This is why I am very concerned about our democracy

In 1972 I was a student at George Washington University. That was the year of a presidential election. Richard Nixon won the election. Our student population was very concerned. One night at the very Republican F Street club, there was a celebration. Bob Hope was the headliner. He came out front and performed for a largely democratic student population and hor d’oeuvres were passed around. There were jokes, assurances that we need not worry, that our politics may be different but we all wanted the same democratic protections. We felt better.

Then I was worried about George W. Bush because of his demeanor and political positions, but he actually showed, as all Republican Presidents during my life thus far, respect for the law of this land and the fundamentals of democracy. I think back to Ronald Reagan who showed compassion and concern for all of us as Americans. Again, I did not agree with all of his politics but understood that he was really trying to do what was right in terms of his belief system and that of those who supported him.

In terms of full disclosure, as I believe strongly in the separation of church and state, rights for all people regardless of gender, sexuality, color, nationality or ethnicity, and have been willing to pay more taxes for support systems for those who need it, I have been a life-long democrat. HOWEVER, there have been instances when I voted for a Republican candidate if I felt they were the most qualified and best candidate, because I had faith that each of these people did believe in the nature and characteristics of our special democracy. That is until now, and this is why I am scared.

Consider that research has recently focused on countries that supposedly or actually use democratic elections to end democracy. In the New York Times, Amanda Taub observed as follows in April, 2017.

The recent referendum in Turkey, in which President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed a narrow majority of votes to expand his presidential authority, is the latest example of a puzzling phenomenon: Democratically elected leaders who triumph in elections even as they move toward autocracy by undermining checks and balances and consolidating power.

Today, the most common way for a democracy to collapse is through the actions of an elected incumbent, not a coup or revolution. Hugo Chávez, elected to four terms as president of Venezuela, used his time in office to dismantle the institutions of Venezuelan democracy and expand his own authority…

This phenomenon, which experts call “authoritarianization,”highlights a deep vulnerability built into the structure of democracy itself. Once in power, unscrupulous leaders can sometimes manipulate the political environment to their own benefit, making it more likely that they will be victorious in future contests. By winning those elections, they gain the stamp of democratic legitimacy — even for actions that ultimately undermine democratic norms.

Manipulating and winning elections has become a kind of exploit in the rules of political legitimacy — a way for would-be autocrats to hack the system.

Source https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/18/world/europe/how-autocrats-can-triumph-in-democratic-countries.html

Similar dynamics have taken place in Russia, many South African countries, Eastern Asia, and throughout the world. The most concerning dynamic that is now being examined is how what appears to be democratic process is being manipulated to end democracy and turn countries into a quasi- or direct dictatorships. This occurs when candidates do not show respect for the law of the land and claim they will use whatever means possible to serve their own purposes. What follows are examples of such statements made by these candidates and leaders in different countries:

“….my commitment is to Hungary not having significant minorities with different cultural characteristics and backgrounds among its citizens.” Stated by Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán

“As for the proposal to lift restrictions for any person, any citizen, including the incumbent president, to allow running in future elections ... this option is possible,” Stated by Vladimir Putin, in support of bypassing previous elements of the constitution and extending his rule until 2036 possibly.

"The person who wrote this story will pay a heavy price for it; I won't let him go unpunished." Stated by Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Erdogan is seeking a sentence of life imprisonment for the journalist, Can Dundar.

The Prisoners Are Also the Guards: Everyone is required to join a "loyalty"-enforcing "mass organization," such as the "Kim Il Sung Socialist Youth League." Because North Korean society is designed to be so fiercely competitive, and because that competition doesn't mean doing a better job so much as sniffing out "ideological impurity" both at work and at home, you've got to be willing to turn against your neighbor just to survive. Any North Korean who wants a good chance at feeding their family must join the state's efforts "maintain ideological discipline" and "provide another surveillance mechanism for state security." About one out of every 25 married women, for example, are recruited into the inminban "neighborhood units" that are expected to openly spy on their friends and family and to sniff out enemies, whether they exist or not; failure to produce makes you suspect. Everyone is an informer and an enforcer, doing Kim Jong Un's work for him.

Source: https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/08/defying-history-how-kim-jong-un-could-hold-onto-power-for-decades/260744/?gclid=CjwKCAjw8MD7BRArEiwAGZsrBQjqb_G8yFj8lc9QBpO38lWnkYQnAH6aCdbvPtYE0S5mZ58hSLv5qRoCVK0QAvD_BwE While this is not a direct qute ut a narrative, it has been fact checked and is accurate.

Make the lie big. Make it simple. Keep saying it, and eventually people will believe it. Stated by Adolf Hitler.

There is no state with a democracy except Libya on the whole planet. Stated by Muammar Gaddafi

I could go on and on. Threatening the protection of the free press, ignoring the oppression of various groups while claiming rights for the privileged, statements that we do not want people in our country who are “different than us” – whoever the “us” is, threatening to not abide by elections or just rendering them non-consequential, calling one’s ruled entity the best or the only true democracy and other such comments go against the grain of everything these United States of America stand for. This is what scares me and it should instill fear in all of us – women; people of different faith communities including Muslims and Jews, both groups having experienced greater degrees of persecution and oppression in recent years; people of color and different ethnicities and racial groupings; immigrants and people from different national origins; our own native or First Americans, LGBTQ individuals, different socio-economic groupings, and so on. Do you have friends, family, people you love who re or fit into any of these categories? Do you truly understand what happens when a democracy slips into autocratic government? Do you realize how often this has happened? Do you yourself as a child or grandchild or great-grandchild of victims of Nazi Germany, the Stalinist regime, the immigrants who have escaped lands of oppression and persecution understand what is at stake in our democracy at present?

There have been presidential elections in the past where I was not thrilled with either candidate but I voted and if the other candidate won, I at least knew that the parameters of our constitutional democracy would protect me. Are we that comfortable at this point? If nothing else, we need to vote for the candidate who respects the law, who cares about EVERY American, the one who knows that we all share some responsibility to help those who do not have as much privilege and that we must continue to agree to disagree while abiding by the fundamental constitutional elements that make our country the democracy it is and MUST continue to be.

How We Live and Hopes and Expectations From our Leaders

I remember a story my mom told me many times years ago about a teacher she had when she was a child in Hebrew School. Her teacher made it very clear that Jews are to carefully follow all of the Mitzvot – commanded actions from G-d, and if they do not do so, there would be dire consequences. Keeping Kosher, observing Shabbat, honoring parents, and other obligatory actions were required at all times or else…. Then it happened! My mom, in her early years, mortally afraid of this particular rather severe teacher and that lightening would come and personally strike her if she did not heed Mrs. Strict and Authoritative Teacher’s word, saw this woman eating non-Kosher food on a Shabbat afternoon. Now I want to make it clear that the fact of her actual personal observances was not the problem. BUT everything my mom had learned in her class flew out of the window, so to speak, and that may have been one of her existential crises in her earlier years. I know that, in her honor, and the lesson learned from this anecdote, that when I have been in positions to influence or model behaviors for students or a community, I have always been as honest as I possible could and asked others to do the same. Better, I thought, to model different genuine ways of identifying as a person of faith and religion, for example, than have teachers, in positions to influence, falsely claim to be something they were not.

In a lot of my work, whether around my teaching involvements on critical issues in our lives, advocating for women’s participation and rights in religious settings, advising and supporting LGBTQ members of the Orthodox Jewish community, in my Multi-Faith work, teaching about racial and social injustice, Environmental Sustainability, etc., I am always horrified by how many stories I come across (way too much) where those who are in positions of potential influence abuse those positions and mislead at least and ruin at worst the lives entrusted to them. A Rabbi who wields such power over followers abusing children, a Priest who is trusted hurting those in his charge, a sports coach taking advantage of those in his care, political leaders who do not themselves follow the rules that govern the country or state entrusted to their care, and so on. I remember when I was very young, one of the children in our extended family circle could be a bit of a rascal. His mom would remark how he would try to maintain eye contact with her while he was doing something he was not supposed to RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER – a childish notion that he could get away with something by directing his parent’s attention elsewhere. If he did not look at and see what was wrong, neither, he supposed, would she. That was a child’s perspective; he grew up to become quite a fine and honorable man. But what about those who have clearly not done so?

As a human being, Jew, American, mom, family member, friend and within the context of all of my professional values, I have always believed that what we say and what we do have an impact on all those around us. The words that come out of our mouths mean nothing if not consistent with and supported by our actions. I live this way, I teach this way, I hold myself to this standard and take very seriously the responsibility that I have as one who potentially influences others and do not want anyone to suffer from any potential disconnects between my words and actions. This is the way I live and this is what I would hope that others in positions of influence, far more wide-reaching than my own as leaders in various contexts, would do as well. We are taught in our Jewish texts that we walk with G-d by modeling proper behaviors that are set before us by The Creator of All to replicate.

For so many years, we would try to teach our children and the successive generations of young people to do just this – to model proper behaviors, hopefully observed in those in whom they should place their trust. I remember my parents wanting me to see certain models of behavior amongst leaders, Rabbis, teachers, etc. Then we had our many young people who preferred to choose sports figures, actors and actresses as role models – rich, famous and with more material resources than they knew what to do and not always those who do such wonderful things for others… clearly there are both options--- and we tell them to choose their role models more carefully.

We want our children to have respect for authority. We want them to follow laws that are operative in our society. We want them to treat all others with the respect and honor that we are all accorded. Racism, prejudice, lack of social justice, not treating others who are different than us appropriately, being selfish with resources, and simply not caring about anyone except oneself are those behaviors we avoid and teach our children how to do so by our example and those who lead with the same code of behavior.

So how have we gotten to this point where human decency and the most basic levels of acceptance of others are now no longer givens? How is it that we cannot just agree to disagree and speak with each other in honorable and caring voices, sharing our points of view and not shouting out the other? How do we explain to our children that once again, depending on what neighborhood you are in, what political leanings you have, what the color of your skin is, what religious symbols you wear, you must be very careful to not expose yourself as who and what you are in order to remain safe and unharmed. For those of us who thought those battles may have receded at least a bit, unfortunately we are ALL TOO AWARE that these problems are clearly front and center in our lives in a way that is much too painful.

Anti-Semitism is on the rise, Muslims are afraid to share who they are, blacks have to be careful how they respond to what may be abusive and undeserved accusations or diatribes, people of privilege act disparagingly towards those who have not had such opportunity, Native Americans aren’t even recognized for their part in this country’s history, immigrants are maligned and endangered on so many levels and on the list goes… even though we ALL come from these backgrounds! AND ALL OF THIS IS OKAY, EVEN PREFERRED BY TOO MANY OF OUR FELLOW AMERICANS.

My husband and I were recently having a conversation about sports teams recently (a subject at which you know I excel …. LOL!) and we were discussing how names of teams such as the Washington Redskins were changed. He asked me how I felt about this. My answer was changing a name or taking down a statue IS NOT SOLVING THE PROBLEM of what is going on at this present point. Imagine, just imagine if people could proudly say who they are and use the identifying terms of their choice, wear their garb, and be accepted for who they are. Terms are pejorative because of the meaning attached. What if Redskins could be a nomenclature of pride in an alternative universe where we talk about the different Native American names that reflect the nature and context of their history just as referring to Blacks is NOT a bad thing, though clearly other assigned titles to this grouping are NOT respectful? What if we could speak freely about who we are and the characteristics we proudly hold as part of our heritage? What if we could have intelligent conversations around this symbol or that statue and the lessons learned from that person or situation – both those that are part of our past and to be remembered for their slight and any pride that may be found as well? But it appears to me that sadly, this is not the case.

As too many of our human brothers and sisters and those who lead them have forgotten or lost what it means to be truly HUMAN by being HUMANE, unfortunately it feels like with some of these conversations about symbols or names, we are fighting about rearranging the furniture while the Titanic is sinking…. to use a metaphor.

We need to BEGIN AGAIN….. can we please remember that we will NOT all agree? Can we remember that 100% of the people will NOT be 100% happy 100% of the time? Can we remember that the gift and foundational essence of democracy is that we will NOT all agree? And finally, can we remember to accept all of this with intelligence and honor and respect for what we share as well as the differences that are a given part of our collective? And then, maybe, just maybe, we can work TOGETHER and UNIFY on the issues that really matter – pandemics and their impact, racial and social injustice that are ripping apart the fabric of our American society, inequity of opportunity and resources, rampant hatred and prejudice, concerns about the environment that is being destroyed, and so on…

I remember as a much younger person and through the years watching both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions and participating in debates about different perspectives of what it means to be the United States of America. It gave me a sense of pride that we could be so civil and people who spoke and led showed how we can disagree respectfully, state our positions and come together as a country. Sadly, oh so sadly, I do not feel like this any longer. This year, we COULD NOT have our children watch both conventions without being very careful – I did so as in the past, and to say it was painful is quite the understatement. I do NOT want my students, the people I love and cherish, friends and family, to learn from what was heard, to model what was shouted, to tell lies that are clearly counter-indicated by facts and documents….. these are not the lessons I want to impart and for my daughter’s children and their peers to replicate. So now, we teach without the example of too many of these leaders, and maybe we should focus more on some of those pop culture folks who are better role models.

I and many of those around me are profoundly upset in our present situation. We who respect and honor those who have served this country, we who try to work for social and racial justice, we who treasure the many different voices of faith that remind us to be the best we can be, and we who want to live by the values that we have been taught and hope and pray that our leaders will do the same…. As we are taught, we must each intentionally and carefully choose for ourselves our teachers and leaders and acquire colleagues, hopefully worthy of following. May we each do our part to continue to work to heal our fractured world and speak out and up when necessary without outshouting each other!