the many (the colonists) and protecting the individual from domination by a few (the King of Britain). ”Governments… derive their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
This reflection is where I find hope and inspiration to celebrate.
For our 250 years as these United States, we’ve been in this 3-step dance of Democracy as we strive for our ideals of liberty and justice for all. Even though we’ve taken plenty of steps back, we have made real progress. After all, if I or any other woman in this building was living in 1776, we couldn’t hold private property, have our own bank account, or vote, and I couldn’t serve this community as an elected official. Nor could our Black American friends and neighbors.
Today (for now), all US citizens have the right to vote - that greatest of weapons of self-defense against being dominated by the few.
For 250 years, we have worked towards our ideals as a democratic republic. While today, some may feel that things are not great (at least, not for all), we are still the United States. And right here in Mason Ohio, we have the opportunity to defend democracy by building our community, connecting with each other, taking care of each other, and working together towards our shared purpose.
We thank you for joining us this evening and I hope you will continue to participate in the events and activities planned throughout this year. We will keep reflecting upon and learning from our past, and we will encourage each other to imagine what the next 250 years look like for our community.
In closing, I would like to challenge you to help us a reach a special goal this year: having every home and business in Mason display an American flag.
Display the Flag
I would like to challenge you to help us a reach a special goal this year: having every home and business in Mason display an American flag. Let me know if you’d like one - I have plenty!
