Cinderella’s Castle is now Under Water

People around the world are aware that the earth’s fragility is being tested, and with that, the survival of life as we know it on the planet is at risk. We can agree there is a limited amount of time to stabilize this crisis, it is now impossible to reverse it. We can agree, our global system of economics is largely based on consumerism, meaning that for the economy to grow we need more and more people. Over population is most certainly part of the problem and we cannot “birth” ourselves out of economic troubles forever. Nearly 8 billion people on the planet is taking a toll that even the most optimistic cannot ignore.

What has become more obvious over the last few days, weeks, and months is how fast our democracy is fading away. This is not only true in the United States, but globally. It is however most obvious to those living in Florida. The media has had a special role in this by using moral and ethical equivalence to appear unbiased. Even when it is impossible to make a direct comparison between apples and oranges.

The DeSantis government has moved away from any pretense of operating like a democracy.

The DeSantis government has moved away from any pretense of operating like a democracy. Members of the legislature are no longer a separate and equal branch of government; they are indeed a rubber stamp. They threaten and punish municipalities, individuals, and corporations that do not agree with the governor. Disney is, right now, the worst example of this abuse of power, but it follows the direct attack on the LGBTQ+ community, voting rights, and the violation of most of the 30 articles found in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Ron DeSantis does not act like a representative of the people, nor do members of the Florida legislature. They do not consult with the public; they do not take into account the public’s views. They operate like an autocratic regime, which we have many examples of throughout history. DeSantis is not reinventing the wheel, he is simply doing it with the technology available to him in today’s world, very much like what Putin is doing on a more international scale. 

A governor in a democracy does not decide what books school children will read, he does not determine healthcare for localities, he does not cut local school budgets as punishment. 

A governor in a democracy expands voting rights, he does not restrict them. He does not hurt corporations in the state because of a political disagreement or dehumanize his fellow citizens for political gain. Your vote in Florida is moving to irrelevance, if the governor does not like your decision he will do as he pleases, including disregarding your locally elected officials. 

Other governors are in competition with DeSantis, all aiming for the lowest possible denominator to achieve victory in November and beyond. They are all too happy to threaten the lives of women, the LGBTQ+ populations, political opponents, noncitizen residents, and any corporate-person who gets in their way. This is no longer a nation of “We Hold These Truths to be Self Evident” or “We the People,” but a nation of “you’re with us or against us.”

I remember well the political climate when I worked on Ukrainian independence from the Soviet Union, and the work I did in Egypt and Tunisia during the Arab Spring when they attempted to rid themselves of dictatorships. I remember well the feelings of the people, believing if only for a moment that democracy and human rights were possible. The United States of America was a talisman for these nations, a symbol of all that could be if freedom were gained, and personal dignity respected. Now we sit on the very precipice of losing that for ourselves as our nation supplies Ukraine with weapons it needs to save their democracy.

Like so many Americans I remember vividly the pickup trucks flooding into Kabul after our troops left the city. Flags waving and guns firing into the sky as the Taliban soldiers retook their nation’s capital. It is no longer a simple nightmare where we wonder if that could happen here, it is playing out right in front of us as we go about our lives pretending a lying Kevin McCarthy in Washington, DC, or an abusive use of power in Tallahassee, or a fist pumping United States Senator signaling support to those attempting to stop an election at the US Capital is normal and acceptable in a democracy.

Yet, the media, in its attempt to appear unbiased (for which it gets no credit), continues the charade of moral-equivalence treating Taylor-Green and Bobert as if they were operating within the confines of the US Constitution and not as the insurrectionists they are. 

For nearly 300 years this nation has withstood tests and threats to our democracy and democratic values. We survived McCarthyism, race baiting, The Depression, Civil War, slavery, prejudice against every mass immigration, and more. But today our technology moves faster than ever and the factions it has fostered are more entrenched than at any time in our nation’s history. Each side believes it has the key to saving the country, as Lincoln said, each side prayed to the same God and expected God to be on their side. But as was true then it is true now, a house divided against itself will not stand. It must be all one thing or the other. We will either find the strength to save our democracy or we will become an autocracy with a meaningless Constitution and congratulate ourselves for our attempt at the great experiment of self-government.

Time is not on the side of those who believe in democracy and human rights, but I am certain the vast majority of Americans, when the time comes, will miss them when they are gone.