After centuries of oppressive duplicity, our people need truth repeated many times, and from diverse sources.
For a Full Democracy to exist, there must be:
- Moral, ethical, and competent leaders among all three levels of government; AND
- A factually aware, involved citizenry.
America is a Fascistized Dictatorship, thus, Leadership, normally first, is now a distant second.
Americans are deeply dissatisfied with leaders across nearly every facet of society. Eighty-five percent of Americans believe government officials prioritize their own power and influence over the public’s interests and 77% don’t see leaders they aspire to emulate. (Harris Poll, U.S. News & World Report, April, 12, 2025)
The disdain is understandable! America’s leadership depravity is unprecedented; the nation has never been farther away from living according to the Democratic Principles outlined in Virginia’s Declaration of Rights that served as the basis for the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Since leadership depravity is unprecedented, is it conceivable that citizenship involvement will be driven to unprecedented levels, as well? YES, but that will require a new kind of leader who can renew citizen’s faith in America’s leaders.
Emerging leaders must understand that the American Political System was designed by America’s intellectual elites for the elites. Even if they had wanted to make democracy real for all the people, and they did not, they were not psychologically equipped to do so. Privileged people’s experiences don’t normally lead them to benevolent perceptions of reality, and unbiased decisions that are effective for those who have been oppressed and abused for centuries by the privileged — Indigenous peoples, Slaves, Women and the Poor.
No matter how inept the Republicans were in fostering Democratic Principles during the 26 times a Republican president led the nation, or the Democrats were the 20 times when their titular head dominated in DC, Trump and his Fascistized Dictatorship clearly are not the answer to our national quagmire; 190 million Americans thought so in 2024 because they did not choose Trump.
As I must repeat, currently, there is a large number of would be leaders clamoring for us to let them lead the way in orchestrating a strategy to defeat the present-day authoritarians. Nonetheless, the remedy has to emerge from local communities, authentic leaders willing to confront the current constrictive power of the status quo and reverse the slide to full-on Fascism.
As Thomas Sowell said, the top two priorities of Professional Politicians are getting elected and getting re-elected; with the people’s needs a far distant third.
Martin knew where America’s creative power lay when on August 8, 1963, he urged the people to go back home to their local communities and get to work. Democracy is not only for elections, for politics, or a party name, it requires continuous care.
“DuBois did not content himself with hurling invectives for emotional release and then to retire into smug, passive satisfaction.” – MLK, Jr.
Irrespective of the formal legal arrangements as pertain to municipal governments, today, mayors and their county counterparts are our most important leaders. The leaders in the three branches of state and national governments are not as important as mayors and too often interfere with necessary influence of city and county leaders. When national politics intrudes into municipal government, nothing resulting thereafter in the way of political wickedness is then implausible. – Twain
The poll commissioned by the Local Solutions Support Center showed that a majority of voters disapprove of external intrusion into local power centers; think external intrusion happens frequently; and believe local leaders are more knowledgeable of community needs.
Only local leaders in direct, face-to-face, and continuous contact with the people can perform essential task of saving America.
The crucial question, however, is if a mayor were intrepid enough to become that decisive force for the advocacy of Democratic Principles, would there be enough citizens sufficiently enlightened and valiant to stand with him or her to protect the people from maniacal political party divisiveness and achieve the primary purposes of the Constitution?
Winning elections alone will not eradicate the obstacles that have prevented local communities from developing solutions to the people’s problems. Citizens who have been disempowered by corrupt, centralized political power structures must look for solutions beyond professional politicians. To preempt the power of external intruders, the people themselves must take more direct control of their decision-making power and govern their own communities. With the people’s assistance, local leaders can develop a comprehensive structure that guarantees civil and human rights and that secures locally-responsive and effective policy-making. To make it work, however, the citizens must publicly signal their stalwart intentions to stand with their local leaders before, during, and after acts of defiance of the status quo.
