A Declaration for a Second Reconstruction

This is a first try at a statement of objectives for a new US government. I have modeled it on the Declaration of Independence and Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s “Four Freedoms” speech. It is about 1250 words, set in general terms. Lists of specific policies can be appended, and I’ll do later posts on what they might include. This is a basis for thinking about those policies and how they might fit together. A document like this can be used in many ways, from behind the scenes to public proclamations. I would like to start a discussion, which I think we need to help us decide on policies and priorities when we take the government back.

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We allowed our practice of democracy to grow rusty, and bad actors took advantage. They stacked the laws so that they could take our money. They are destroying our social safety net – Social Security, healthcare supports, the ability to build walkable cities. They have bought elected officials and intimidated those who cannot be bought. They deploy lies and rumors to divide us so they may rule.

They are restricting the right to vote and putting people outside the rule of law.

They have built a warring state, which ignores law and decency to attack other nations and our own people. They are destroying the public health, education, and scientific foundations that so many built..

Their attacks on immigrants and sexual minorities are unacceptable. If some are not safe in their homes, none are safe.

The Supreme Court has joined the bad actors and supports their cause, ignoring democratic precedent. The lower courts have been more willing to support democracy, but some are corrupted too.

These bad actors are using a person temperamentally inclined to dictatorship along with grotesque interpretations of the Constitution by a corrupt Supreme Court to install autocratic rule. They are using government channels to propagandize the populace.

Equality of People

The Founders declared, within the limits of their worldview, that all people were equal.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Our history since then has shown the wisdom of this view, if we take “men” in its broadest sense – people. People are women and men, of different skin colors, genders, and sexes, of different religions and other preferences, and different levels of education. All people.

No rights shall be abridged on the basis of inborn qualities. Our history shows that this equality must be the basis for other rights. People living in the United States have these rights.

Rights

We live in a community. Rights exist within a community and must be regulated so that all may exercise those rights to their fullest. We need to negotiate conflicts between individuals and groups regarding rights.

Rights do not exist for the individual in isolation. They are the result of continuing negotiations among individuals and groups. Some individuals and groups have tried to redefine rights so that they may impose their preferences on others.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt summarized the Bill of Rights in Four Freedoms. He said that those rights should extend to the rest of the world.

Freedom of speech and expression

Freedom of every person to worship God in their own way

Freedom from want

Freedom from fear

This is a good framework for discussing our current situation with respect to rights.

Freedom of Speech

The words “freedom of speech” have been used to turn this freedom on its head. The phrase is invoked by those who want the right for themselves but not for others. They condemn open discussion for an infringement on their rights, when it is simply others expressing their freedom of speech. Universities have been damaged by claims invoking this freedom. It has been applied to some groups and not others; in fact, some groups have been subject to law enforcement when they were simply exercising their freedom of speech.

The courts must reject spurious claims about freedom of speech, but before that, individuals must commit to freedom of speech for all and reconciling conflicting claims.

Freedom to Worship

The Founders faced a polity of states and individuals with vastly different views of religion. They recognized, from their experience in Europe, that state imposition of religion brings conflict. Their solution was to prohibit a state religion.

Some people want religious rules to cover their lives from cradle to grave. They are free to make that choice but not to impose it on others. For example, laws requiring businesses to be closed on Sundays were once common, but they have largely been abolished because Sunday is not the day of rest for all religions.

Societal pressure can be uncomfortable, and business competition is part of the reason that Sunday closing laws have been abolished. Adherents may feel that this puts them at a disadvantage, but that is not a reason to allow them to dictate their holy day to others. Recently pressure has increased toward a particular Christian interpretation of experience, and government officials have begun using religious language in their official pronouncements.

Those Christians have argued that they must be allowed to make decisions on the basis of their beliefs for other people. Some pharmacists have argued that they should be able to decide which prescriptions to fill. Business owners would like to reward financially people who adhere to lifestyles they prefer.

All of these desires press toward the institutionalization of religion and must end because they amount to imposition of one religion on those who believe otherwise. All religions, and none at all, must have equal standing before the law. None may be made a religion of the government.

Freedom from Want

Every person is due the means to live a healthy and productive life. The government must make available shelter, food, and healthcare sufficient to allow people to hold jobs and raise families. The government must prepare to support people during natural disasters.

Roosevelt introduced this freedom, appropriate to a fully industrialized society. But the idea that a community cares for its members is much more ancient. Unmet needs ause conflict in a community.

Roosevelt introduced legislation toward guaranteeing freedom from want, which was expanded by later presidents. The Trump administration has removed many protections. Support for food and housing must be restored and increased. Healthcare must be made available to all.

Freedom from Fear

Roosevelt, looking back to World War I on the eve of World War II, framed this freedom in terms of national wars. But fear comes in other ways as well. Internal police forces are terrorizing the population. Fear has been used to prevent people from voting. Elected officials have used fear to motivate their acquisition of power. Fear drives people to acquire firearms, which then cause fear in schoolchildren and their parents, along with anyone who might be the target of a crazed gunman. People fear medical emergencies, both for their disabling effect and for the financial disaster they can incur.

War remains a fear, and nuclear weapons increase that fear. Global commerce can cause fear of losing jobs. We can hardly bear to speak of the fear of climate change, now becoming obvious.

All of these fears must be addressed. Police forces must be made to be servants of the people. Voting must be open to all. Elected officials who misuse their power must be removed. The tyranny of guns must end. Medical care must be available to all.

Foreign policy has been upended. The United States must take assertive measures to assure other nations that it will act responsibly toward them. The nuclear weapons states promised in the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to work toward eliminating nuclear weapons. It is time to act on that. The science of climate change must be restored, and policies must be installed to reduce and eliminate carbon dioxide emissions. In all these areas, the United States lives in community with other nations and must act that way.

The nation has been most prosperous when it has been generous and welcoming. We can do it again.