Sowers: Are we saving democracy or saving America?
Arthur E. Sowers is a resident of Harbeson.
Should we save democracy or save America?
Which is more important? Or are they both equally important? Or do they actually, sort of, mean the same thing? As I thought about those questions, it occurred to me to consider how the attempted assassination of presidential candidate Donald Trump might help me focus on an answer.
My first reaction to the attempt on Trump was that I wished that it did not happen. My next thought was whether, and how many, future attempts might take place. And, finally, anyway, why did it happen?
I read many relevant historical articles on Wikipedia. Only about 1 of 10 U.S. presidents have suffered any kind of violent attack. In comparison, there were at least 42 documented attempts on Adolf Hitler’s life. Some were even before he became a dictator. But Hitler was known to have extremely radical political ideas way before he became a dictator. Around the world, the vast majority of historical and popular opinions are that Hitler was a really bad guy. In many of the documented cases, as the Wikipedia article explained, the perpetrators were known to think Hitler was bad for Germany. That was their reason for planning an assassination.
It was my initial idea that American presidents and American citizens, in our democratic political system as we now have it, enjoy a low-stress ambience that allows us to have “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Conversely, it is easy to understand that some citizens in high-stress dictatorships with harsh, corrupt, repressive, extremist and strict authoritarian hierarchies could become sufficiently annoyed to wish for or plan some kind of unlawful violent act. Wikipedia also has many articles on many assassination attempts on, for example, Benito Mussolini, Vladimir Lenin, Josef Stalin and Napoleon Bonaparte. It was reported on a New Delhi website (ndtv.com) that Vladimir Putin announced six assassination attempts on himself.
In comparison to the USA, the United Kingdom has also been both democratically electing its high-ranking politicians for some 200 years and experiencing low numbers of violent attacks on its highest politicians. And many of the attacks that did happen were involved with Irish nationalists, who had, understandably, bad feelings about their high-conflict past relationship with the British. So, up to this point, it looks to me like it is obvious that a traditional, open, free, stable, inclusive, safe and transparent democracy — such as we have here in the USA (at least until 2020, when some people stopped “playing nice”) — will be better for more people than any other system.
While I recognize that a lot of people think highly of Donald Trump, I am with a lot of others, including many very respectable Republicans, who think — for many reasons — that Trump should have never been allowed to occupy any public office. It was really Trump who tried to steal the 2020 election. He said he will challenge the 2024 election, too, if he doesn’t win. He should really be in jail. And Trump has made very many public and chaotic statements and public threats, insults and lies. All this shows that he is prepared to do anything to get back into office, so he can rule, permanently and according to his whims, like a Medieval king. Trump recently and openly said that, if he gets back into office, you won’t have to vote anymore. Especially worth mentioning is an article on the capitalist and business, but not socialist or liberal, Forbes website, forbes.com, titled “Project 2025 is a blueprint for disaster.” Project 2025 was put together by Trump’s extreme, radical, right-wing buddies. If we really want to “save” America, then we really need to keep our democracy as it is. I hope you get my drift.
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
