When is impeachment justified?

As we all know, President Donald Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives in December and is being tried in the Senate to determine if he should be removed from office.

At our January meeting, we reviewed the perspectives of the US founders about impeachment, but we started with the Farewell Address of George Washington, which was delivered to Congress before he left office in March, 1796. Many people are aware of Washington’s skill as a general, but not of his eloquence as a speaker and as an inspiration for his generation and those to come. Washington was perhaps the only US President solely devoted to the principles on which the country was founded and not beholden to any political party. He refused a third term to ensure that the country would remain a nation of principles and laws, and not centered on a single ruler or dynasty. During his presidency, political parties already were in place starting in 1792 — the Democratic Republicans under Jefferson and Madison, and the Federalists under Hamilton. Washington implored the nation to above all remain attached to “the love of liberty with every ligament of your hearts.” He minded Americans to work together to preserve their freedoms as “You have in a common cause fought and triumphed together; the independence and liberty you possess are the work of joint counsels, and joint efforts of common dangers, sufferings, and successes.” Above all, he considered it imperative to put principles first in “carefully guarding and preserving the union of the whole.” He was particularly concerned about partisanship and wary of political parties: “Let me warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of party generally. … A fire not to be quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent it bursting into a flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume.” I think we can agree that, for the most part, this warning has been ignored throughout our history with the all-consuming presence of political parties rather than devotion to the principles of our founding “common cause” — continuing right up to our own time.

The idea of impeachment only came up as the Constitutional Convention was winding down in 1787. George Mason of Virginia was concerned that the president could become a tyrant and that there would be no way to remove him from office under the provisions in the current draft that only included “treason and bribery.” What about, he asked, “attempts to subvert the Constitution?” His solution, which was widely debated, was to add the phrase “other high crimes and misdemeanors.” Others thought that the impeachment power could become a tool for weakening the presidency. Governor Morris of Pennsylvania and others feared that the threat of impeachment would make “the Executive dependent on those who are to impeach.” Other fears were that the president would bribe electors to gain office or become subservient to a foreign power. The idea of impeachment for abuse of power was borrowed from English law with which the founders, having been English citizens, were familiar. Ultimately the provision was passed 8 votes to 2.

The Federalist Papers were written by three founders — Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay — in support of the Constitution which was written in 1787 and being sent to the colonies for ratification. In Federalist No. 65, Hamilton stated that breaking a law is not necessarily an adequate reason for impeachment, but some acts may lead to justification for impeachment, whether violation of the law or not, such as “abuse or violation of the public trust.” Hamilton questioned whether impeachment trials might be conducted by bodies other than the Senate, such as the Supreme Court or an independent body. The language agreed upon by the founders, after much debate, was: “The President, Vice President, and all civil officers of the United States shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.” (Article II, Sec 4) Hamilton argued that despite the impreciseness of the procedure, the Constitution should be ratified.

Only three presidents have, to date, been impeached, but none have so far been removed from office. Andrew Johnson was impeached in 1868 for obstructing reconstruction efforts after the Civil War by Congress "to protect the rights and safety of black Southerners.” (Madison and Mason on Impeachment, Erik Trickey, smithsonian.com, October 2, 2017) Bill Clinton was impeached in 1988 for lying to Congress about his alleged affairs. Richard Nixon resigned before a likely impeachment in 1974 for involvement in the Watergate scandal. And now Donald Trump has been impeached for Abuse of Power and Obstruction of Congress in December, 2019.

Stay tuned.

Our November topic was “Truth and Democracy.”

Our discussion focused on a recent book: Post-Truth. Post-truth is the view that all sides of an issue are equivalent, and that there is no real thing as truth. This has been used by climate-change deniers, and before that, those who sought to hide the effects of tobacco smoke and DDT.
 
Before our discussion we completed a little “Truth Quiz,” that had some silly questions and some more serious ones. The first question was: “What is the difference between facts and truth?” Answers by members were somewhat different but the general gist was that facts are verifiable events and truth is a more abstract idea subject to interpretation. The rest of the questions varied from simple observations (“Is the sky blue?”) to more historical issues (“Did Clarence Thomas harass Anita Hill?”). We focused not on what is “true,” but more on the process of how we arrive at our idea of what is true. For example, in the case of Clarence Thomas, how do we know what to believe? Are our conclusions based on presented facts in the same way we would evaluate evidence as a juror in a trial, or are they based on emotion, or something else?
 
A corollary, of course, is how people decide which politicians to support. Do we base our opinions of politicians on their parties, their personalities, or on principles? Or don’t we even know why we back some politicians over others? If we base our support on principles, what are the principles most keeping with democracy, and how do we hold our leaders to keeping their promises?
 
After an election is over, even if our candidate has won, our job is not over. In fact it is just beginning. If we believe in democracy we must monitor those in office to ensure that they are following democratic principles, particularly the most essential principle that “all are created equal.” Of course this is more easily said than done.
 
Some significant quotes from Post-Truth, by Lee McIntyre, 2019, by page number:
 
Page xiii. Facts and truth are endangered in today’s political arena.
 
xiv. Truth… is being challenged as a mechanism for political dominance. And that is why one cannot shy away from politics…
 
7. The greatest threat comes from those who have the hubris to think that they already know the truth, for then one might be impetuous enough to act on a falsehood….
 
10. What seems different in the post-truth era is a challenge not just to the idea of knowing reality but to the existence of reality itself.
 
13. Post-truth amounts to a form of ideological supremacy, whereby its practitioners are trying to compel someone to believe in something whether there is good evidence for it or not.
 
17. When a scientist put forth a theory, it is expected that it will be put through the paces of a peer review, attempts at replication, and the highest order of empirical fact-checking…
 
18. One of the most common claims made by those who do not like some particular scientific result is that the scientists who found it were biased.
 
20. Until a theory is absolutely proven, [some] believe, a competing theory could always be true. 21. In the 1950s, tobacco companies realized that they had a vested interest in raising doubt over whether cigarette smoking caused lung cancer…
 
25. By the time climate change became a partisan issue in the early 2000s, the mechanism of corporate-funded science denial was a well-oiled machine.
 
30. A 2013 survey of 4,000 peer-reviewed papers that took a position on climate change found that 97 percent agreed with the position that global warming was caused by human activity.
 
34. The selective use of facts that prop up one’s position, and the complete rejection of facts that do not, seems part and parcel of creating the new post-truth reality.
 
40. [In an experiment] 37% of (participants) yielded to the majority opinion. They discounted what they could see right in front of them in order to remain in conformity with the group.
 
45. Motivated reasoning is the idea that what we hope to be true may color our perception of what actually is true. 
 
48. The “backfire effect” …when partisans were presented with evidence that one or their politically expedient beliefs was wrong, they would reject the evidence and “double down” on their mistaken belief.
 
51. [Research shows] …even the strongest partisans will eventually reach a “tipping point” and change their beliefs after they are continually exposed to corrective evidence.
 
62. …[A]ll ideologies are an enemy of the process by which truth is discovered.
 
77. By allowing “equal time,” the media only succeeded in creating “false equivalence” between two sides of an issue even when there were not two credible sides.
 
81. The goal of objectivity is not to give equal time between truth and falsehood – it is to facilitate the truth. 
 
95. With no form of editorial control over what is now sometimes presented as “news,” how can we know when we are being manipulated?
 
105. Fake news is not simply news that is false; it is deliberatively false…
 
106. All seven American intelligence agencies have concluded that the Russian government was involved in hacking the US election…
 
118. Facebook and Google now account for 85 percent of all new online ad revenue in the US.
 
119. The answer [to fake news] is flooding it with actual news…
 
134. Questioning the science behind global warming “is now a required practice for Republicans eager to play to an emboldened conservative base…”
 
145. If you interpret a period of cold weather as evidence that climate change isn’t happening, and if millions of other people agree with your point of view, then climate change is a hoax.
 
157. The media stopped telling “both sides of the story” about vaccines and autism once there was a measles outbreak in fourteen states in 2015….As of July, 2014, BBC decided to stop giving equal airtime to climate change deniers.
 
162. Whether we are liberals or conservatives, we are prone to the sorts of cognitive biases that can lead to post-truth. One should not assume that post-truth arises only from others, or that its results are someone else’s problem.
 
163. If you are getting your information primarily from one source…it is probably time to diversify your news feed…..The strength of science is that it embraces an attitude of constantly checking one’s beliefs against the empirical evidence, and changing those beliefs as one learns what the facts are.
 
169. Just as the water will continue to rise on the homes of Coral Gables Florida – whether the residents believe it or not – so will the consequences of post-truth creep up on all of us unless we are prepared to fight them.
 
170. Richard Feynman: “For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled.”

Our October topic was “Moving Past our Biases to Find the Best Leadership for Democracy.” We can choose to (1) remain stuck in partisanship and blame the other side or (2) identify the underlying principles of democracy and work together to implement them via constructive dialogue. Do we take the first step or wait for those with whom we disagree to bridge the gap?
 
We discussed the question: “Is an objective search for the best candidate possible?” The hope is to avoid getting caught in our views so that respectful dialogue becomes impossible. If democracy is about equality, do some of us think that our views — and therefore we — are superior to others? What works best is to avoid personal blame and to focus together to identify the most essential principles of democracy and how best to move toward them.
 
In our day we have gone far beyond the US founders. Our understanding of how to implement equality has evolved. The Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution, written after the Civil War, guarantees “equal protection of the laws.” Most democracies have moved closer to the fulfillment of equality in their laws and personal interactions. We have more fully — but not totally — included women and previously excluded minorities as equals in areas such as voting and employment. But within our democracies there still are those who resist the extension of equality to those they consider less than equal to themselves.
 
The US founders unified to create the Constitution that still guides us, then some engaged in personal attacks that made them enemies. Adams and Jefferson split over the meaning of the Constitution and didn’t speak for twelve years. Everyone now knows about the enmity between Hamilton and Burr. Our inability to work for the common interest continues to threaten the continuance of democracy itself.
 
Here are some of the priorities mentioned by our members that they would like in a leader. You are welcome to send in the qualities you seek using our contact form.

• Ability to communicate beliefs forcefully
• Ability to think clearly as to where he or she stands on all relevant issues
• Appreciation of others
• Authenticity — same person in public and private
• Believes in democracy and separation of powers
• Commitment to equality
• Empathy
• Enforcing and following the Constitution and laws
• Fairness
• Good communicator
• Grounded
• Kindness
• Rationality
• Sanity
• Sense of humor
• Strength
• Trustworthiness

​​
​​In an attempt to keep our discussion focused on the issues we reviewed a form from the US Federal Courts called “Guidelines for a Civil Discussion” which outlines the procedure used by courts for allowing the presentation of conflicting viewpoints in a civil manner. These procedures mandate that all must listen to the evidence presented by both sides. Our own discussion nonetheless got a little hot at times due to the divergence of opinions expressed.
 
We welcome viewpoints from Left and Right in an attempt to work toward respectful dialogue that is the essence of democracy. People on each side often accuse the other of not listening, so we must attempt to understand how others think if we ever are to bridge our gap. Here are a few highlights from a note we received from someone from the right end of the political spectrum that we read at our meeting:

​We continued work on our Candidate Evaluation Form, which will be completed and available next month.
 
We discussed the book Biased, by Jennifer Eberhardt, who is a researcher at Stanford and does workshops on the subject. Here are a few quotes that are relevant to our discussion.
 
BIASED, by Jennifer L. Eberhardt, 2019, page numbers are cited.
 
26. We reserve our precious cognitive resources for those who are “like us.”
 
31. Categorization is a fundamental tool that our brains are wired to use. The categorization process applies not just to people, it works on all things….we label the beliefs we have about social groups “stereotypes” and the attitudes we have toward them “prejudices.”
 
33. People tend to seek out and attend to information that already confirms their beliefs.
 
39. Studies confirm that biased parents tend to produce children that are biased as well.
 
200. Spending time with groups you’re determined to dislike can actually translate in a biased mind to validation: I thought these people were stupid, now I know they are.
 
202. When we’re faced with a common enemy, research has shown, our biases can temporarily dissolve by the urge to band together and serve.
 
211. Researchers have identified key elements that can improve school performance. They rest on a basic principle: Students need to feel individually valued and respected, connected to both the people and process involved in their education.
 
212. It has long been clear that constructive feedback is a powerful tool for promoting children’s intellectual development. And academic growth requires both praise and criticism.
 
236. We all have multiple selves that we carry around with us. Which self dominates — to guide our thoughts, feelings, and actions — is, in part, a function of the situations we find ourselves in.
 
281. Trainers stress the prevalence of bias for a good reason: They want the people they’re training to engage with the topic in a personal way. It’s difficult to stay engaged if what you are hearing is accusatory and threatening.
 
292. We’ve learned that diverse groups are more creative and reach better decisions, but they aren’t always the happiest. There are more differences, so there is apt to be more discord.

At our September 9 meeting, we discussed the book The Shadow War by Jim Sciutto, CNN anchor. There is a serious underground cold war going on between Western Democracies and the two nations that try to dominate them: Russia and China. This war has the potential to totally undermine our democracies. A few quotes from the book, including page numbers, follows. For a more complete outline contact Steve via our Contact form, or better yet, get the book.

Page 7. The events of the last decade showed two consistent and disturbing lines: growing Russian aggression and consistent Western delusions about Russian intentions. The same pattern is discernible regarding China, which was launching its own inaugural battles in another, arguably more existentially dangerous Shadow War on the United States.
8. US officials, led by President Barack Obama, accepted China’s assurances that Beijing would dial back its cyber theft of US corporate secrets, malicious activity that remains rampant and aggressive today.
9. Obama’s dismissiveness would be replaced by President Donald Trump’s own rose-colored view of Moscow and Putin.
11. Hybrid warfare … a strategy of attacking an adversary while remaining just below the threshold of conventional war … using a range of hard and soft power tactics: from cyber-attacks on critical infrastructure, to deploying threats to space assets, to information operations designed to spark domestic divisions, to territorial acquisition just short of formal invasion.
14. On every front, “the big lie” is an essential part of the strategy. With the invasion of Crimea and Ukraine, that meant denying that what were obviously Russian troops were indeed Russian troops. With meddling in the 2016 US presidential election, that meant spreading fake news via Russian news outlets and social media to sow doubts about Russia’s role and to amplify those US politicians who echo these doubts, including President Donald Trump himself.
39. Russia has carried out (ever) more aggressive attacks on the West, opening new fronts in the Shadow War. Many European diplomats and officials reacted with particular alarm to Russian’s poisoning of a former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter on the streets of Salisbury, England, in March 2018. The weapon, which police believed was smeared on the doorknob of the Skripal’s flat, was the Russia made nerve agent Novichok.
44. [Chinese] hackers sent so-called phishing emails to employees of the target company [Boeing] designed, as the FBI explained “to appear as if it came from a colleague or legitimate business contact.” If the recipient clicked on a link contained in the email, or opened an attachment, an “outbound connection” would be established between the victim’s computer and another in China under the hacker’s control. The hackers would then install malware on the victim’s computer, allowing them to control the computer remotely and — more alarmingly — explore the company’s entire network.
74. [2014 shooting down of a passenger plane by Russian separatists in Ukraine] It catalyzed the Europeans to come together on … tough sanctions.
94. The US and its European partners remained largely in discussion mode as Russian forces solidified their grip in Crimea [2014] and made further territorial gains in Eastern Ukraine.
112. Southeast Asian nations, fearful of being bullied or overpowered by Beijing, have generally welcomed America’s role in defending freedom of navigation in these waters.
145. Space is a new and dangerous front in the Shadow War. Russia, China, and other US adversaries are rapidly developing and deploying offensive capabilities in space designed to undercut the US enormous advantage in the space realm.…
159. Today, everything from bank transactions to stock trades to traffic lights depend on GPS time stamps to function.
186. Russia’s hack of state department systems began, as most cyber intrusions do, with Russian hackers identifying and exploiting a weak link … the State Department’s unclassified email system.
194. One typo and one click, and Russian hackers had taken another step inside the Democratic Party — gaining free rein through tens of thousands of emails to and from the man running the campaign.…
199. US intelligence agencies were not fooled. They had hard evidence of a connection between WikiLeaks and Russia.
202. On October 7 … US intelligence agencies publicly named Russia as the culprit for both the theft of Democratic Party materials and the strategic release of those materials over time to influence the election.       
209. The former NSA deputy director believes the US response to Russia’s interference in the 2016 election was weak, therefore inviting future Russian cyberattacks.…
211. Russia has penetrated other critical infrastructure such as power grids, telecommunication systems, and water treatment systems.
230. Russia’s new submarine deployments are a direct challenge to NATO countries to which the US has treaty obligations to defend in the event of war.
234. President Trump is the first American leader since the alliance’s founding to publicly question America’s commitment to defend NATO allies if they are attacked.
245. Most Americans alive today have grown up in a world in which American military dominance is unchallenged and unchallengeable. That period is over. Both China and Russia have steadily and rapidly expanded their military capabilities with the intention of neutralizing the US military advantage as well as effectively barring the US from projecting military power inside their respective realms of influence.…
255. National security officials and policy makers recommend more punishing sanctions. These could include sanctions on whole sectors of the Chinese or Russian economies … Chinese state-run banks … Russian banks.…
260. Russian fake news during the 2016 election found fertile ground in the far corners of the far right, before migrating to larger conservative platforms, and sometimes, right to the US President.…
262. Many US officials believe that educating the US public about these information operations is as important as — or even more important than — any high-tech cyber tools.
274. Ultimately, the Shadow War may be won or lost on the basis of a shared mission — both within the US and among Western Allies. … “The best way to defend against this surely is to have a much clearer concept than we do of what we represent. … Our leadership ideally should be capable of articulating the values of liberal democracy and in language you can easily understand.”
280. Each act of aggression and its aftermath showed both enormous boldness on the part of Moscow and Beijing and plodding equivocation by the US. And the uncertainty of the US response seemed to fuel the next provocation and power grab. Russian and China clearly had a strategy. The US and the West did not.

​We also launched our Candidate Evaluation Sheet for the current Presidential candidates. This is based on the QUALITIES WE SEEK IN A LEADER that we completed last spring. The current grid still is in its early stages, but is reproduced below. It might still be altered as we see how it works. The categories are explained below the grid. We completed one candidate, Elizabeth Warren, at our meeting, and will work on the rest in teams as there is time over the next two months.

At our June 2 meeting we discussed our expectations for leaders in light of the current presidential campaign for the 2020 election and the debates that begin this month. We also spent some time on the Mueller Report that pointed out much of the behavior of our current President that we hopefully can learn from. We found it a challenge to express those qualities that we seek in a leader because it is easier to express what we don’t want than what we do want. We welcome your ideas to make our list more comprehensive. Over the next year we will review all major candidates and determine how each lives up to the criteria we have set. The names of candidates will be placed on a chart and each will be scored according to their performance in the following areas.
 
QUALITIES WE SEEK IN A LEADER

1. Advocates a free press. Understands that free speech is essential to democracy even though being criticized.
2. Appeals to young voters. Displays vigorousness, energy and fresh ideas for the challenges of a changing world.
3. Authentic personality. Values that are in tune with the democratic principle of respect for the rights of all.
4. Awareness of the need to combat climate change. Advocates measures to protect the environment.
5. Backs upward mobility for those who have fallen behind. A history of advancing the vision that all are created equal.
6. Belief in a balance of power. Respects the division between equal branches of government.
7. Believes that all are entitled to health benefits. Promotes single payer health care.
8. Commitment to the nomination of judges who uphold the principle of the Constitution to
   “Promote the General Welfare,” not political partisanism.
9. Diplomatic skill in foreign relations. Well thought-out policy based on team input. Works with Congress and allied nations to confront countries that threaten international peace and security.
10. Divestment of personal business interests to avoid the appearance of profiting from public office (Emoluments Clause of the Constitution).
11. Electability. Clearly expresses workable thoughts and ideas that appeal to a broad spectrum of people.
12. Emotional appeal. Genuine compassion for others. Evokes feelings as well as thoughts.
13. Experience at political leadership. A proven track record of working with others toward common goals.
14. Humility. Understanding that one person can’t know everything and that the best policies are created by a consensus of experts.
15. Integrity. Seeking to serve others rather than be served.
16. Intelligence. A record of creating innovative solutions to difficult problems.
17. Regard for the independence of government agencies that serve the public (FBI, CIA, Federal Reserve and others) while providing oversight to prevent abuses.
18. Respect for all. Provides genuine leadership in advocating for the value of all human beings regardless of belief or background.
19. Stands for the democratic principle of equality, not for personal gain by any person or group.
20. Transparency. Having nothing to hide. Releasing tax records so that integrity is not in doubt.
21. Understands the importance of separation between church and state.
22. Unifies rather than divides. Advocates discussing and working toward common goals within our nation and between nations.
23. Upholds the concept of freedom for every individual. Respects the right of all to do as they please as long as they don’t injure others.

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On April 1, 2019, our topic was “The Effects of Globalization on Individuals and Democracies.” Our discussion was based mainly on quotes from the book: Can Democracy Survive Global Capitalism? by Robert Kuttner.

Kuttner’s main idea is that the growth of globalization in trade and finance has contributed to increasing inequality in nearly all Western countries, accompanied by a deterioration of human dignity. This has led to a surge to the right among frustrated voters and discontent among growing numbers of individuals in democracies that threatens to undermine democracy itself. “The fact that far-right backlash is occurring in nearly all Western nations at the same time is no coincidence….It is a common reaction against the impact of globalization on the livelihoods of ordinary people.” (Page xvii)
 
Of course globalization is not new. There was long-distance trade on all continents even before there were countries, and this continued as nations were formed in early civilizations such as Egypt and Greece. Trade is based on the desire of people in most societies for items that they cannot themselves produce. They create products and/or services that will be of value to their trading partners to exchange for the items they want. An example is the voyages of Marco Polo to the Orient to obtain spices and silk which were traded for linen and woolen cloth. Money — often in the form of beads or precious metals — was used to represent value and facilitate trade only after trade already became a way of life.

There were many economic downturns in Europe and the Western Hemisphere from the time of the founding of colonies in the New World.  Downturns often were contagious because economies were connected by trade which made them interdependent. The aftermath of World War I led to blame and reparations imposed by the victors, which then fed the resentment of those defeated and contributed to another war thirty years later. After World War II, the economies of these same countries were stable because of international agreements to work toward greater prosperity and the guarantee of human rights and dignity. The lessons of the Great Depression also were contained in legislation and programs designed to prevent the dangerous speculation that led to that great downturn.
But the lessons of the Depression and World Wars were ignored by leaders — particularly in the US — who ignored the needs of the average person and unleashed a new surge in speculation that led again to growing inequality starting in the 1970s. “In the past four decades, the economy has turned viciously against ordinary working people.” (Page 2)
 
The main concern of corporations is, of course, profits and the greatest profits often can be made by shifting the work force of a company to countries where labor is cheaper. This leads to other people losing their jobs or being forced to work for lower wages. Generations of families that once expected their children to have improved living standards now are seeing their lifestyles stagnate or deteriorate. Many live from one paycheck to the next, cannot afford a college education or training that leads to greater prosperity, and are unsure of having enough funds for retirement. “Between the 1960s and the current era, US employment in manufacturing declined from over 25 percent of total jobs to just 8 percent…worker productivity more than doubled, but manufacturing wages stagnated….From Carter to Obama, small token programs made little difference to these devastated cities and regions. And these were precisely the locales that supported Trump and breached the supposed blue firewall of the Democrats.” (Page 191)
 
Democracy is about recognition of the dignity and needs of the average person, and democracy has failed many who no longer see that it works to their benefit. Simply voting is no guarantee of human rights — it only is one limited aspect of a well-functioning democracy. When leaders fail to address the real needs of those they serve, people become understandably upset and vote for someone new in the hope that their condition will improve. But when that person or party also fails them it sets up a vicious cycle, and many become disillusioned that there ever can be a way out.
 
In 1999, the protections of the Glass-Steagall Act that prohibited banks from engaging in speculation were terminated by a Republican Congress working in concert with a Democratic President. This allowed banks to move beyond making loans, to put the money of depositors into speculative investments. Huge returns were made by banks and others who participated in high-risk investment schemes. Few expected the real estate bubble to collapse, which of course it did, beginning in 2007, taking the economy with it. Many people no longer could afford mortgage payments that had gotten to unrealistic levels based on speculation and the belief that the market could never collapse. This is similar to the stock market bubble collapse that led to the Great Depression in the early 1930s.
 
In 2008, what became known as the Great Recession took the stock market down to less than one half of its previous level. Many people lost their homes because of payments that were beyond what they could afford, and unemployment jumped to 10%. Barack Obama easily won in November, as George W. Bush and the Republicans were blamed for the downturn.

A number of measures were put in place to stop the economy from going into a full depression. These included The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, which the US Treasury used to purchase $421 billion in troubled assets (and eventually recovered its money with a bit of interest), The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was an effort to save jobs by investing in infrastructure, energy efficiency, and providing assistance to the unemployed. A number of other actions were taken to pump money into the economy and fund small businesses by easing many of the country’s securities regulations. But all of these failed to address the losses and economic stagnation of many, especially in the Midwest, to this day.

“By 2016,” according to Kuttner, “the US was importing about three dollars of manufactured goods for every dollar it exported…. The trade deficit in goods in 2016 was $347 billion with China alone.” This of course has a considerable impact on jobs and wages in the US.

Kuttner is not against the use of tariffs when necessary. “Democratic nations could and should use policies such as tariffs to limit the damage to their own systems and to encourage trading nations to have at least minimally decent labor and human rights protections.” (Page 210) 

The tax avoidance dilemma created by most large corporations by shifting their headquarters and official tax base to small compliant countries has increased the tax burden on individuals who do pay taxes: “With higher taxes, and lower benefits to show for them, the social contract tilted further against ordinary working people.” (Page 219) Yet corporations and the wealthiest individuals, through their lobbying, were still able to force through tax breaks for themselves that further increased inequality. “What dragged down the economy was not a lack of business confidence caused by deficits. The culprits were flat wages, mortgage foreclosures, financial losses of overly indebted households, and traumatized banks.” (Page 220)
 
→What We Can Do

As the US founders emphasized, the most important factor in maintaining democracy is an informed citizenry. Most people who are adversely affected by economic downturns cling to their political parties or heroes without understanding the most basic principles required to maintain a sound economy. Thus politicians cater to the idea that fixing blame will solve our economic woes rather that proposing realistic solutions. In schools and our everyday conversations, basic economic principles need to be discussed, such as (1) The tax burden needs to be distributed according to income, including corporations, as it was after World War II, to reverse the continuing trend toward inequality; (2) Our tax money needs to be invested in job training and infrastructure to rebuild the middle class; (3) This will benefit all as more people have greater incomes and spend money which fuels the economy; (4) International agreements must guarantee a decent wage for workers in all countries which, by the way, will greatly improve the problem of immigrant flight toward the more prosperous countries. We should support politicians who show that they really are interested in improving the economy — and lessening inequality — by promoting these principles in their legislative records as well as their campaign speeches. 

This month we discussed the role of education in maintaining democracy, not just for children, but also for adults who hopefully continue to learn throughout their lives.

We discussed readings from Steve’s The Future of Democracy; Democracy and Education by John Dewey; and an article by Eleanor Roosevelt entitled “Good Citizenship: The Purpose of Education.”

Here are some of the questions we considered:


What Is the Role of Education in Democracies?​

In addition to skill development, the ultimate educational goal in democracy is imparting a viable idea about what works and what doesn’t to further the interests of the greatest number of people. In democracies, though all are flawed, human and technological progress far exceeds that of countries governed by undemocratic means. In undemocratic societies, values are dictated from the top and therefore less likely to inspire innovation.


How Do We Best Educate Children to Participate in Democracy and to Continue That Participation Into Adulthood?​

The ideal of democracy, which is Greek for “government by the people,” is that every human being is valued. That means that the potential of each individual is encouraged by the education system, with the goal of equal treatment for all. Education that contributes to democracy keeps this perspective in mind.


What Are the Attributes of Good Teachers and Effective Teaching That Contribute to the Quality of Lives of Future and Current Citizens and Voters?​

Good teaching moves students toward a framework of understanding that promotes growth in skills and constructive ways of interacting with the world. An effective teacher is a model for effective communication who meets students at their current level of understanding and builds confidence by introducing tasks that move toward greater comprehension and effectiveness in the world. This is done not just by instruction, but by engaging each student as an individual whose views are to be valued.


Is There a Core Attitude or View That Can Be Imparted to Students so That They Maintain Both Confidence and Competence Throughout Life?​

The best teachers express faith in the ability of their students to succeed, which greatly affects their self-confidence. But students also need guidance via incremental lessons and tasks at a level that allows them to succeed, and then builds skills and confidence with gradually greater challenges. Students need a safe place to make mistakes and learn from them.


What Is the Relationship Between Basic Skills and Greater Understanding for Lifelong Learning?

Basic skills are of course important — reading, writing, and math for example — but when students see the relevance of those skills to their lives it increases their level of understanding and ability to apply their skills in the real world. Learning based on creative projects that considers student interests engages them and sets a pattern so that they feel comfortable implementing their skills throughout their lives.


What Is the Difference Between the Education Systems in Democracies and in Autocracies?

In democracies, education ideally focuses on developing each person’s potential to contribute creatively to the innovation needed to move society forward. Education also prepares students for ongoing respectful dialogue with others that is required in a society where all are considered equal. Democracies work toward including people of all backgrounds in the opportunity to learn. In autocracies, education focuses on ideas and skills that do not contradict the views of authority. Original thinking and the thrust of innovation is limited.


What Is the Relationship Between Emotional and Intellectual Development?

When students are fully engaged in learning, both their minds and emotions are involved. There is a sense of excitement as new discoveries are made by both the individual and group. A good teacher encourages the thrill of discovery by students as they attain skills. This attitude then is brought into their ongoing learning process as they move toward adulthood. But our thoughts and actions often are dominated by fear of failure rather than clarification of a direction and the means to move toward it.


What Is the Role of Truth in Education in Democracies?

We all continually seek greater understanding of our world and ourselves. But what is considered true is different for different parts of the population and changes from one generation to the next. Some ethnic and religious groups are less tolerant than others of variation from their values. It took centuries for science to convince us that the sun doesn’t circle the earth. Understanding that the worldview held by the vast majority of people — including each of us — is limited and subject to change opens us to continued innovation and improvement in our ideas and inventiveness. Effective education moves us further from prejudice and closer to the truth, although we are unlikely to ever arrive at an absolute truth. An important purpose of education is to allow us to navigate the myriad points of view with which we are confronted in an effort to best parse the truth and determine how to act based upon our growing understanding.


How Does Education in Democracy Encourage Greater Independence?

At its best education can move children and adults further in the direction of independence by training them to consider the views they encounter without needing to fully believe them. We can communicate our best ideas of what is true while still are aware of the limits of what we know, rather than just repeating what we believe to be truth.


What Can We Do to Move Toward Greater Democracy in Education?

We can become involved in democratizing education in a number of ways. Those who have children can attend conferences and parent association meetings to support teachers in respectful interactions with children that encourage them to think and create. When possible, we can choose schools that promote these goals. When considering colleges, we can encourage children to consider schools that promote learning how to think rather than what to think. And as adults, we can set an example for democratic ideals by continuing to pursue learning by (1) opening our minds to those around us and their ideas and (2) encouraging meaningful dialogue that focuses on moving our organizations and nations toward the democratic ideals of respect for every human being.

​This month we focused on the immigration crisis that is facing the United States and European democracies.
 
One concern is how to create a compassionate policy that recognizes the personal and political dilemmas facing those who are forced to leave their countries due to poverty or persecution. Another concern is how to be consistent and fair to those who uproot themselves in the hope of a better life without overwhelming our human and financial resources. Our policies currently result in children being torn from their parents, while some individuals who have lived in the US for most of their lives are being deported. The number of those trying to cross the southern border is down from its high.
 
We all are immigrants or the descendents of immigrants. Just as our ancestors sought new opportunities, we must extend a welcome to as many of those who seek refuge as possible. Framing immigration as “us” versus “them” makes no sense because at one time our ancestors were “them,” but they were allowed into our country to begin their lives anew. The vast majority of our ancestors were not criminals, rapists or drug pushers, nor are the vast majority of those who now seek a new home, many with their families.

Why People Flee Their Homes
 
People rarely leave their traditional homes and countries willingly. They and their families often have lived for generations in their communities and are comfortable with their lifestyles and traditions. But dire financial situations, food shortages, extreme ethnic or religious persecution, or physical threats force many to flee with hope of a better life.
 
In both the Eastern and Western hemispheres the goal of those who migrate is the freedom promised by democracies that offer economic opportunities lacking in autocracies. Although inequality often is an issue in democratic countries, the inequalities suffered by the majority who live under many autocracies is extreme, and in many cases life-threatening. The level of poverty experienced by millions is intolerable to the point where they are forced to flee.
 
Deterioration in the lifestyles of large populations in countries that once seemed on their way to democracy is increasing throughout Africa and the Americas. In Asia the picture is mixed. China, which calls itself a “Peoples’ Republic,” has moved further from a legitimate claim to democracy since its 1949 revolution. India, the world’s largest democracy, still is torn by ethnic strife and inequality, but life for many has improved since it became independent in 1947.
 
Despite pockets of progress in South and Central America, as well as in Africa, recent events, often spurred by the election of “populist” leaders who become autocratic, have moved the economic and political condition of the majority backward rather that forward. Democratic freedoms — and the economic opportunities they promise — have been curtailed recently in many countries including Egypt, Libya, Poland, Hungary, Sudan, Brazil, the Czech Republic, Serbia, South Africa, Syria, Tunisia, and Venezuela.
 
→What We Can Do
 
Countries that abandon their democratic origins often fail to meet the needs of their population while threatening the stability of their neighbors. Millions have crossed the border of Venezuela, which once was much more prosperous, into neighboring countries due to extreme poverty and near starvation. Immigration surges into England from poverty-stricken African and Middle-Eastern countries have resulted in the 2016 Brexit vote, which now threatens the economic stability of the British government.
 
The reality though, is that well-regulated integration of immigrants actually makes economies stronger. Immigrants take jobs that others don’t want, often in the service industries, and they pay taxes. They also increase the waning population of European communities and the US, and spend their earnings, which contributes to the economy. Criminal and conviction rates for immigrants are below those of native-born Americans.
 
It is up to us to educate our legislators, those with whom we interact, and ourselves to understand that immigration can be a boon for the economy and communities where migrants settle.

Removing the Reasons for People to Emigrate
 
Most people are reluctant to leave their countries of origin if they have a choice. Extreme poverty or persecution can make emigration the only possible choice. But what if we could contribute toward the improvement of the lives of those caught in extreme poverty and/or persecution so that they no longer felt compelled to flee?
 
Our group discussed an article about the successful cross-border economic arrangement between San Diego and its neighbor, Tijuana. The Republican mayor of San Diego, Kevin Faulconer, has written articles and appeared on radio and television to make the public aware of the trade arrangement between those two cities that has resulted in a prosperous partnership. Other cross-border mayors, a total of 25, met in September 2018 to affirm their commitment to working together to encourage trade and to “strengthen social and economic development for our region.”
 
The US pledged $10.6 billion aid in December to encourage economic development in Southern Mexico and Central America. This type of funding — a combination of private and public efforts — does not require congressional approval as does a border wall. Although not a quick solution, these funds can create opportunities that brighten the lives of those in these regions as programs are developed to enhance skills via a tourism industry or manufacturing products for internal or international trade. Of course this grant money needs to be carefully monitored to ensure that its focus remains on the needs of those it is intended to help, rather than being drained into the coffers of politicians and cartels. The new president of Mexico, Lopez Obrador, has pledged to use the funds to develop tourism to help individuals in this extremely poor region.
 
→What We Can Do
 
We can encourage legislators to support solutions to our immigration crisis that honors the lives of those forced to leave their homelands, while at the same time providing new infrastructures that remove the need to immigrate whenever possible. We can support organizations that improve the lives of those who live in poverty due to deteriorating conditions in their homelands.

For Further Reading
 
After losing DACA and facing deportation, he returned to Mexico. He was killed weeks later, Samantha Schmidt, Washington Post, June 11, 2018
 
Family Separation May Have Hit Thousands More Migrant Children Than Reported, Miriam Jordan, NY Times, Jan. 17, 2019
 
Fortress Europe, Matthew Carr, The New Press, 2012, 2016
 
Fleeing for their lives, migrants trek for the US, Benjamín Alfaro, AFP, June 29, 2018
 
Four myths about how immigrants affect the U.S. economy, Gretchen Frazee, PBS News Hour, Nov. 2, 2018
 
Freedom in the World 2017, Report by Freedom House
 
Leaked photo reveals ‘mass trial’ of immigrants in Texas, Fernando Ramirez, Houston Chronicle, June 3, 2018
 
National emergency: Is there a crisis on the US-Mexico border? Micah Luxen, Jessica Lussenhop and Rajini Vaidyanathan, BBC News, 15 February 2019
 
Poll: Most Texas voters oppose border wall, Jeremy Wallace, Houston Chronicle, April 19, 2018
 
These countries are losing their freedoms fastest, World Economic Forum, November, 2017
 
US pledges $10.6B aid for Central America, Southern Mexico, Mark Stevenson, Associated Press, December 18, 2018
 
US-Mexico Border Mayors Sign Resolutions in Support of Trade and Infrastructure Funding, Kevin Faulconer, September 21, 2018
 
What 7 statistics tell us about immigration and crime, Catherine E. Shoichet, CNN, January 8, 2019

This month our group focused on the serious environmental issues affecting our planet and discussed possible solutions to that dilemma.

The number of environmental problems facing the earth is enormous. They include climate change, air and water pollution, a profusion of plastic debris, oil spillage into waterways, poisons from weed-killer chemicals, accumulating nuclear waste, lead in our water systems, and many more of which we only are becoming aware. 

The following is an overview of some of the main areas of concern, followed by the actions that we believe are needed by people and the governments that serve us. Many areas are interrelated, but all can be solved by determined action on the part of responsible citizens and politicians. 

One overriding theme: rather than promoting jobs in dead-end industries such as coal, governments can provide incentives to individuals and industries to adapt sustainable practices that include job training. There already are more jobs in sustainable energy than in polluting industries. 

Climate Change

As the earth heats up due to an increase in greenhouse gasses, polar ice caps melt and ocean levels rise. More moisture is retained in the upper atmosphere, which creates a hotter and dryer earth leading to heat waves, droughts and wildfires. When that moisture does drop quickly it results in severe storms and floods. At the 2015 UN Climate Conference in Paris, all major world countries made a commitment to limiting greenhouse gas emissions, but in 2017 the US announced plans to pull out of that agreement. 57 countries actually have brought their emissions down to a level required to reduce global warming. In September, 2018, Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary General, cited the UN Climate Economy report. The scientific consensus is that we have little time left to reverse climate change. “The mountain is high but we know how to scale it....There is no more time to waste, we are careening toward the edge of the abyss.” Although many nations are moving ahead with efforts to combat this problem, overall worldwide greenhouse gas levels continue to increase. Seas are rising, erasing low-lying islands and increasing the severity of destructive storms along our coasts. At the current pace sea levels will rise 10 feet by 2100, devastating most coastal communities. Guterres called for a shift away from dependence on fossil fuels and moving the world economy toward sustainable energy sources. He highlighted the uneven impact of climate change on poor countries and asked richer countries to do more to help. Many countries are taking their climate responsibility seriously and are moving toward replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy, including Norway, Sweden, France, South Korea, and China. These countries also will benefit economically by creating energy policies that bring the world closer to its climate goals, which include greater dependence on renewable energy sources, a reforestation plan to absorb more CO2, and experimental technologies to cool the atmosphere. 

→What We Can Do

Everyone is negatively affected by climate change, so it is up to us to pressure our governments to encourage the replacement of fossil fuels with renewable alternatives. Because it is difficult for people to see these effects on a daily basis, continuing education is needed. Support and vote for candidates who understand the crucial role that government needs to play in limiting the CO2 and emissions that are moving us toward environmental disaster, and who advocate for the job-creating industries that fight climate change. Encourage legislators to support new technologies via public-private partnerships and promoting training in innovative technologies that lead toward a cooler earth while boosting the economy. We should support organizations that advocate moving away from fossil fuels, such as the Environmental Defense Fund. We should use public transit as much as possible; better yet get to your destination by walking or bicycling, which also has personal benefits. Encourage our representatives to support a national 100% Clean Energy Law by 2045 like the one in place in California. Self-driving cars based on renewable electricity can reduce pollution and save lives, but they also can increase traffic congestion and must be regulated to coordinate with mass transportation. Home energy management is a viable industry that creates jobs and quickly repays the investment of home owners. 

Toxins that Affect the Earth

We have been poisoning the earth for decades, often with products that at first seemed beneficial. As one toxin is exposed, we often replace it with another. We focus on the short-term benefits of new technologies, and only slowly recognize the long-term dangers of environmentally destructive practices to ourselves and our planet. Even then we often refuse to replace dangerous practices because they are convenient or profitable to those who spend millions to influence legislators. In her 1962 book, Silent Spring, Rachel Carson warned of the danger of insecticides, including DDT, to the ecosystem as they poisoned animals and ourselves via our food. Once DDT was outlawed in most countries, it was replaced with other chemicals with similar results. Monsanto introduced glyphosate-based Roundup in 1974, but it is only recently that this chemical has been investigated as a possible toxin affecting human beings. Research shows that the byproducts of glyphosate damage human cells; there are 4,000 lawsuits pending against the company. Symptoms can include vomiting, tremors or shakiness, and seizures. Laboratory animal studies showed effects on the liver and reproductive system. Pesticides also have led to a reduction or elimination of a number of species, threatening the biodiversity that makes the planet viable. Chlorpyrifos, which US courts recently forced the EPA to ban, causes neurologic damage to farm workers and children. Breast cancer is on the rise and the young are experiencing an increase in neurologic disorders such as autism. Our oil dependency has resulted in numerous leaks and spills that have polluted large bodies of water, fowled beaches and mutilated or killed waterfowl and fish upon which people depend. Oil drilling threatens the pristine Alaskan wilderness. Some incidents have caused human deaths, such as in the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf Coast. Fracking defoliates and pollutes the land and permanently poisons the water that it uses to bring up oil. Plastic, a bi-product of petroleum, refuses to break down and continues to accumulate on both land and sea, despite efforts at recycling. Due to oils spills, there already is a small film on our oceans that will increase until oil use as a fuel is eliminated. The waste from nuclear plants continues to accumulate with nowhere to go. In its relatively short lifetime, beginning in the 1950s, nuclear plants have left growing deposits of waste. Disasters have occurred in the Soviet Union, the US, and Japan. Toxic byproducts are carried across oceans, as happened after the 2011 Fukushima disaster. The US Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 mandated that the federal government would identify a permanent geological repository by 1998, but those living near planned disposal sites have resisted. Instead waste accumulates near closed nuclear plants. 

→What We Can Do
 
The accumulation of toxics on the earth is huge and threatens the health of us all. This can be reversed by the combined focus of both private and public efforts. Technologies can be developed that achieve the same goals without toxins. Organic and biodynamic farming is expanding to feed a larger part of the population; it can be used to grow the majority of foodstuffs in the near future. Thirty percent of US households currently seek organic products and this number is steadily growing, but the US government currently is lowering organic standards. With pressure from consumers, who also are voters, our government can outlaw toxic farming methods that are especially harmful to farm workers, and create a “silent spring” that affects the neurologic health of us all. Our oil dependency continues to despoil the earth, while what is needed is a general will to move toward totally sustainable energy sources such as solar and wind. All nuclear plants must be decommissioned in short order to prevent more devastating accidents that create permanent hazard zones and threaten the entire planet. We can lower our carbon footprint by using less or no plastic as new technologies are successfully being developed to create biodegradable plastics. We must support legislators who emphasize these types of solutions. Recycling often leads to moving plastics and electronics into dumps from where they leach into the land and ocean; universal standards thus are needed. 

Threats To Our Water Supply

Water shortages are increasing due to global warming. The poisoning of the water supply by lead in Flint Michigan in 2014, and willful neglect by law makers, now is a national scandal. Lead and other toxins are found in water supplies of many cities. Recent stories about lead-contaminated water and slow government responses have come out of Newark, Chicago, Detroit, Baltimore, and Milwaukee, to cite a few. There are other toxins that can be found in drinking water, many of which are not monitored by our government and can lead to cancer, neurological disorders, or organ failure. These include arsenic, pesticides such as atrazine, nitrates from fertilizer runoff, radioactive contaminants, vinyl chloride used to make plastics, perchlorate which is used in rocket fuel and explosives, and pharmaceuticals that enter our water supply when released in urine or flushed unused down the sink or toilet. Due to oils spills, there already is a small film on our oceans that will increase until its use as a fuel is eliminated. Toxic algae, created by dumping fertilizer and human waste into waterways, can kill fish and create dangerous fumes. 

→What We Can Do

To overcome the effect of increasing droughts, we can build cisterns beneath our streets and water collection stations in rivers which capture rain runoff that now is wasted during droughts. We can insist that our legislators monitor our drinking water and develop non-toxic solutions to sources of toxicity. The relatively new industry of green pest control that can help avoid adding toxics to the environment. As mentioned, we can push to move toward more sustainable fuels to eliminate the threat to our environment and ourselves. 

Overpopulation 

The world’s population grows at a pace of 83 million each year, but currently over 100 nations, among the wealthiest, are at or below the replacement rate of 2.1 children per woman. Overpopulation contributes to stressing the environment, including pollution and deforestation, in areas that can least afford it, and threatens the habitats of many species. While access to reproductive health services is under attack, most pregnancies worldwide, and nearly half in the US, are unplanned. Africa’s population is projected to triple to more than 4.5 billion by 2100. 

→What We Can Do

Wealthier nations working with the poor areas of the earth to raise their living standards can improve their situation while making them more amenable to education. Populations that are more prosperous tend to be aware of the dangers of overpopulation and take measures to voluntarily limit reproduction. Donations to UNICEF and similar organizations can make a difference. 
 
For Further Reading

4 big takeaways from the UN’s alarming climate change report, Umair Irfan, Vox, October 8, 2018.

A 14-Year-Old California Engineer Transformed Paper and Cotton Into Plastic, Sarah Sloat, Inverse.com, January 5, 2019, Clean-Energy Jobs Surpass Oil Drilling for First Time in U.S. 

Clean-Energy Jobs Surpass Oil Drilling for First Time in U.S., Anna Hirtenstein, May 25, 2016, Bloomberg

COP24: UN climate change conference, what’s at stake and what you need to know, UN News Organization, November 29, 2018

Court Orders E.P.A. to Ban Chlorpyrifos, Pesticide Tied to Children’s Health Problems, Eric Lipton, New York Times, Aug. 9, 2018

Extreme Weather, National Climate Assessment Website

Fracking's Total Environmental Impact is Staggering, Report Finds, Samantha Page, Think Progress, Apr 14, 2016

How a nuclear stalemate left radioactive waste stranded on a California beach, Rachel Becker, The Verge, Aug 28, 2018

Let’s focus on the real environmental factors linked to autism, Alycia Halladay, STAT, March 15, 2017

Population Connection Magazine, Volume 50, Issue 2, June 2018

Trump administration reconsiders rule on coal’s mercury pollution, Timothy Gardner, Reuters, August 29, 2018

Weedkiller products more toxic than their active ingredient, tests show, Carey Gillam, The Guardian, May 8, 2018

What’s in Your Drinking Water? Amanda MacMillan, National Resources Defense Fund, May 02, 2017

Genocide is a part of human history. It has been committed by every major religion and ethnicity, at times within the same group. According to ancient sources, the Jews were both perpetuators and victims of genocide.[1] The ancient Greeks often destroyed cities that they defeated with everyone in them.[2] Enslavement and extermination of native Africans and Americans started with colonialism and continued into the 19th Century. We still are coming to grips with the numerous European genocides of the 20th century, while slaughters based on ethnicity and political oppression continue in our own day in places like Myanmar and Syria.

What we discussed briefly in our group, and will continue to consider, is why people commit atrocities toward each other. What is it in the minds of human beings (maybe even me and some of you?) that creates a division between us and the “other” to the extent that we begin to believe that “they” — people who are different in ethnicity or view — are not quite human? Why do some people (including some of us?) see others as threats and sources of such discomfort that they want them altogether extinguished? Are we all capable of being inspired to work ourselves into a frenzy of hatred and bigotry?

Hannah Arendt, in her book describing the 1961 trial of Adolph Eichmann,[3] commented on “his inability to think...from the standpoint of someone else.” Her subtitle implies that evil is more common than we realize; perhaps everyone is capable of it. But why do human beings (including me and you?) often focus only on our differences rather than what we have in common, resulting in an inability or unwillingness to experience the humanity of others? Why do people (you and me at times?) judge others as evil because they have different views, or different backgrounds, or different ethnic characteristics? Is there a slippery slope from condemning the views or ethnicity of others to considering them and their lives invalid? Are we more likely to hold such views if they are believed by those around us?

We might think that in our modern democratic political settings we never would threaten the lives of those who represent views different from our own, yet that is happening in many nations that recently were considered democracies, such as Russia, Turkey and the Philippines. Do we think that the people of those nations are unlike us? In the US we label ethnic groups which seek asylum an invasion, even though most of our ancestors were at one time asylum seekers. Murder often has been committed in the US based on hatred toward those who some consider less than human: the slaughter of native tribes, lynchings in the South, and the recent murder in Charlottesville, Virginia.

People (including us?) seek to simplify their understanding of others in a complex world. This leads to dividing others into good and evil, and once evil they and their lives don’t really matter. When people (anyone?) consider others to be not quite human the next step is wanting to be rid of them. Our tribal nature can cause us to no longer see others as people like ourselves but only as obstacles in our paths.

How can we move past this inveterate tribalism? Can we extend our concept of our tribe to include those we once excluded, as has been done when nations were forged out of smaller states? Can we create larger alliances by acknowledging the validity of others, identifying common priorities, and agreeing on how best to move forward?

Moving past tribalism to identify a common path will be the basis of our discussions in the New Year. We will focus on areas where we have struggled to progress, such as immigration, education, economics, the environment, prison reform, and health care. We will determine our goals in these areas based on the democratic principle of universal respect, and how implementing them would look in the real world. Democracy only has succeeded — and will succeed — when we focus on what unites us rather than on that which divides us.