Are Americans Really Independent on This 4th of July?
We are not independent of the undemocratic Constitution, writes David De Hart
Photo and Statement by David De Hart
Americans will not have true independence until we have a democratic government based on the qualifying principle of one person, one equal vote. American children and adolescents are not independent of their leading cause of death, gun violence. No American is free from gun violence. The poor are not independent of the poverty that kills 183,000 Americans every year. Sixty-eight thousand Americans die each year who are not independent of the lack of health care, an industry that made $69 billion in profits in 2023. Too many Americans are not independent of the struggles to put food on the table and to pay increases in rent and higher interest rates on mortgages.
Americans are not independent of a corrupt, ideological, and too powerful Supreme Court that has the last say over a woman’s body and has “made the president into ‘a king above the law.’” Americans suffer from the gridlock in Congress with its two corrupt political parties that take bribes from corporations, Super PACs, and the wealthy. They don’t blink an eye at increasing the military budget by billions of dollars each year, yet refuse to raise the paltry and insulting Federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. Americans are not independent of a government of minority rule where good legislation goes to the Senate graveyard. Americans are victims of a too-powerful presidency that makes their country complicit in war crimes and the violation of the human rights of the Palestinian people; a presidency now immune from breaking the law. Americans are not independent of the institutional racism within our police departments nor of the consequences of the failure to pass laws that hold police officers accountable for their actions. Americans in the LGBTQ+ community are not independent of the violence and discrimination that targets their members.
When we vote this November, we should be cognizant that we are not saving democracy. Only if Democrats win will Americans have the opportunity to stop the rapid acceleration of our country's deterioration and the loss of more fundamental freedoms and rights we so cherish and celebrate on this holiday. However, that will not be enough.
We need our independence from an archaic, undemocratic Constitution of 1787 that cannot solve the problems of the 21st Century. We need a democratic Constitution that will ensure the people have the power to make policies that benefit all Americans by keeping them healthier, happier, and alive.