Tag: Democracy

The Will to Live

Affirmation of life is the spiritual act by which man ceases to live unreflectively and begins to devote himself to his life with reverence in order to raise it to its true value. To affirm life is to deepen, to make more inward, and to exalt the will to live.

Albert Schweitzer

Out of My Life and Thought

Albert Schweitzer became my hero/mentor at an early age. The United Methodist Church library had a copy of a little book, “All Men Are Brothers” by Charlie May Simon. This is a very special book. Follow the link to purchase one of the remaining copies.

This introduction to Schweitzer seized my imagination. To live by one’s own inner thought and develop a life reflecting values you embrace — this has guided me all through my own Earth walk.

When I was in my early 30s, I read Out of My Life and Thought, which is Schweitzer’s memoir of the major events that informed him in his search for an ethical basis for living.

“The most immediate fact of man’s conscientiousness is the assertion ‘I am life that wills to live in the midst of life that wills to live.'”

The quote is found on page 156 in Chapter 13 of the 1990 edition of Out of My Life and Time, published by Henry Holt and Company, Inc.

With this assertion, a person can manifest their destiny. It is the basis from which decisions are made and a person manifests in thought, word and deed the realization of it as they may choose to live it.

Today we need to return, each of us and together as a nation, to affirm the values at the core of our actions, words, and dreams. Americans are challenged to find our true compass: what do we affirm as the ethical basis for our government?

We can then turn to the Declaration of Independence to examine its words, the basis on which it is realized: “We hold these truths as self evident that all men are created equal….”

But I would add that its time to embrace all life on earth as living relatives without which humankind cannot live. “I am life that wills to live in the midst of life that wills to live.”

To Govern Ourselves

Fundamentally grounded in values, ethics are a moral sense of right and wrong. Ethics are demonstrated through one’s actions in everyday life; when a person cares about someone or something, their conduct conveys that care and respect, inviting the same in return. Ethics direct all members of a community to treat one another with respect for the common good. ~ The Land Ethic essay by Aldo Leopold.

As I learn more about the writing of our Constitution, it is clear to me that at least a few Founders, if not all, adhered to moral and political philosophies from classic literature to John Locke. To read from these foundational documents, is a window into the quality of education and personal pursuit of truth and morality that defined these men. Our Founders dared to establish a nation based on the belief that all people are have equal rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. They also believed that societies are capable of governing themselves without the need for a King or despot to control them.

However, to live in such a manner, communities function best when there are ethics and processes by which individuals can strive to become their best self.

In the Declaration of Independence, these words encompass centuries of human understanding about an ethical basis for living your life. John Adams in particular understood Happiness to mean the freedom to pursue a life of learning to understand and practice our moral obligations to each other.

Aldo Leopold, centuries later, would broaden the Declaration to include the ecology of the Earth in his essay, “The Land Ethic.”

A Land Ethic®. expands the definition of “community” to include not only humans, but all of the other parts of the Earth, as well: soils, waters, plants, and animals – “the land”. In a Land Ethic®, the relationships between people and land are intertwined; care for people cannot be separated from care for the land. Thus, a Land Ethic® is a moral code of conduct that stems from these interconnected caring relationship. Aldo Leopold

Today’s post bringing the Declaration of Independence together with The Land Ethic is my way of pausing to reflect on the turmoil created by persons in power who follow no true ethic in governing America in 2025. There is no moral code or ethical basis in hurting citizens or the community of living beings that make our lives possible in the first place.

What is our moral and ethical basis for living in contemporary America?

[Next post will consider how Albert Schweitzer discovered the ethical basis for living.]

Militarization Against Freedom Loving Americans

The Constitution of the United States of America was written and approved by a body of men representing people whose life experience had been lived in the shadow of monarchies and despots of Europe who had ruled for millennia.

These men created a form of government, a republic, that is democratic and representational. It’s organizing principle is the “separation of powers.”

The separation of powers distributes legal authority among three core function of governance: 1) legislative; 3) executive; 4) judicial. This is the backbone of our form of democracy that specifically addresses the experience and fear of our Founders that the executive could become vested with too much power.

In June of 2025 the American government has rested power from the legislature and challenges the Supreme Court for ever greater executive power under Donald J. Trump. He openly defies the laws set forth in the Constitution.

The MAGA movement, MAGA Republicans (a right-wing Christian Nationalism movement) masquerading as the Grand Old Republican Party, bows to Trump and follows his every wish. These then are enemies of democracy in power in Washington and across Republican states.

Since taking office in January of 2025, and through hundreds of Executive Orders, Trump and his administration are openly defying the Constitution. The American public, including many people who voted for this president, are waking up to the daily assaults on our freedoms and exercise of justice under the law. Our rights as citizens are being eroded by this steady chipping away at the principles of justice and fairness that have been the bulwark of our constitutional form of governance.

On top of this is a president who does not know history, law, or the long held democratic norms of behavior established through 250 years of democratic governance and public life. Democratic values are under assault under his autocratic behavior and intent.

So tomorrow on Flag Day, a celebration of the establishment of the U.S. Army and the hallowed flag of America, a massive military parade with tanks and guns will fill the streets of our capitol with the self- appointed king in tow.

Join millions of freedom loving Americans turning out across our nation to celebrate No Kings Day – a peaceful demonstration by Americans who love democracy and will stand strong to prevent its demise at the hands of a would-be emperor. Maybe then you’ll notice, his intent is naked before us.

Hans Christian Anderson Parable: https://medium.com/@mattimore/parable-the-emperor-has-no-clothes-ace63fef6eb8

Learn more about “The Emperor’s New Clothes” original parable published in “The Little Mermaid” in 1837. It was a tale about a vain emperor exposed by his subjects.

Certain About Democracy

“In the final analysis, a democratic government represents the sum total of the courage and the integrity of its individuals. It cannot be better than they are.” – Eleanor Roosevelt 

I love this quote by Eleanor Roosevelt for its wisdom and emphasis that our government, our democracy, is no better and no worse than each of us.

My parents, born during the Depression, taught their daughters that being in a democracy requires us to do our part in exercising the rights of citizens. They were always engaged in voting, reading history and political analysis. Wherever we lived (we moved frequently as a military family), my parents joined a church community, showed up at PTA and school functions, and loved engaging with neighbors. Of course there was a web of relationships because TV was just three major channels, and Americans on the whole shared similar beliefs about democracy no matter their declared political party.

True Story: My great grandfather on my Dad’s side of the family tree was Andrew Jackson Feathers. He was a small farmer in East Tennessee and, according to Dad, a real raconteur of his village (Watauga). My Dad as a young boy accompanied Andy Jackson on his horse drawn wagon filled with fresh produce from his farm. They would stop at small markets in the hollers and hills in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. At each stop, there would be an ongoing discussion among locals about politics, economics and news of the day. Dad was an active listener and adopted the habit of engagement in his time and government.

Gatherings were common in my family. We entertained ourselves with lively discussions.

We need to think clearly about the elements of our current social structure on the family to federal levels. What was working in a time when we shared the basic beliefs about democratic governance sans party considerations?

It’s easy to grow sentimental about the “good old days” which of course were not good for many Americans. But, I think there was something very wholesome about America when we actually all agreed that democracy was a precious thing worthy of protection and the exercise of its basic principles.

National Constitution Center is a great source of civic education!

Dismantling: America’s fate?

“A sound nation is built of individuals sound in body and mind and spirit. Government dares not ignore the individual citizen.” ~ Dwight Eisenhower, Address at a Rally in the Public Square, Cleveland, Ohio, 10/1/56 [AUDIO] Eisenhower Library

Senator Chris Murphy addresses the assault on three pillars of our democracy: 1) a free press; 2) university freedom of speech; 3) intimidation of lawyers.

19 minutes: The Best 19 you’ll spend today. Sen. Murphy defines The Moment.

Share this address far and wide. Everything we hold dear is on the block.

Dreaming a New World

Below is the dedication of my first novel, Threshold, in which I give credit to my grandparents for sparking the idea to write a novel of hope and possibilities.

Dedication of the Novel Building Air CastlesDownload

Cracks in the Pillars of Democracy

Three of the seven pillars of democracy laid out in the Democracy Playbook 2025—protect elections, defend rule of law, and fight corruption—have been put under acute stress by the actions of the new Trump administration. ~ Jonathan Katz and Eric Urby, February 13, 2025 https://www.brookings.edu/articles/dangerous-cracks-in-us-democracy-pillars/

Let’s be frank. These are dangerous times for our American Democracy. Every day we witness more direct attacks on the guardrails put in place by the Founders in the Constitution. The project of democratic governance has been the labor of citizens, elected representatives, institutions and the government for all years since that founding and ratification in 1787.

Until now.

Will we stand up? Will democracy prevail through its greatest threat?

Check out the Brookings analysis with excellent references to check out.

The Great Seal of the United State of America

The Will to Save Democracy

First, we must recognize the danger of this moment in history of the United States of America. I can think of no one better than Timothy Snyder, a Yale Professor recognized as one of our most effective voices on how democracies can die and how citizens can act to prevent it, to guide us in this moment. Dr. Snyder wrote On Tyranny and On Freedom – two small, powerful books with razor sharp vision of how democracy should act and how to spot its demise. Please check out his audio address from Ukraine on his “Thinking About” Substack account, linked below.

Crossing a Line.

Read my recent Letter to U.S. Representative Jen A Kiggans. Hope you will write your representatives as well and call out all that we citizens see and know and remind them that the People run the government.

Ltr to Congresswoman Jen A. Kiggans_2-19-25Download
Photo by Susan Feathers