2022
1776
We the People of the United States…promote the general Welfare… (Preamble to the Constitution)
Do We the People of the United States…promote the general welfareof our country as stated in the Preamble to the Constitution? Far too many of us do not. Far too many of us cannot distinguish between what is right for We the People and Me the Individual. I believe that when the Founding Fathers referred to promoting the general welfare they were talking about the common good of the people. As of 2022, We the People of the United States should be pretty much in agreement that there are two overwhelming issues that we are facing nationally and globally now and for many years into the future: epidemics and climate change. Instead, we are mired down in fighting and bickering and basically ignoring the big picture for the sake of a lot of small pictures. We can’t seem to sort out the distinctions between truths, lies, facts and opinions. We can’t seem to escape partisanship, greed, selfishness, and encouraging and furthering polarization. We have the reds vs. the blues, the conservatives vs. the liberals, and the Democrats vs. the Republicans. We have a mess. We no longer know what it means to compromise. We can’t have a productive discussion with each other because we don’t want to give an inch. The other side is wrong, our side is right. End of story.
What we seem to be ignoring is that We the People means everyone. We are all people; we are all human beings and human beings need to survive to continue to perpetuate the species, Homo sapiens. This is no different than every other species that has lived or is now living on Earth. Instead, we act as if we are more intent on experiencing a very painful and agonizingly slow extinction of our species rather than our species perpetuity into a hopefully better future.
Why is this happening? I believe that Me the Individual has gradually and steadily replaced We the People. It seems to me that post-WW II was the turning point in that shift from We to Me. During the 1930s and 1940s, We the People knew the meaning of the word, sacrifice. We gave up many things, including our lives. We the People knew the meaning of the word altruism and the rejection of selfishness.
Today, a significant portion of our society believe that wearing masks and getting vaccinated are ridiculous sacrifices for a truly deadly disease, instead they believe they are an infringement on our individual rights, that they are an inconvenience, that they are a lie. It doesn’t make any difference to that portion that they are being responsible for the deaths of innocent victims, their fellow citizens. Me the Individual is more important than We the People.
It is almost 2022. We are long overdue for a National New Year’s Resolution. We are not the country we were in 1776. I don’t believe Old Glory can symbolize both the 1776 version and the 2022 version and allow us to succeed as a nation and to succeed as a democracy. We need to decide which version it will be. Is it going to be Me or is it going to be We, What’s It Gonna Be?
One of your best commentaries. Have you submitted it as a guest opinion anywhere?
I listened to Preet Bharara interview Adam Schiff on his podcast. We’re in really rough times for our democracy. The 2024 election will be a line in the sand – the big experiment (American democracy) may be over.
My Right dammit! Looking out for No. 1– 🙁
“Freedom” (hah) Everybody (gets) to look out for their own No. 1
🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁
Looking out for every 1–results in true freedom for all
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Gotta agree with this one, Dave. Seems like most of the bad stuff in life–individual or civic–boils down to selfishness of some kind. The good stuff if more often “we” thinking.
Brother Bruce,
I’m disturbed by your comment. I thought you agreed with EVERYTHING I wrote! No Christmas for you, Bro. Look for coal in your stocking from Bro Dave. I’ve already contacted the elves.
Thanks. Where would you suggest submitting it?
Mary, I hope to read Schiff’s new book, “Midnight in Washington.” From an interview with Terry Gross, I believe, he seems to have his finger on the political pulse of this country.