By Gene Jones, FLVCS President,

When the Founders finished the Declaration of Independence, a woman stopped Benjamin Franklin outside Independence Hall and asked what form of government the Constitutional Convention had given us. His answer is as pertinent today as it was then, “It’s a Republic, if you can keep it.”

Divided Nation

Currently, our American government is perhaps under more stress than any time since the Civil War.  We are divided as a nation both culturally and economically.  Many citizens are now willing to deny other citizens full protection and equality under the law and our leadership doesn’t discourage such behavior. White supremacists and neo-Nazis parade in our streets displaying hated symbols of oppression and mass murder, and they are often not condemned by our leaders, but encouraged.

Economically, the American promise is being undermined. Inequality between the super-rich and everyone else is at epic proportions. Unfair results arise from inequality of opportunity due to policies and laws favoring the super-rich, a subversion of the American promise.

Average people cannot compete either economically or politically on a level playing field with billionaires. Not many years ago, small businesses and Main Street thrived.  Now, large corporations gobble up main street businesses and even small individual enterprises are at risk. A good example is local rental markets. Twenty years ago, much of this market was controlled by locals, often times young couples taking their first steps up the economic ladder. Now, locals are squeezed out of the market. An ever increasing market share is controlled by national and international corporations and hedge funds.

Even during the pandemic, inequality continues to grow. The United States has over 600 billionaires.  While the pandemic has increased unemployment, poverty, and homelessness, the billionaires’ wealth has grown by over $400 billion. The vast discrepancy between the super-rich and everyone else has the potential to tear us apart.

Leadership Debacle

Our leadership’s response to these threats has been a disaster. We have elected an authoritarian leaning President surrounded by enablers.  Since President Trump assumed the Presidency, America has become weaker, sicker, and poorer. An example is the administration’s response to the novel coronavirus —magical thinking. Trump at first said it was a hoax, and then later said that it would disappear like a miracle in warm weather.

Rational policy can’t be built on magical thinking. When it is, a poor result is an inevitable consequence, as the unnecessary deaths from COVID-19 confirms. We have a fifth of the world’s population, but thirty per cent of the deaths from COVID-19. The percentage of infected Americans is much higher than other advanced countries and getting worse.

International security threats are ever present. The Trump administration botches them too. Despite Trump’s promises to stop ‘Endless Wars’ and bring the troops home, we now have more troops in the Middle East than when Trump assumed office. Worse, evidence mounts that Russia placed a bounty on the heads of American soldiers in Afghanistan. Apparently, the Trump administration either ignored the intelligence, or failed to act if it knew.

Trying Times

To paraphrase Thomas Paine, these are the times that try men’s souls. Yet, we are optimistic for we know that FLVCS will not retreat into despair and inaction. Working together, we can make America live up to its promise.

FLVCS will continue to educate ourselves, our elected officials, and the public. More importantly, we’ll speak out for America’s best national interest. We demand an end to magical thinking and expect our leaders to adopt rational policies that build on the promise of America and that do not subvert the American idea.

FLVCS intends to help keep the Republic our Founders gave us on July 4, 1776, and we’ll redouble our efforts to do so in these trying times.

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