8/2/2020 The soul of America
I hope this first Sunday of August finds you safe and well.
I've been considering how our U.S. story is built, in great part, on a singularly damaging error: the elevation of property rights over human rights - or, perhaps worse, the conflation of the two until we struggle to tell them apart.
Consider historical contexts in which women and children were defined as the property of husbands and fathers. Consider the enslavement of human beings (defined as property) to provide labor to exploit the riches of land (property). Consider laws, on the books to this day, that allow property owners to take the life of someone they believe to be trespassing or stealing. And consider the news from cities like Portland and Seattle, in which federal law enforcement fired poison and "less-lethal" weapons, and made arrests for what they considered to be attacks on federal property.
As the Constitution was being developed, full and complete participation in citizenship was predicated on property ownership. Property ownership at the time was restricted primarily to white (European) males. Property owners deserved representation and the right to vote. Others did not. Indigenous people were deprived of their property. Recently freed, previously enslaved people were prevented from acquiring it. The fight to preserve privilege hinges on the restriction of property ownership to a powerful few, and creates a system in which the ownership of property takes on aspects of the sacred. Not land, not life, not humanity. Property itself is given more rights than humans.
Money made from money (property) is the main source of wealth-building in our system of capitalism. Tax codes privilege money made from money (capital) more than money made from labor (people): a system that burdens employers with taxes and health care costs, and frees investors from taxes on their profits.
This elevation of property rights over human rights (or the confusion of the two) creates a deep imbalance in the soul of this country. One opportunity of the times we are in now is the potential to right that imbalance, to restore human rights and dignity as the core value of our political, economic, and social systems.
The message Congressman John Lewis left with the New York Times will help guide us. Read the entire piece, if you have time. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/30/opinion/john-lewis-civil-rights-america.html
Here are a few of Congressman Lewis's words that spoke deeply to me:
"Democracy is not a state. It is an act, and each generation must do its part to help build what we called the Beloved Community, a nation and world society at peace with itself. Ordinary people with extraordinary vision can redeem the soul of America.... The vote is the most powerful nonviolent change agent you have in a democratic society. You must use it because it is not guaranteed. You can lose it."
"...we must put away our willingness to profit from the exploitation of others."
We are facing an intense and challenging three months building toward elections on Nov. 3. Take care of yourselves, as we will need all our strength and commitment to bring about the change our communities are desperate for.
Sent with love and gratitude, big virtual hugs for all, and the final words from Congressman Lewis:
So I say to you, walk with the wind, brothers and sisters, and let the spirit of peace and the power of everlasting love be your guide.