Saving American Democracy : My Daily Peace

My Daily Peace

the daily ramblings of a freelance writer & editor

“In Germany, they came first for the Communists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist; and then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist; and then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew; and then … they came for me … and by that time there was no one left to speak up.” - Martin Niemoller

This quote, spoken by a reformed anti-semitic after being imprisoned by National Socialists, outlines how a lot of Americans currently feel about the direction of our country. Much of our freedoms have been stripped since the attacks on our country on September, 11, 2001. The Patriot Act, which was passed so quickly that it was obviously already written, chills many Americans to the bone.

Naomi Wolf’s new book, The End of America: A Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot, addresses this very topic of saving American Democracy.

As taken today from the Washington Post discussion with Naomi Wolf, she writes:

“My reading showed me that there are 10 key steps that would-be despots always take when they are seeking to close down an open society or to crush a democracy movement, and we are seeing each of those in the US today. The first step is to invoke an internal and external threat - often a real one. The second is to establish secret prisons where torture takes place. The third is to build a paramilitary force. The fourth is to create a surveillance apparatus trained at ordinary citizens.”

This book takes past historical events and compares them to current ones, in an effort to see where the checks-and-balances are really breaking down, which were intentionally put in place by our country’s Founders because they knew what happens when tyrants use their power to strip away liberties.

I am so excited that this kind of dialogue is finally happening in such a public forum, and I hope that this book, and other articles written about our declining liberties, will begin to sink into the collective conscious of American citizens in time for the next election.