Don’t Know Much About History, Don’t Know Much About Democracy…

For those of us who are old enough to remember this song blasting on the car radio, can’t you just hear Sam Cooke crooning about what it takes to make this a ‘wonderful world?  If you are too young to know this song or what a slide rule is, we invite you to enjoy his amazing voice and the nostalgic message. (Seriously, dear readers, everyone just pause a moment and listen to the song–it’s a gem!) If Cooke were singing this song today, he would have to add ‘don’t know much about ‘de-moc-ra-cy’. Who cares about history, algebra, slide rules or democracy? We just need love between ‘you and me’, right?

Well, yes and no. Not to put too fine a point on it, but a liberal democracy is steeped in connection, caring and ‘loving’ our neighbors. In a pluralistic society, we do have to care about others and believe in a common good. And no, a liberal democracy is not the same thing as ‘the libs’ or liberals as understood in today’s terms. A liberal democracy is a form of governance that combines the ideas of representation and liberal political philosophies. The ‘liberal philosophies’ of the founding fathers included the beliefs that all men are created equal and endowed with certain unalienable rights such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. A near enemy of a liberal democracy is an illiberal democracy. This term may be unfamiliar to many of us. An illiberal democracy can be understood as a governing system that hides its non-democratic practices within democratic institutions and procedures. Illiberal democracies ignore individual rights and freedoms, have rigged elections, consolidate power for an elite few but pretend to be legitimate democracies. Hungary, Russia, Turkey, and Venezuela are examples of such forms of government.

But let’s face it. Most of us are too busy, distracted, disgusted, confused and perhaps even "sick and tired of being sick and tired" to pay much attention to politics or the difference between liberal and illiberal democracies. The 2024 Indiana primary was a big yawn; despite the millions spent on the campaigns. Less than 20% of Hoosiers made it to the polls to cast their vote to determine who would be on the ballot in the general election in November. The country has already decided who the presumptive nominees are for President, so our vote for presidential nominee didn’t matter. Many candidates for our State House seats ran unopposed or came from super safe gerrymandered districts so our vote hardly made a difference there. Pundits call the winners before the polls even open. So, why should we care? What difference does it make anyway?

Did you Know:

There are experts of history, authoritarianism, political science, and backsliding democracies who are saying this is a ‘break the glass moment’ in our history, and that the 2024 election is an election of a lifetime. Donald Trump is the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. If he is elected to be the next president, he will demand loyalty from Indiana’s MAGA leaning elected officials–from the Governor, to the Secretary of State and Attorney General to the state legislators. Trump is being very clear about his vision for a second term—and we need to pay attention to what he is saying.

Donald Trump has repeatedly stated:

• That he will be a dictator on his first day of office.

• That he abhors public protests that are opposed to him or his policies and he promises to invoke the Insurrection Act on the first day of office. That means the Women’s March that occurred immediately following his inauguration in 2017 would be considered an insurrection and he would use military force to intervene on the protesters.

• That he will take revenge on his political enemies—he has called for executions and hangings of those who were not loyal enough.

• That he will use military force to round up migrants and put them in detention camps until they can be deported en masse.

• That he takes great pride in installing the three Supreme Court Justices that sealed the repeal of Roe V. Wade (Dobbs Decision) and insists that he will leave it to the individual states to determine whether a woman has the right to reproductive health care and reproductive freedom. Many of these states are now writing fetus personhood laws and trying to restrict the use of IUD’s and morning after contraceptive medication. Some states have enshrined zombie anti-abortion laws dating back to the late 1860’s.

• He will pardon those who have been convicted of insurrection and acts of violence against the federal government during the January 6, 2021, insurrection. He refers to those indicted and convicted as ‘hostages’.

• That he will reward those who are loyal to him and that he is willing to use his presidential powers to do so. He hosted two fundraisers this spring. The first one was for a few billionaires, the second for oil executives. He promised big tax cuts to the billionaires and to roll back environmental regulations and Biden’s green agenda to the oil executives. No EV’s on his watch!  (BTW, Trump’s 2017 tax cuts for the top richest Americans and his lack of spending restraint increased the national debt by $7.8 trillion dollars—the third largest increase, relative to the size of the economy, of any U.S. presidential administration.)

• He continues to lie about the validity of the 2020 election, stating that it was stolen. Sworn testimony by those closest to him in his administration confirms that he was fully aware that the election was won fairly by Joe Biden. Despite knowing this truth, several U.S. senators, members of congress and Indiana politicians continue to perpetuate his lies and conspiracy theories about the election. These lies have a significant impact on voters’ perception of the legitimacy of elections and of suppressing voter turnout for the upcoming 2024 election.

Indiana awarded Trump our eleven electoral votes in 2020, and we just elected many of his supporters as candidates to be on the ballot in 2024. Additionally, Indiana already has a significant number of elected officials who support Donald Trump and are willing to promote his conspiracies and falsehoods. When we get closer to November, we will investigate the candidates who will be on the ballot and where they land on the extremism scale. Stay tuned!

For now, Hoosiers must understand that the GOP as a national party is enamored by Viktor Orbán and his authoritarian governance in Hungary. (Remember, Hungary functions as an illiberal democracy under Orbán’s rule) The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank for the Republican party, is helping Donald Trump and his loyalists craft a mandate for leadership if he wins the 2024 election. This plan is known as Project 2025 and has been influenced by Orbán and ultra-conservative think tanks  in Hungary. The foundational doctrines of this ‘conservative promise’ are steeped in white nationalism and ultra-conservative Christian evangelical beliefs and principles.

Why It Matters:

If we lose our democracy, we lose the personal freedoms that were promised to be unalienable—unretractable, enduring, forever. A healthy democracy is a form of government that ensures “the provision of public goods, including education, public health and infrastructure.” Additionally, a democracy works to improve economic and political stability and civil liberties for all citizens, not just the favored few of those in power. Our democracy, freedoms and civil liberties are being attacked from within. One party of our two-party system has been completely taken over by MAGA anti-democratic extremism.

This ‘break the glass’ moment is being drowned out by the white noise of trivial partisan bickering, a firehose of misinformation, disinformation and propaganda delivered relentlessly by social media platforms. The promulgation of Russian inspired propaganda by many of our own MAGA state and US office holders smothers the truth. Gaslighting keeps us spinning and disoriented. The mainstream media are failing its readers in their coverage of the campaigns. They play into the ‘both sides-ism’ that both candidates are equally supportive of democratic values and ideals. The truth is that one candidate supports the constitution and our civil liberties, the other does not.

As citizens, we are complicit in this mess. Many of us are militantly partisan in our personal politics. This makes us tone deaf to anything that may have the hint of coming from the ‘opposite party’. Our personal identities have been hijacked by our party affiliation. We must resist this tendency, and become citizens first, party second. Our work over the next several months is to do what we can to protect our freedoms and vote for candidates who will keep their promise to ‘serve and protect’ the constitution. Once a democracy falls, it is almost impossible to get it back. It can happen here. Believe Donald Trump when he says he will be a dictator on day one. He has an army of loyalists lined up to be his generals—some of them are on the Indiana ballot.

Let’s not make “Don’t know much about de-moc-ra-cy” our national anthem.

What You Can Do:

(Brand New Ideas):

• We have to be clear eyed about what a second Trump term would look like. American Fascism is a real possibility. This is a chilling look from experts in fascism and failing democracies. Be warned and share this link with others, especially friends and families who may be thinking about sitting out this election or voting for a third party candidate.

• Learn to recognize gaslighting when listening to press conferences, campaign ads and political talking points. It is an insidious and dangerous tool used to manipulate public perception.

• Become a ‘builder’ and not a divider. We must understand that extremism is a mindset, not a person, and our work is to resist that mindset and to move beyond ‘us and them’ thinking. Daniel Lubetzky, co-founder of KIND energy bars and founding partner of Starts With Us has co-created a global platform called Builders. Here he is on TED Talk explaining the new global movement. Once you listen, commit to being a builder and do something!

• Subscribe to Red, Wine & Blue’s podcast The Cost of Extremism. While you are at it, subscribe to Red, Wine & Blue. They are an advocacy organization focused in five swing states, but their resources are portable and can be used anywhere. They are a wealth of ideas for activism, focusing on ‘suburban moms’ and their issues. Just scroll down from the home page and fill in the information to get on their mailing list. You won’t be sorry!

• Volunteer to be a campaign supporter in local elections, especially in those districts with new faces challenging the status quo. We are particularly excited about the US Senate race between MAGA loyalist Jim Banks and Valerie McCray and the Governor’s race between Mike Braun and Jennifer McCormick.

• Host a ‘giving circle’ for candidates that support women’s rights to reproductive health care,  those supporting public school teachers beyond arming them for possible mass shootings, candidates standing up for our LGTBQ+ young people. A ‘giving circle’ is a gathering of  friends and neighbors for the purpose of fundraising , but instead of giving individual donations, you collect small donations from the ‘circle’ and give a bigger amount to your favorite candidate. It’s a fun way to connect with others, to raise public awareness about a local candidate and to make a difference in their campaigns.

• Ignore the horserace of the polls. They are a distraction and can send us down a deep hole. Dan Rather talks about this on his Substack Steady.

• Ruth Ben-Ghiat is a brilliant and revered expert on authoritarianism and backsliding democracies. Subscribe to her Substack newsletter Lucid.

(Old Favorites):

• Learn how to register voters and make a pledge to register new voters. The League of Women Voters of Indianapolis offers periodic online training for registering voters for anyone who is interested. Check them out!

• Make a choice to be an informed voter. Avoid social media as a news source. Subscribe to trusted sources that will keep you informed. Check out these amazing independent and nonprofit newspapers; Indianapolis Recorder, Indiana Capital Chronicle (free), MirrorIndy (free), The Statehouse File (free), and State Affairs. Consider subscribing to one of them. The Indianapolis Star does some limited reporting on politics and statehouse news. It is imperfect but local newspapers are the mainstay of a free democracy. Subscribe and write informed, civil, engaging letters to the editor.

• Subscribe to the historian Heather Cox Richardson’s Letters From An American. She will make you the smartest kid on the block when it comes to current events. 

• Subscribe to the Starts With Us newsletter. This too is a newsletter about being part of a citizen movement; their cause is to support everyday citizens to move beyond the toxic polarization of the current political landscape. They have resources to help build the “3 C’s” of their moment, compassion, curiosity and courage. Governor Holcomb and Clint Lamb, Democrat mayor of Sullivan, were featured in a recent post on How To Disagree Better. Good advice from two of our current leaders. It will make you smile!

• Please forward this newsletter to friends, families, frenemies and community organizations that you are involved with. It is important to reach across race, place and party on your invitation list. Encourage others to subscribe.

Hearts and minds are changed through community, connection and authentic conversations. Help us grow this movement as we prepare for the election of our lifetime.

Debbie, Rachel and Barbara

Notes:

• The term ‘illiberal democracy’ may be an unfamiliar concept for most of us, but one that we need to learn more about. See how Poland's 2023 Election is a wake up call for Americans and our  2024 election. It explains both liberal and illiberal democracies and is an object lesson for democracies around the globe.

• On December 20, 1962, at a rally in Harlem, N.Y. Fannie Lou Hamer gave  us the prophetic and iconic phrase “I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired”. We hope she won't  mind that we have appropriated her words in 2024. We do so in deep humility and admiration for her life, her courage and her tireless work for civil rights.

• Many citizens continue to believe that Republicans are better for the economy no matter how much evidence there is to the contrary. If given the choice to vote for someone who they think will make the economy stronger versus someone who will protect our democracy, many voters are indicating they will choose the ‘economic’ guy. Thriving economies DO NOT exist in a dictatorship or an illiberal democracy. Here is a quick review of the relationship between economic stability and democracy.

• For more information about Donald Trump’s campaign fund-raisers see Axios and Politico

• For a detailed explanation of the increase in the national debt due to Trump’s fiscal policies see Propublica