08 October 2022
Who Are Ordinary Americans?
Frank A. Ocwieja
7805 Carteret Road
Bethesda, MD 20817
Tel: (917) 403-2090
e-mail: faocwieja@gmail.com
TO: The New York Times letters@nytimes.com
ATTN: The Editor
DATE: 8 October 2022
Timothy Shenk’s OpEd in the 8 October 2022 NYT advocates putting political power back in the hands of “ordinary Americans.” That is exactly what the current Republican Party has been more successful at doing than the Democrats. Ordinary Americans have become passive citizens.
Right-wing Republican leaders recognize that close to half of Americans have been stunted by overpowering communications media and have abandoned critical thinking. The technology behind the media overtaxes the intellectual capacity of the average human.
“Critical” is a dirty word to Republicans, when it comes to thinking, race theory, or any domain that power-seekers choose to use in their quests. Correcting the recent distortion of liberal democracy, therefore, will require arming “ordinary” people with the knowledge and tools (like Constitutional reforms allowing direct voting and reducing dependence on representative government) they wed to win back control.
In the end, democratic reform will require a single-minded effort to inspire citizens to realize the importance of their active participation in the process of governing. That can prevent wily politicians from ignoring the objectives of liberal democracy and using its mechanisms to serve their parochial ambitions.
Sincerely,
Frank A. Ocwieja
