Democracy is far more fragile than I thought it was when I was growing up. We’ve seen it tested in 2016, but clearly the American people voted in 2020 for an administration that believes in upholding the values of democracy. It was reaffirmed in 2022 at the midterms across the country when many election deniers failed to gain office.  I am a rational optimist. We cannot rest on our laurels.  Democracy needs us to be active in living up to the promise of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness for every individual. We do have to fight for democracy; if not daily, then in every election cycle, from the local school board to the Federal offices all the way up to the President of these United States of America.

Freedom is not free. We have to keep fighting for freedom and democracy. Voices have to speak up.  I want to win this at the ballot box. Let’s keep democracy! Let’s fight for a better future. Get out and vote.

All of us are born without hate or gile; yet, religion is trying to teach us that we are not enough and that we do not have purity without their brand of religion. Being a good person has nothing to do with organized religion or even faith. This is why I am an atheist.

Can we continue to be the leaders in science, technology and discovery while religion infuses our government and society?

I think we can! We need to move forward to what our Constitution and its amendments promise everyone.  We need to stop following religious zealots and look to science.  When we act together, leading from science, from our brilliance as a beautiful melting pot, we do very well.  There is nothing we cannot accomplish.  

I recently read the book Net Positive by Paul Polman and Andrew Winston which started me thinking about how and where I can make a net positive impact on the world.  If you are not familiar, net positive is “a philosophy that is based on trying to maintain a positive balance in your life by doing more good than harm and contributing more than you take.” (Source: Effectiviology.)  While it can be hard to be positive, it is worthwhile.  Here are some areas where we can be net positive: 

My take on makiing a more perfect Union is the continual process of improvement of the country.

 I’d like to see our educational system push entrepreneurialism rather than just focusing people on “having a job.”  If you just have a job, you are not building wealth, and you may feel unfulfilled, without heart.  Your expectations get pushed into a small box; rather than having big dreams to realize.  All of this can have an impact on your health.  Let’s take a deeper look at wealth, health and heart.

I am now a recovering perfectionist, and I strive to practice each of the ten steps of wholehearted living from Brene Brown on a daily basis.

The relationship between politics and justice has not changed since 380 BCE (before the Common era).  Plato defines politics as a “dirty business mainly to manipulate the unthinking masses, and fails to nurture wisdom.”  If we look at the lead-up to the events at the Capitol on January 6th, 2021, we see how true this can be.

With the Biden win, we have preserved democracy for the time being. We still have work to do...alot of work.  We must continue the fight for democracy pushing back against fascist, racist rule...rule by oligarchs, rule by the few and rule by the worst. In the United States, we are still fighting systemic racism as we see in the unfairness of the electoral college and current tax policies.