The Dreams I Long to Have
This Presidential Election, for the First Time I Realize We Could Lose What Defines us as a Nation
We are in 2024, an election year, a year I call “the Year of the Precipice” for our democracy. We are now examining forces in our politics that are abnormal to democracy but have come to seem normal to us. I call them “democracy destroyers.”
This Year’s Election is One of Irony
I had just voted in this year’s presidential election. It was both a good feeling, but also one of relief. I’m not sure why I felt relieved as my voting experience this year was as uneventful as any previous election I had voted in. Although I live in ruby red “Trump country,” there was nothing unusual about my voting this time compared to previous elections. But I was aware from this feeling of relief, that all the increasingly violent rhetoric from the MAGA/Trump camp had put me on edge about voting.
Then, as I was driving home from voting, I saw the sign you see here in this photograph. I don’t know if you have these signs where you live, and I realize a political sign can impact people in a variety of ways. For me, their image has stuck with me. I simply have not been able to overlook the irony of what this sign says.
As I thought about this sign, I kept thinking how we have a presidential candidate who has said he would suspend the Constitution, be a dictator on “day one” as president (only day one, mind you), impose numerous new tariffs on products we import from other countries (which Americans, not the importing country, will pay), and jail various political opponents (he calls them the “enemy within”). Trump would use the Department of Justice to accomplish this jailing of his political enemies. His Project 2025 buddies, which Trump has tried hard to disavow, have been busy interviewing Trumpites to fill all the Executive branch vacancies. They plan to do this, if Trump is elected, by firing the many career civil servants (hired on the basis of merit) now holding those positions. The corruption of the spoils patronage system will then be re-embedded in our federal government.
And those are just a few of our institutions, liberties, and freedoms Trump would burn to the ground and trample as he destroys our democracy. Additionally, if given a second term as president, Trump would dismantle NATO, send a “green light” to Putin that Ukraine is his for the taking, as well as shut down the Department of Education. He would oversee the biggest deportation of undocumented immigrants in our history without any thought given to who will do all the construction, agricultural, hospitality, and other essential work these immigrants perform. These are just a few of his democracy demolition promises Trump has made during the campaign.[1]
You get the idea, I’m sure. Candidate Trump’s political signs encourage voters to vote for him to “stop tyranny.” At the same time, Trump is on the campaign trail promising in crystal clear terms that he intends to be our first tyrant, the very thing our Founders worked so hard to prevent and perhaps feared the most could happen to our democracy.
This Political Sign and Thinking About What It Means to be an American
Over and over again, I’ve reflected on this sign and what Trump is actually promising to do to Americans if elected president a second time. It has made me think about what I value most as an American. As I’ve reflected, I realize our democracy is not perfect. As Winston Churchill once said, “…democracy is the worst form of government – except for all the others that have been tried.”[2]
Trump has created a long list as far as destroying what I value as an American. However, for me, I’ve have concluded what is most important for me as an American are my dreams. No, they are not dreams for me. I have lived a good, long life enjoying the fruits of American democracy and the freedoms it offers. There is nothing I need at this stage, except for one thing- my dreams.
What are Those Dreams?
They are dreams I long for. They are dreams I yearn for because they are dreams for my children and grandchildren (and great grandchildren should I be so fortunate).
To be specific, they are dreams that my children, grandchildren, and other family members that follow me will live in a democracy. A democracy that promises them the freedom to think, believe as they wish, and provides them the opportunity to pursue the education and vocation that excites them and offers them the life they want to strive for.
It is a dream that encourages them to enjoy, not fear, the diversity of the American people and believe that everyone deserves a “fair shot” at their dream that is willing to work to achieve it. It is a dream that this freedom will make my children and grandchildren so invested in our democracy, and all that it offers, that they would not for a scintilla of a second ever consider electing a president that promises to jail those who disagree with him and disregard the rule of law.
Simple Dreams
These dreams, I realize, are simple. They are not sophisticated dreams. But that does not make them easy dreams to make come to fruition. Democracy is offered to all Americans, but it has never been, nor is it today, free. And it certainly “hasn’t come cheap.” Democracy requires work, and when under assault, it requires defense.
It has come to us at a high price of blood and sacrifice by patriots, some of whom we know of and recognize, but many we do not. That’s because these patriots never gave what they gave, including for many their “last full measure,” in order to be recognized or remembered for any reason other than the fact that they loved their country with all their heart and with all their being. They knew our democracy has not been perfect, but they knew and believed that we must always be striving, even the face of great adversity, to form a “more perfect union.” They did it for their families and the generations of Americans that followed them.
What Matters Most
So, I’ve concluded that is why in this election, signs that say “stop tyranny” put out by supporters of Donald Trump, hit me hard. This sign hit me in the gut. It hit me hard because I have processed its words in the context of someone who wants to be elected president who cares not even a little about democracy and intends to rule as a tyrant.
This sign has hit me hard because I’ve had to be honest with myself that I have not always appreciated what a privilege and opportunity I’ve had to enjoy in my seventy plus years this thing called representative democracy. Further, in this same context, this sign makes me realize that in a few days, this democracy could disappear. And it would be taken by a guy who lies constantly and in this case, his election signs promise to stop tyranny by making us his vassals. What a bald face lie, and what a shame so many Americans have chosen to believe it. Let the irony soak in…
Losing democracy is something I never thought could happen in my country. For me personally, I never want to lose it. One never wants to willingly give up something they love like democracy. But far, far more important than that, I do not want my children to lose it. I do not want my grandchildren to lose it, particularly before they have had a chance to enjoy democracy’s blessings and freedoms as adults.
Elections Like this Clarify One’s Priorities
Perhaps most of all, these campaign signs have made me realize what my priorities must be. That is, what matters most are my dreams for my family members that follow me to enjoy freedom, democracy, and learn what an important idea the United States of America has been, is today, and most importantly, will be for future generations of Americans. Those are the dreams I long to have. These are the dreams I want and intend to have. And I am not willing to let someone steal these dreams from me using the false claims of “stopping tyranny.”
A tyrant will not save us. He will only enslave us. Only we can save ourselves if we come together to protect democracy. We need to fashion our dreams and prioritize them so he will not have the opportunity to take away the dreams America offers all of us, especially our children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and the millions of future Americans that follow us.
God bless America and may we see its democracy flourish, not be destroyed by a petty tyrant. We must not let our democracy “…go gentle into that good night…”[3] Democracy’s future is now in our hands.
We will continue exploring topics like this that are not given near enough time and emphasis in our civic education efforts if they are even taught at all. Democracy is so important. But it’s hard to keep, and it’s easy to lose. It’s up to us, and only us, to protect it. Support democracy, become a Democratist! Spread the word! Please share this Democraticus with others! For more information, go to www.tomthedemocratist.com
[1] Promises Donald Trump has made so far in his campaign for a second term
[2] The Worst Form of Government | Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
[3][3] Do not go gentle into that good night by Dylan Thomas - Poems | Academy of American Poets
Tom, democracy is the worst possible system —except for all others. (HL Menkin) but, regardless of party, we all agree it was democracy in action, working just fine, that put him in office- decidedly.
If this is disastrous, then what system would be better? If none, then might it be sensible for us to accept what cannot be improved, understand our fate as vulnerable and flawed humanity with ages of history of vulnerable and flawed governments, sorely in need of a savior? Perhaps this might not be thought of as disastrous, but inevitable, bearable, predictable, and even hopeful.