Power & Democracy

Why might it be time to go from celebrating Independence Day to honoring our interdependence?

As July comes to close I feel compelled to share this exploration on power and democracy. There’s much I didn’t capture here, many more things I want to say, and feedback I want to hear from you, the reader. Thank you for joining me on this journey as I explore the sustainability puzzles we now face with our government.

At the beginning of this month many of us celebrated the 4th of July, aka “Independence Day”. For various reasons and as the years have passed, I find myself no longer able to drop into the cheery patriotism usually marked by gorging on various barbecued meats and watching fireworks.

There was an odd poetic irony about Juneteenth falling on Father’s Day this year, as our country’s founding fathers continue to take on a type of Wizard-of-Oz-mystique in our collective consciousness. Don’t get me wrong, there are many things we have to cherish about living in the United States of America. However, there are also many aspects worth our scrutiny, if only for the belief in continuous improvement and the pursuit of forming a “more perfect union”.

The U.S. has the largest economy in the world. We also lead in military spending, healthcare spending, incarceration, and drug overdose death rates. So much of the founding of this country and our economic power was built by violently stealing land from the Native Americans, and then enslaving people that were kidnapped from Africa. What greater, darker hypocrisy is there to pen the infamous line “…all men are created equal…” while simultaneously owning over 600 slaves? (source, and looking at you Thomas Jefferson)

Doing some research on our “founding fathers” got me curious about the founding mothers (short youtube clip here on some founding mothers). I was especially moved to learn a bit about Phillis Wheatley and Deborah Sampson, names I had never come across and was never taught about. The whole concept of an origin story and having it revolve solely around fathers sparks a suspicious curiosity in me. For example, let’s explore the saying “self-made man” and the glorification that goes along with it.

We revere this narrative, it implies the lone wolf going out on their own, making everything happen for himself, by himself. What man ever made himself? No one is an island, except for Paul Simon ; )

All of us are always getting help along the way. Those that feed us and teach us. Those who help heal our broken bones and mend our broken hearts. Those that drive us around, supply our energy, pave our roads, truck our goods, respond to our emergencies, grow our food, cook our food, wash our dishes, pick up our trash, sort our recycling, the list goes on... Every species on this planet is dependent on others. This is an inherent part of existence. We need each other to survive.

So then…

Why do we worship the narrative of fierce independence and rugged individualism?

What's the story behind the denial of all the help and support we receive along the way?

“I Am a Rock” by Simon & Garfunkel

“I have my books
And my poetry to protect me
I am shielded in my armor
Hiding in my room safe within my womb
I touch no one and no one touches me
I am a rock I am an island

And a rock feels no pain
And an island never cries”

So we are averse to pain. Of course. If only we could all channel more of John Lennon - "Help"

I’m sure this denial of our inherent interconnectedness also has to do with our “inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”. The phantom pains from our former ruling country can be felt today, centuries later. I see it in our love for monarchs (YAS QUEEN!), and our glamorization of billionaire CEOs who are effectively kings of their company.

“We Americans love our democracy, yet every day millions of us go to work at autocracies.”

- Marsha Willard

Somewhere along the way, our government went up for sale to the highest bidder. Several years ago Princeton University actually did a study detailing how the U.S. is no longer a democracy. Our elected officials no longer represent us, but instead represent the interests of those that can afford to fund their campaigns, mostly corporate interests and the wealthy.

Corruption is literally legal here in America. They explain it better in this video:

And since I’m really not keen on introducing problems without solutions, please do all Americans a favor and watch this 12 minute video “Unbreaking America: Solving the Corruption Crisis” with Jennifer Lawrence about how we can unrig and FIX our broken democracy.

Cognitive Dissonance

No wonder so many of us are confused and exasperated by the state of American politics. The USA is a contradiction. We have fought so hard to uphold the values of liberty and equality, but have a secret crush on hierarchal systems, particularly when it comes to decision making (ex: military, business, etc). I include myself in this bewilderment, which can be best exemplified by my time playing in brass bands throughout my 30s.

I never played band in high school so the world of jazz and brass instruments never really seemed accessible. It felt elitist, cool, and like a club that I could always enjoy as a listener but never a participant. That is until I came across the Extraordinary Rendition Band, or “ERB” for short, where I met some of my best friends to this day.

ERB is an “open band” meaning there is no single band leader calling the shots, anyone can join regardless of musical ability, and decisions are made collectively. There are parameters around membership and expectations around participation. It was nothing short of life changing to be a part of this activist street band comprised of kind, compassionate, whimsical, and intelligent souls, always ready to erupt into spontaneous moments of raucous musical joy.

But like with any democracy, it isn’t easy. It gets messy. And laborious. And stagnant. With the consistent influx of new members it makes repertoire and musical skill advancement a real challenge. And yet, the band plays on. 14 years later and ERB is still a model for what a democratically run, open band can look and sound like.

There’s still much to reconcile here. It seems we as Americans love our freedom and the concept of democracy, but have little patience or even the attention span for it. How do we collectively regain control of our government that has largely conceded its power to lobbying groups and is controlled by corporate interests? The video linked above on “Unbreaking America” has some clear paths forward like calling out corruption, and liberals and conservatives working together. Imagine that?

No ONE person is going to be able to fix this, we HAVE to work together here, and perhaps the first step in all of this is just owning our own collective cognitive dissonance around our value of democracy, and our complicity in autocratic structures.

Mini playlist for this paradoxical polarity:

• “Walking Contradiction” by Green Day

• “I Contain Multitudes” by Bob Dylan

• “Jackboot Jump” by Hozier (lyrics below)

At Standing Rock the Jackboot Jump
You'd swear was all the rage
Whether tearing up old treaties
Or just tearing up the place
It's always corporate infrastructure
Over the structure of your face

In Moscow the Jackboot show
Has so much in store
For any silly student
Who doesn't wanna learn the score
So the Moscow Jackboot Ballet
Finds some scared young dancing floor

In Hong Kong it won't be long
'Til they have to fall in line
For the long hand of Beijing
Stretching south a thousand miles
Where they rock the Jackboot Jump there
Like that shit's going out of style

All around the world
You'd think that things were looking rough
But the jackboot only jumps down
On people standing up
So you know good things are happening
When the jackboot needs to jump