Preserving Our American Democracy in an Era of Repression and Regression

Part Two: The Areas of Regression

[This is the second blog of a three-part series focused on what is happening in our democratic republic in terms of repression and regression and what should be done in response to these conditions. In the first, we examined the areas of repression. In this blog, we examine the areas of regression. In the third, we will present and discuss plans for protecting and preserving our democracy.]

For there is nothing mysterious about the foundations of a healthy and strong democracy. The basic things expected by our people of their political and economic systems are simple. They are:

Equality of opportunity for youth and for others.

Jobs for those who can work.

Security for those who need it.

The ending of special privilege for the few.

The preservation of civil liberties for all.

The enjoyment of the fruits of scientific progress in a wider and constantly rising standard of living.

These are the simple, basic things that must never be lost sight of in the turmoil and unbelievable complexity of our modern world. The inner and abiding strength of our economic and political systems is dependent upon the degree to which they fulfill these expectations.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Annual Message (Four Freedoms) to Congress (January 6,1941)

In his famous speech delivered to Congress less than one month after the United States of America had officially entered World War II, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt identified four essential human freedoms: freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.

In April 2020, with the United States of America immersed in a war of a different type on the coronavirus pandemic, all four of those freedoms are being threatened. In part that is due to the catastrophic health and economic consequences of the pandemic itself. It is also attributable, however, to the fact that we are living in an era of repression and regression.

As we noted in our first blog of this series, “The repression has been going on for some…