Nicholas Johnson
Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 20, 2019, p. A7
Democracies can correct policy mistakes. They can't correct anything after the destruction of institutions without which we have no democracy: a respected, independent judiciary and mass media, public education, libraries – and efforts to ease and encourage voting.
The Iowa legislature politicizes our founders’ non-partisan judiciary, disparages the media, cuts funding for education, reduces the number who can vote and increases the difficulty for those who can. This is not just legislation, or politics as usual. This is how democracies die, “not with a bang but with a whimper.”
It’s essential we watch for the signs of a deteriorating democracy and know how to fight back.
On Saturday, March 30, 4:00 p.m., there will be a discussion of these issues at Prairie Lights, 15 S. Dubuque St., along with a reading from Columns of Democracy. Hope to see you there.
-Nicholas Johnson, Iowa City
For more on this event see, https://www.prairielights.com/live/nicholas-johnson
and, Columns of Democracy, Columns of Democracy.com
No comments:
Post a Comment