The Great American Experiment is at risk as we near our 250th anniversary. It is a frightening prospect that our proud democracy may crumble before we reach that milestone.
Cruelty has become the new normal. Civility now equals weakness. Suddenly, we are enabling actions that not long ago would have been roundly condemned as the deeds of authoritarians, behavior demonstrated by the world’s most loathsome dictators, certainly never by Americans.
This rapid, intense assault on our nation’s balance of power threatens to destroy the constitutional guardrails created by our Founding Fathers. Patriotic Americans have long sacrificed and compromised to construct a more perfect union, employing civility, fairness, and respect.
Our government now boasts of snatching up thousands of men, women, and children, touting that 100,000 immigrants were deported between late January and early April. Most receive no due process. Many appear to have no criminal records or evidence of gang membership. Some even have legal status. Individuals being held in overcrowded U.S. detention facilities may be the lucky ones. Others are being shipped to brutal foreign prisons and are indefinitely detained.
Some legal immigrants are being urged to self-deport, while others are declared deceased, cutting them off from financial support and benefits for which they qualify.
Cruelty intensifies every day. We see it on 24/7 news feeds: attacks on universities and students coupled with the swift erosion of the teaching of true history, the good and the not-so-good.
Our country’s historical investment in developing highly skilled researchers, creative inventors, and dedicated public servants is crumbling. Talented, seasoned, effective, and knowledgeable leaders are fired indiscriminately or flee before that happens.
Dehumanizing attacks on vulnerable, marginalized populations bear a disturbing resemblance to 1930s Germany and the historical rise of other authoritarian regimes.
If that’s not alarming enough, long-established programs and services, created through compromise and negotiation, now face staff and funding shortfalls or possible dissolution.
This America Only stance is destroying global relationships that have fostered peace, positive international relations, economic prosperity, and stability, especially for the United States.
Floridians for Democracy was formed in early 2023 to focus on preserving hard-earned freedoms being taken away by our state. We are now witnessing our nation’s elected (and unelected) leaders trampling our Constitution, ignoring court orders, and using power, retribution, fear, and control to define who we are.
Cruelty should not be the foundation of leadership we want for our children and grandchildren. We must disagree peacefully and vigorously by using our voices and our actions.
Civility is a powerful tool, one that’s critical to protecting this 249-year-old American Experiment. Failure means our cherished democracy could rapidly disappear beneath the iron fist of an autocratic or fascist regime. It can happen here if we fail to act.
It is up to each of us to prevent this from happening. We must not be complacent and expect others to speak for us. The time is now to voice our concerns and indignation before our voices are quashed. We cannot remain silent.
Jim Nathan of Fort Myers is a co-founder of Floridians for Democracy, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to helping preserve and protect democracy.