Weekly Opinion Editorial
by Steve Fair
On Saturday protesters across the United
States took to the streets to demonstrate against Trump administration policy. Dubbed the ‘No Kings’ protest, over 2,000
cities across the country had people waving signs showing their displeasure with
‘authoritarian overreach and billionaire influence in the U.S. government.’ The No
Kings movement claims to be concerned about the erosion of democratic values
and believe the power should reside with the people and not a singular
authority. Most Americans would agree
with that. No Kings claim America has
become an oligarchy (government controlled by a small group) or a plutocracy
(government controlled by the wealthy).
Estimates
of the total number of No Kings protesters ranged from 500,000 to 5,000,000
nationwide. There were a couple of cities
where acts of violence broke out, but overall, the protests were peaceful. Three observations:
First,
America is not a pure democracy. It
never has been. In a pure democracy,
citizens directly participate in making laws and other decisions. For example, in ancient Athens, citizens gathered
to vote on policies directly. That is
impractical for large populations and susceptible to a tyranny of the majority-
mob rule. America is a democratic republic-a
constitutional republic. Citizens vote
for representatives to govern them (make and enforce laws), according to the Constitution. America is ruled by those that show up at the
polls.
Second, the
use of executive orders (EO) is excessive.
Using EOs to govern does bear a striking resemblance to a monarchy. Presidents are using EOs more because of a
lack of collaboration/cooperation within the legislative branch. If they don’t use them, America is governed
by bureaucrats within federal agencies.
EOs are
directives issued by the president to manage the operation of the federal
government. Because an EO offers a
quicker and more certain path to implementation, presidents often have chosen
to circumvent Congress rather than wrangle with stubborn lawmakers. EOs use rises during periods of political
polarization and gridlock. The ‘No Kings’
movement has been critical of Trump’s use of EOs, but were eerily silent when
Biden used the same tool while in the Oval Office. Overuse of EOs is bi-partisan, but don’t
expect it to change overnight. The
polarization of America is reflected in their elected officials and Congress
can’t agree on what direction the sun comes up.
Third, consolidation
of political power is real. Because less
and less Americans pay attention to their government (at all levels), special
interests- on both ends of the political spectrum- get their lackey/ flunky elected and dictate how they will act/vote. Constituents they represent are ignored and only
campaign donors are heeded. Special
interests then fire up the public with clever marketing and exaggerated caricatured
claims to make sure the subservient puppet elected official stays in office. Like a firebrand evangelist, they preach hell
hot for those who disagree with their political philosophy. Citizens who dare to not engage in political ‘group
think,’ are routinely branded unpatriotic, establishment, irrelevant and ignorant
by friends and family. Partisans condemn
everything their political enemy does and affirm everything their standard-bearer
espouses and practice blind loyalty.
Until there
is a decentralization of political thought and more critical thinking by the
average voter, expect more the same polarizing environment, resulting in more
EOs and a mimic monarchy.
America has
never been a democracy, so no one day stunt will ‘restore democracy.’ But all Americans should be concerned about
the consolidation of power in the country.
They should recognize continuing down this uncivil path of destruction threatens
our way of life. In America, a person should
be able to disagree with the mob without being burned at the stake.
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