Amerindia US Blog

Regarding our comments on leadership in our last post: a Pew Poll shows that US citizen’s trust in their leadership in government and institutions “has plummeted to a near-historic low.” We do know that there are bright spots and good leaders, but unfortunately they are too few, and in a democracy, it is critical to have a full quorum of good leaders. We need leaders who see themselves as responsible to the people who elect them, and those who are immune to selling their votes behind closed doors.

We think our comments on lack of good leadership was timely, and is supported by this poll.
Pew Poll: Trust in Government His Near-Historic Low

The Queen of Amerindia

A bit more about Democracy. In a democracy, the people are sovereign. Is that (liberal) populist? – we think so. We also think that the terms “activist” and “socialism” have been unfairly demonized in too much of the US consciousness. Many fellow countries that we count as friends are socialist, and in their commitment to the welfare of their people, they are doing reasonably well.

Somehow the old Cold War opposition to Communism, as an economic system, is still feeding into the term Socialism. And to avoid the now ancient specter of (socialist) Communism “nowhere else in history, have so many [US citizens] voted against their own interests.”

The divide between rich and poor in the US continues to grow. Developing nations bring more of their citizens into a middle class, while in the US the middle class is ever more hard pressed, and dwindles. And help for the Poor, as they are defined, is based on a 40 year old calculation that isn’t updated for fear it will break the bank.

United States people, remember that you, in a Democracy, are sovereign. In Amerindia, we have a monarchy that speaks in the person of we, with the understanding and intent that we, the leader, is representative of, and obliged to, all of the people. Here leaders are sovereign to the people, and people sovereign to their leaders.

The Queen of Amerindia

We have been living in relative peace and prosperity on our Island Nation of Amerindia during the Bush years and our temporary secession from the US that resulted from his election. Bad presidents happen. But democracy allows for this, and one hopes, has ways to grow wiser in popular knowledge, revise it’s thinking, and move on to better attending the needs of its citizens.

We supported Obama, and had great hopes. We saw an intelligent speaker who spoke of bold visions for Change. But after a year in office, we are much disappointed. We won’t go on into the details, and in any event, we are glad to see a black man as president so we can get that much out of the way.

However, it is now clear that what runs the US, and much elsewhere in the world, are The Big Corporations and Their Money. It would seem that almost any election is eventually about what Corporate Interest will benefit. We had hoped that, since Obama was elected with the money of the populace, not the corporations, that things would change. But they haven’t. Democracy continues its spiral into the ground, and we don’t see effective choices in elections. When the elected get to Washington, Washington gets to the elected.

As a result, we have decided to again declare our Nation of Amerindia to be separate from the US. We cannot risk a return while Corporate Influence rules the United States. We will continue living with our benevolent monarchy of Amerindia. The only other option we would consider is an annexation to Vermont (as long as they have Bernie Sanders and Patrick Leahy).

The Queen of Amerindia

The Founding Fathers of the new nation of the United States were uniquely wise in their understanding of the failings of the systems of government that had gone before. They recognized that a state must be flexible, changing, and able to withstand the imperfections of individuals who govern. The creators of its constitution knew the endless lessons of grief that so many states and cultures had visited upon themselves and others.

Religious men themselves, they recognized the imperative of separation of church and state. The government of the many, by the many, must be able to learn, change, grow wiser, and embrace tolerance. Where the practice of democracy may not have been perfect, the vision of democracy was clear to its creators.

In the interest of unity – and immediate survival – a nation that was born allowing the institution of slavery was not one of universal democracy. The founding fathers left this chapter purposely blank, knowing that it would take time and cultural growth to correct this injustice. They left their conduct as servants of the state as a guide for future generations.

It is not a perfect democracy where any of its citizens do not have the vote or equal status before the law. Where women, minorities or any other disenfranchised citizens are waiting their turn for an equal voice there is a forming democracy – not a mature one.

Therefore, “democracy”? and “freedom’? are relative, not absolute terms. They are labels on a skeleton system of governance that is only meaningfully defined by the tolerance, wisdom and compassion of its citizens.

Democracy is mature and good only when those who make laws and enforce actions would willingly walk in the shoes of those to whom these laws and actions are applied.

We would add corruption to the blights of a democracy. A wise voice (Eisenhower) warned of the military-industrial complex. If money, greed, and dishonesty buy and sell officials and agencies of government, there is a democracy only in name, not in substance.

We of Amerindia are concerned that what is called “democracy”? is turning back the tide of tolerance, compassion and a truly caring state. In its place grows a rigid doctrine of righteousness and exclusion. We wonder what family is “vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,” what rough beast slouches its way through Bethlehem, and on toward an intolerant democracy.

The Queen of Amerindia