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Pluvious

(5,241 posts)
Mon Jul 29, 2024, 03:53 PM Jul 2024

Excellent message of hope from historian Heather Cox Richardson

She is an American Treasure

Relentlessly trying to teach and educate us about the lessons of history,
and how they measure up to the present and help understand the options ahead

( the whole entry is well worth the read )

... That’s how scholars say fascism happens, too—first slowly and then all at once—and that’s what has been keeping us up at night.

But the more I think about it, the more I think maybe democracy happens the same way, too: slowly, and then all at once.

At this country’s most important revolutionary moments, it has seemed as if the country turned on a dime.

In 1763, just after the end of the French and Indian War, American colonists loved that they were part of the British empire. And yet, by 1776, just a little more than a decade later, they had declared independence from that empire and set down the principles that everyone has a right to be treated equally before the law and to have a say in their government.

https://open.substack.com/pub/heathercoxrichardson/p/july-28-2024?
5 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Excellent message of hope from historian Heather Cox Richardson (Original Post) Pluvious Jul 2024 OP
"It happens slowly then all at once"...I believe you are right about what is keeping us up at night. c-rational Jul 2024 #1
"He passed it to us." quaint Jul 2024 #2
Subscribe to her letters. It's worth the read Maeve Jul 2024 #3
We the People keep the embers of democracy alive pat_k Jul 2024 #4
In 1763, King George orthoclad Jul 2024 #5

c-rational

(3,132 posts)
1. "It happens slowly then all at once"...I believe you are right about what is keeping us up at night.
Mon Jul 29, 2024, 04:01 PM
Jul 2024

Maeve

(43,337 posts)
3. Subscribe to her letters. It's worth the read
Mon Jul 29, 2024, 04:03 PM
Jul 2024

I found her via FB, and her understanding of history bring light to the overheated political world

pat_k

(12,665 posts)
4. We the People keep the embers of democracy alive
Mon Jul 29, 2024, 05:28 PM
Jul 2024

Ordinary people recognizing their power to connect and work together for the greater good.
There is no power greater.


And when we get complacent, people who want power use our system to take over the government. They get control of the Senate, the White House, and the Supreme Court, and they begin to undermine the principle that we should be treated equally before the law and to chip away at the idea that we have a right to a say in our government. And it starts to seem like we have lost our democracy.

But all the while, there are people who keep the faith. Lawmakers, of course, but also teachers and journalists and the musicians who push back against the fear by reminding us of love and family and community. And in those communities, people begin to organize—the marginalized people who are the first to feel the bite of reaction, and grassroots groups. They keep the embers of democracy alive.

And then something fans them into flame.


Highly recommend this book.

Lobbying for Change: Find Your Voice to Create a Better Society

From the author









orthoclad

(4,728 posts)
5. In 1763, King George
Mon Jul 29, 2024, 05:51 PM
Jul 2024

ordered the colonists to stay near the coast and leave the indigenous of the interior alone.

The colonists had other plans, like the Founding Fathers' big real estate scheme centered on what is now Kentucky. George's proclamation pissed them off. This was maybe a bigger motivator for the Revolution than the price of tea.

This is also why so many tribes sided with Britain. Not to mention enslaved people.

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