Eleanor Roosevelt advocated the rights and needs of the underprivileged and disadvantaged as a social and political activist, lecturer and author before entering the White House and becoming the first activist First Lady. After FDR died, she became Chair of the UN’s Commission on Human Rights. She then challenged the world with a bold moral vision rooted in her humanitarian convictions and her steady faith in human dignity and worth. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which affirmed life, liberty and equality internationally for all people regardless of race, creed or color, has inspired the world to improve the plight of men and women the world over, and to create hope for their children and grandchildren.
In today’s deeply divided political landscape we have allowed our leaders to shoot down any new idea that may have benefited the country, by creating an atmosphere of uncertainty around these ideas. Yes, we have allowed this to happen, and we did so through our intolerance for new ideas that would create positive change and our fear of change. We did so by not thinking for ourselves, voting strictly by party lines and allowing those who lack vision to do our thinking for us. We did so by being apathetic and complacent and refusing to vote just at a time when we had a chance to make a difference and shift the direction the world was heading. We did this by not demanding change from our elected officials and not holding them accountable for their decisions and actions. We allowed them to instill so much fear in ourselves, our families and our friends that we no longer engage in dialog with those who hold different opinions, deeming them unpatriotic, without listening to their viewpoints. We must never lose sight of the fact that we are still a democratic nation. The only ones we can ever blame for the lack of vision in this country is ourselves, the voters who share the responsibility of electing our leaders into office.
What Can You Do?
It is never too late to change. Yes, there will be great dues to pay because of our complacency. And it will take time and new leadership to heal our nation and our relations with a world that now views us at best with suspicion, and at worst, as a tyrant nation. However, we must never give up. We owe our children and grandchildren a better tomorrow. If you feel inspired to instigate change, you can take action right now to promote rapid change:
Engage in critical thinking. When you hear something on the news, investigate its source. Ask whether it is actually newsworthy, or just another fear-based form of media or partisan manipulation.
Engage in systems-thinking. Begin to ask whether what you are hearing is a cause or an effect of another, deeper rooted cause. If the news you are hearing is just the effect of something else, continue seeking and asking until you come to the root cause. Then, familiarize yourself with the patterns of cause-and-effect so that you will be able to recognize them more easily in the future.
Speak out for the healing of the great divide. Inform others that you believe in collaboration, co-operation and collective action and that a group committed to a common cause has tremendous power. Do not feed what you are against. Keep in mind that whatever you focus on you end up creating. If you are against the war, you will end up creating more violence, destruction and war. Be for something—be for peace.
Engage in dialog with friends, family and colleagues. Share your concerns without emotional attachment. A good way to do this is to ask them questions about how they feel about a certain situation, and by letting them know how you feel about the topic at hand.
Organize with those who share a common vision. When you begin to find that you are not the only one thinking a certain way about an issue or topic, organize yourself together with those who share your sentiments locally, then seek out affiliations with regional, state and national groups who hold the same objectives. With the availability of information on the Internet today, this is easy to achieve.
Make your voice heard in Congress. Once organized, present your issues to your elected officials at a local, regional, state, and national level. Make your voice heard, and demand change.
Treat each election as a high-priority event. Enter the date in your calendar and plan all of your appointments around these important days so that your voice can be heard.
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