Time to be a public citizen
Dan La Vigne
Opinion: Time to be a public citizen
LaDuke: Time to be a public citizen
A column by Winona LaDuke, an Ojibwe writer and economist on Minnesota’s White Earth Reservation. She also is co-curator of the Giiwedinong Museum in Park Rapids, Minnesota.
A stalwart and relentless champion of people over corporate profits and corporate government, Ralph Nader continues to work nationally and internationally and, in his 80s, is a good role model for all of us. He always says that sometimes a private citizen must become a public citizen.
Ralph was my hero when I was a little girl, sort of like the “People’s Superhero.” He pushed for legislation to protect consumers. He played a key role in the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), as well as ensuring the use of seatbelts and corporate and government accountability. All things I think we understand and can agree upon.
As Ralph Nader’s Green Party vice presidential running mate in 1996 and 2000, I learned a lot about this country’s two-party political system. And I learned that sometimes you must find your courage and stick with it. We were sued by the Democrats, excluded from debates, and vilified by many. Some people criticized Nader and me for running for that office because it split up votes. I find that laughable, particularly with the disarray of the political system, the Electoral College, the gerrymandering of voting districts and, well, all the ongoing attempts by states like North Dakota to diminish the Native vote.
In my life, I’ve certainly had a lot of challenges and charges, but I’m still here. Democracy and Mother Earth are worth fighting for. Democracy is not a spectator sport. Sometimes a private citizen must step out and become a public citizen — get out of your comfort zone and stand for something. Stand or fight for what you believe in.
That’s now. It’s time to become a public citizen.
I’d like a system that works. And I think a lot of people would. I want government to serve the people, not punish the people, or starve the people, and threaten them with execution. I’d like to see greed not worshipped, but dignity upheld, and I would like to know that my air traffic controllers at Hector International Airport in Fargo are paid for their work.
I believe in nonpartisan, multi-party systems, with ranked voting. I believe in a democracy which allows people like me to participate and vote for people we believe in, not the “lesser of two evils.” And I believe, like the Iroquois and other Indigenous peoples, that we must consider the impact of our actions on the seventh generation from now.
I often think of the first and oldest democracy on this continent: the Iroquois Confederacy. That’s where the six nations of the Onondaga, Oneida, Seneca, Mohawk, Tuscarora and Cayuga laid down their arms and formed a confederacy under a tree of peace, acknowledging that the roots of that tree would spread far with these ideas of how to live together. That was probably about 1200 or so. In that representational democracy, women appointed and removed leaders and sat as Clan Mothers in Tribal deliberations. Ben Franklin and other “founding fathers” spent much time in the Iroquois longhouses, learning the systems of representational democracy, indeed the foundation of the separation of powers, accountability, and commitment to wellbeing. Remember, those guys had no experience with democracy, only monarchy and repression.
Those teachings were intended to be the guiding principles of the representational government that shaped the U.S. Until recently they supposedly characterized the American government. Yet, those same men — Ben Franklin and such — excluded women from voting in elections until the early 20th century. All the while, the Iroquois women were making decisions for their nations.
Stand for what you believe in. The No Kings Movement is something I believe in. It’s estimated that the Oct. 18 No Kings rally was the largest single day nationwide demonstration in U.S. history: 7 million Americans gathered in over 2,700 towns and cities, including Park Rapids and Detroit Lakes, a couple of my hometowns.
A while back, actor Martin Sheen spoke at an event. He told a story about a man going to heaven and asking St. Peter if he could come through the Pearly Gates. St. Peter asked him what he had done in his life, and the man waxed on about all his doings. Then Peter asked him to turn around so he could see the man’s bare back. The man obliged and Peter said, you have no scars. The man said, no, I’ve been careful. Peter asked, “Was there nothing in your life that was worth fighting for?”
To me that’s this moment. I’m sick of seeing environmental protections trashed, and brown people disappear off the streets. I am sick of seeing rich people get more money and crooks get pardoned. And, I am sick of wars, abuse of power and seeing women referred to as pigs.
Now is the time when a private citizen must become a public citizen. Ralph was right.