Citizenship

Did you take a Civics class in high school? I did.* 

We learned the nuts and bolts of how our democracy works (or is supposed to) based on the Constitution:** three separate branches—legislative , executive, judicial—kept co-equal by checks and balances. Even without a specific high school (or college) course, most of us have managed to learn these basics along the way.

What we too often forget is that the entire massive enterprise is supposed to be directed by the will of the people. The citizens. The voters. Us.

Ideally, every single one of us should make it a point to be informed—by keeping abreast of the news*** and be active, involved citizens, which means more than just voting when election day rolls around).  It means making your voice heard outside and beyond the ballot box.

How can we expect our elected leaders to make decisions in response to our opinions if we don’t tell them what are opinions are? How will they be motivated to make changes if we don’t ask for, and when necessary, demand changes? It’s our job to tell them.

Don’t be an Ostrich

More than a few commentators have characterized what’s going on here…and now…is a surreal dystopian circus run by a clown car of incompetents. With every morning’s outrageous and appalling headlines, most of us just want to tune out the day’s news, pretend none of it is happening, and go about our lives.

But we can’t afford to do that. Becauseif we don’t make it clear that we are appalled, “the powers that be” (as my Uncle Joe used to call the people in charge), will think we’re okay with it all. Which the vast majority of us (according to poll after poll) are not.

Silence is acquiescence

 

Don’t get distracted

And don’t fool yourself. Social media–Facebook, Twitter, Bluesky, Instagram, TikTok, and all the rest–are great places to see what others are doing and thinking. But don’t kid yourself. Posting your opinion on any of these is likely to attract the notice only of your “followers”–the people who know you and, for the most part agree with you. Social media is a great place to see what those who think like you–and those who don’t–are thinking.

But expressing your opinions on those sites will never move the needle when it comes to effecting change… unless, of course, you’re an “influencer” with thousands of followers, which most of us are not. Expressing your frustration, anger, criticisms, incisive comments on any of those sites might be a good way to let off steam. But in terms of “speaking your truth to the powerful”…sorry but you’re just spinning your wheels.

 

We have to make our voices heard

Going to a rally or march  is one way to do this. And millions of us already doing that.

Bearing witness is another. The brave citizens who stand in solidarity with neighbors when I.C.E. shows up  are making  a profound statement. By being present… observing, recording, silently or not … they are making it clear that storm troopers are not welcome on the streets of America.

Just days ago, it was unimaginable that standing up for neighbors would cost a woman her life. But it happened. Renee Good is dead.

All the more reason for the rest of us to be brave enough not to give up.

If we everyday citizens don’t make our voices heard, we are letting the current band of idealogues in the White House—and the enablers in Congress who have made no moves to stop them—think we aren’t paying attention. Or don’t care.

So let’s ratchet up our third option and perhaps most important option for making our voices heard: direct communication.

 

It’s Easier Than You Think

Call or send an email or even and old-fashioned handwritten or typed letter via USPS.

In the interest of effective communication, address only one issue at a time. State your opinion. Say why. And be brief.

You can always call or write again (as many times as you want) on a the same topic, or a different one.

These communications are logged. All of them. And the numbers of constituents calling or writing, the issues that they’re concerned about, and their positions (pro and con) are noted. For this reason, expressions or support are just as important as a criticism and complaints. Officeholders and their campaign advisers know that citizens opinions eventually get converted into votes.

To contact The President

https://www.whitehouse.gov

Click on the menu bar at the top left of the White House Home page.
Choose “GET INVOLVED” from the menu
Choose “Contact the White House
A fill-in-the-blank email page will appear

Or call: 202-456-1111

Although not displayed on its website, The White House Comment Line still existed the last time I called. It’s staffed twelve hours a week (an indicator, I can only surmise, of how much Donald Trump really cares what any of us thinks): Tuesday-Thursday, 11 a.m. – 3 p.m Eastern Time,

To contact Members of Congress

 

https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member

Fill in your address. The contact information for your Representative in Congress and two Senators will be displayed. Instantly.

 

Find Your Voice 

Simply use your own words. Keep it simple.

You’ll feel good knowing you’ve “done something.”

And trust me, doing something feels a lot better than doing nothing.

And if enough of us do what we can, we’ll make a difference.

 

 

Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.

–Helen Keller

 

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*That class I took in my senior year of high school was called “Problems of Democracy.” The problems then were Civil Rights, and Vietnam, and how to carry on after the assassination of our President. The problems now all boil down to just one: the very survival of our democracy. I remember that my research paper was titled “Should the United States recognize Red China?”

** “Government of the people, by the people, for the people,” according to Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address

*** Harder to do these days, when news outlets and social media sites all seem to offer little in the way of objectivity with each of us gravitating comfortably to the viewpoint that best aligns with our own.