The Trump era, and particularly January 6, 2021 urgently suggest that we have absolutely no business getting into other countries' business regarding governing with democracy. Our own malpractice of it strongly suggests we have little to teach and much to learn about it.
A significant portion of our own citizenry have a major deficit in their understanding of the workings of our democracy and neglect to hold our lawmakers accountable for protecting our rights as voters and the necessary focus primarily on our needs, wants and rights of us all. This has led to corporate domination of our lawmaking and neglect of us as citizens. It has also led to a crisis in the adoption of authoritarian ruling ideas by the Republican party whose abandonment of principled advocacy of policy ideas to contrast with the Democratic party in favor of manipulation of the system to retain power without majority public support of their ideas on governance.
I do not need to remind my readers of the myriad of Republican actions in recent decades and currently which have badly damaged our Constitutionally guaranteed rights to vote and have our economic and social needs and problems addressed. The Trumpian takeover of the Republican party has resulted in many actions historically attributed to authoritarian fascist regimes, past and present.
Our use of military force as a key instrument in our foreign policy designed to enhance our global economic domination has taught a significant minority of our citizenry that the exercise of force, physical power and intimidation is a preferred way to secure their domination over women, citizens of color, immigrants and those of lesser financial means rather than political bargaining and the refined art of political compromise with the competing party.
Thus the loss of the core method to function in a democracy. Republicans have adopted the practice of blockage of the competing party's programs, legislative proposals and election of those presenting themselves as candidates and officeholders rather than democratically competing for public favor with better ideas, legislation, candidates and officeholders. The latter development is largely a result of Republicans currying favor with corporations and obscenely wealthy citizens and not doing the hard work as public citizens striving for improvement of the common good.
Our historic federal emphasis on military might and foreign military intervention has led to neglect and decay in our commons and common good. Our clearly wasted investment of billions in our failed interventions in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, causing huge dislocations of people from foreign lands have contributed to world instability and resentment of immigrants and neglect of our immigration policies. It has led our citizenry to adopt similar practices of the tools of warfare such as firearms and the use of violence in our policing and settlement of disputes among our citizens, in my opinion.
Yet, we seem to not have learned the lessons of our failure in the use of intimidation, violence and armament might in addressing foreign problems and perceived threats. Our military in the early years of our country was intended to defend our people and land from foreign attack. Early on it was converted to a tool of empire building and our own colonization of foreign entities, the very reason we engaged in our own successful revolution.
America chose military intervention over skillful diplomacy in our foreign affairs post WWII and it has failed miserably.
Now Republicans and fascist Trumpites are choosing intimidation, domination and violence and threats of violence over skillful exercises of democracy and it is doomed to failure, the failure of idealism and our own democracy unless the majority rises up to defend our very important though often flawed pursuit of a more perfect democracy and union.
I want to thank personal and Facebook friend Donna Hackemack Bryant for my use of her American Flag graphic.
