America needs a reset. Kansas City should lead the conversation | Opinion
America needs to take a serious look at inalienable human rights, governance and paying for its citizens’ wants and needs. In less than a year, our nation will celebrate its 250th year since our nascent nation declared its independence. “We hold these truths to be self-evident,” wrote Thomas Jefferson, “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Curious souls may wonder why only three liberties were cited out of numerous natural rights Enlightenment philosophers put forth. And what might today’s philosophers deem inalienable rights?
America at 250 deserves a thoughtful, courageous conversation about our values and aspirations to ensure that citizens and their representatives are appropriately aligned. What better place to start such conversation than in our nation’s heartland? Kansas City, with one foot in Kansas and the other in Missouri, is accustomed to passionate debate and fierce historic rivalries — yet we come together to root for our sports teams and care for neighbors in need.
Having arrived at a unique juncture in history, we the people must demand a congressional committee consisting of proportionally numbered partisan elected representatives. Their task shall be to recruit the best and brightest changemakers from spheres of academia and education, arts and humanities, economics and history, social and natural sciences, business and technology, agriculture and environment, medicine and pharmaceutics, among others.
In turn, these change agents shall be tasked with surveying citizens about their challenges, dreams, fears and hopes for a reborn United States. They should create the rubric to bring citizens’ cultural values and sensibilities, their roles and responsibilities — along with government response — to create a virtual public square, thus paving the way to America’s elusive journey toward “a more perfect union.” For such a bold initiative, it is expected that artificial intelligence will be integral in moderating human ego, ambition and emotion.
Complex, controversial issues should be examined.
Age limits, lifetime appointments, Electoral College
What kind of government shall we choose: our established democratic republic, a direct democracy or an authoritarian system? We should clarify due process for citizens and residents. Establish a top age requirement for federal officeholders — president, vice president, Cabinet members, members of Congress and Supreme Court justices. These officials should be required to put their assets in a blind trust and submit their tax returns to the public every year while in office. Eliminate lifetime appointments in all branches of government. Replace the Electoral College system with direct elections. Eliminate gerrymandering. Forbid lobbyists from drafting legislation. Adopt ethics standards for Supreme Court justices that meet or exceed those of federal judges. And eliminate political parties, as President George Washington urged in his farewell address to the nation.
Rights, liberties and freedoms should be deemed inalienable: sovereign rights to our bodies — to procreate or not; to end one’s own life; the right to love, marry or cohabitate with whomever we wish; to provide every child early childhood education and to receive education through 12th grade; health care from cradle to grave (Medicare for all); safe, affordable housing; the dignity of a guaranteed job. American citizens should retain the right to bear and use firearms for recreation and self-defense, so long as the weapons are not designed primarily for military purposes. And we must replace our punitive justice system with restorative and redemptive justice system. Americans must also realize their responsibilities for funding the government.
We the people must ultimately bear responsibility for debts and deficits, as well as any new expenses from America’s wish list. Shall we choose a tax structure from an era noted for fiscal responsibility, or a more equitable tax system that ranges from zero for those at or below the poverty, line to an undetermined top tax rate based on income and wealth? And shall we institute a two-year mandatory service requirement (military or other service interest) for every person upon at age 18?
Our Midwestern common wisdom is to avoid these types of conversations about politics and faith. My Granny disagreed. “Don’t sweep the dirt under the rug,” she would say. So let the conversation begin — with frankness and respect — from the heartland to every state in the union.
Rick Hughey of Leawood is a former owner of a marketing communications company, journalism school graduate and lifelong student of history and politics.