The following is a New Year’s democracy wish list for America:
— That term limits are established of 12 years for members of the House and the Senate, and 20 years for Supreme Court justices. It is past time to break the sclerotic status quo of our current system.
— That the leaders of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, not just the foot soldiers in the “Army of the Big Lie,” be held accountable for the insurrection.
— That the Constitution be viewed as a dynamic, living document amenable to necessary changes, not as a sacrosanct text immune to updating.
— That both sides in our toxic political divide realize that the only route to a peaceful, positive future is through compromise.
— That compulsory national service for all 18-year-old Americans be implemented to inculcate in the next generation a sense of service and sacrifice all too lacking in much of this society.
— That one’s patriotism be measured by sacrifice to the country, not the number of American flags one displays in their yard or on the back of their vehicle.
— That a bipartisan federal election law be passed that mandates procedures and policies for the election of federal officials (House, Senate, executive) so that every state is following exactly the same procedures Enough of one state suing another state because of which candidate they voted for.
— That Americans develop a better balance between our obsession with individual rights and our oft-ignored responsibilities to the greater good. The current debates over mask mandates and vaccinations are the latest examples of a rights/responsibilities paradigm dangerously out of equilibrium.
— That we collectively recover a shared fealty to this country’s democratic institutions and traditions, thereby avoiding the storm of autocracy darkening America’s horizon.
Robert Beck
Peterborough