Democracy Awakening! It's YOU (and me)

Heather Cox Richardson on Saving Democracy

In a different YouTube interview I watched last night, Heather (Cox Richardson), made an off the cuff remark about how many people will read her latest book. I take her to have meant that she is letting go of her work and sending out into the Universe.

Yes, she's a Professor, and a Ph.D., but she's also several years younger than me. I both am in awe of the degree of FLOW she has demonstrated in her "ministry" to the American people. Based on reading her Letters from an American for the last few years, I feel comfortable addressing her by her first name.

From the masterfully written FOREWORD to Democracy Awakening, which I believe to be the most important book/history/message of our moment in US history:

The concept that humans have the right to determine their own fate remains as true today as it was when the Founders put that statement into the Declaration of Independence, a statement so radical that even they did not understand its full implications. It is as true today as it was when FDR and the United States stood firm on it. With today’s increasingly connected global world, that concept is even more important now than it was when our Founders declared that no one had an inherent right to rule over anyone else, that we are all created equal, and that we have a right to consent to our government.

This is a book about how a small group of people have tried to make us believe that our fundamental principles aren’t true. They have made war on American democracy by using language that served their interests, then led us toward authoritarianism by creating a disaffected population and promising to re-create an imagined past where those people could feel important again. As they took control, they falsely claimed they were following the nation’s true and natural laws. This book is also the story of how democracy has persisted throughout our history despite the many attempts to undermine it. It is the story of the American people, especially those whom the powerful have tried to marginalize, who first backed the idea of equality and a government that defended it, and then, throughout history, have fought to expand that definition to create a government that can, once and for all, finally make it real.

Richardson, Heather Cox. Democracy Awakening. Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. 

Our fundamental (or Founding) principles ARE true. We can and we MUST each do the right thing, day after day. That is, to exercise our citizenship responsibilities. As we do so, our right to self-determination in the government of our country will survive.