To celebrate the birth month (Feb) of two of our most important U.S. Presidents, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, we’d like to draw attention to one of the founding principles of this country: Unity The founders of this country established as its motto “e Pluribus Unum” in 1782.
Wikipedia describes “e Pluribus Unum – as Latin for “Out of many, one” –and “it is a traditional motto of the United States, appearing on the Great Seal along with Annuit coeptis and Novus ordo seclorum; its inclusion on the seal was approved by an Act of Congress in 1782.” Wikipedia
It was remarkable that thirteen separate colonies not only agreed to declare their independence from England, but also to join together as one country.
We fought a great war in the mid-19th Century to decide whether to split into two separate countries or remain as one.
Currently, this country is far from united. And it is not just the states that clash, but even more alarming, it is the elected officials in Washington, DC, who lack the spirit of Unity.
Most recently, we witnessed a graphic example of that: President Trump’s Impeachment. The votes were nearly 100% by Party Lines – hardly an example of “e Pluribus Unum”!
And this strife extends to the rest of us. Even some marriages have broken up because of the bitterness caused by two people who are more loyal to opposing Political Parties than to each other.
When candidates for Federal Office campaign, they often exclaim “I will FIGHT for you!”. If and when they get elected, more often than not, they spend most of their energy trying to hurt or defeat the opposing Party (versus fighting FOR their constituents).
This was on full display during the Impeachment trial.
Another famous slogan of our country is “United we stand; Divided we fall.’ At the rate we are going, we may well prove the truth of that slogan.
Here is what we would like to see to help remedy this problem:
- Term limits for elected officials – in both the Senate and House; (We established term limits for Presidents in the mid-20th Century, but somehow never got around to doing so for other elected officials); and
- Rolling back the opulent benefits that elected officials receive (because they voted to receive them – say, to level of benefits that most of the rest of us receive.
That is just a start. While we are at it, when they run for office, we would like to see Representatives and Senators highlight how well they work with members of the other political Party, including citing times when they have “crossed the aisle” to reach agreement on some issue with members of the other Party – for the betterment of the Country.
How about you? What else would you like to see?
For more information about our Great Seal, see: https://www.greatseal.com/mottoes/unum.html
Darwin Gillett, author of Noble Enterprise: The Commonsense Guide for Uplifting People and Profits
Ara Gillett, author of Penny’s Question (forthcoming)
Dear Dar and Ara.,. A timely comment by you both.. As I am not from the “United” States I would like to express my feeling that the issue you raise is also one that afflicts many nations. Perhaps integrity moral compass as well as seeing us all as “plants of one garden” and “leaves of one tree” could be some of the criteria for elected office. I would submit that the party political system could by its adversarial nature be a source of the problem.imagine If our representatives acted for all not just a party. Thanks for your dedication Regards Dale Emerson
Great to hear from you,Dale.
We used to wake up in the morning ready for a fight – not between Ara and me but triggered by something I read in the Wall Street Journal. We became passionate – not FOR something, but rather AGAINST someone or something, usually political. We finally realized that we were not serving the world or ourselves very well.
With the advent of social media, it’s too easy to express one’s negative feelings about anyone or anything – instantly. Indeed, much of the news is about someone (usually a public figure) lambasting some other person.
So, this got us thinking about the saying “e Pluribus Unum” that our Founders came up with back when we won our independence. Even though they fought each other pretty vigorously, many realized the importance of that statement for the survival of our new nation, We need to revive that spirit not only to “stand” but survive and thrive
We are so in awe of President Abraham Lincoln, who was more concerned with making the country whole again after our Civil War, and not going after punishments to the Southern leaders or citizens. Very Noble indeed!
Take care!
Dar & Ara
Dar — the American philosopher Walt Kelly, in writing about the threat to the environment in 1970 (specifically the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia), pointed out that “We have met the enemy, and he is us”. I think this is a truism with respect to many things besides climate and the environment: our political discourse (or lack thereof) as well.
So rather than blaming the politicos in DC, perhaps we should look back toward ourselves. It is broadly recognized that the media streams from Facebook, Fox News, CNN, and so on are driven by formulas (“algorithm” is the programming word) which are designed to intensify, to incite, to narrow debate. When newspapers were the principal news media, you at least had a physical choice between “The National Enquirer” or the “Boston Globe” or The WSJ. We are now told many people avoid any confrontation with alternate news sources and consequently live in so-called “echo chambers”.
What to do? Pressure Zuckerberg to somehow change algorithms, to somehow police posts of opinions, or to circulate “news” stories only if the report has been verified*, or perhaps foster a climate of shaming candidates for public office who denigrate and defame political rivals (Trump and Sanders come promptly to mind)? Fat chance I think.
You might better consider trying to get Title 47 of the U.S. Code, Chapter 5, Section 230 reconsidered.** That would only take an act of a modestly unified Congress, and, if Trump were President, a 2/3rds majority override. But easier than your suggestions of term limits for Congressmen, which would require a Constitutional Amendment. Would revoking or limiting Sec 230 then force the internet’s news providers, the creators of our echo chambers, pause for thought and reflection? Probably.
Could I suggest, as a starter, reading the British Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/may/27/the-guardian-view-on-facebook-power-without-responsibility
Best regards,
Bob
*”Verification” was, and still is, the standard for print newspapers, unless they are truly rags.
** [47 U.S. Code § 230, (c)] PROTECTION FOR “GOOD SAMARITAN” BLOCKING AND SCREENING OF OFFENSIVE MATERIAL
(1)TREATMENT OF PUBLISHER OR SPEAKER
No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.
*