Why I'm Hopeful About the Future of the United States of America
"It is participatory and local, the kind of thing that Alexis de Tocqueville raved about after visiting the country back in 1831. It is how democracy in America is supposed to work."
By Denise Rivette
Each week Zanny Minton Beddoes, Editor-in-chief of The Economist, a weekly British-based magazine in publication since 1843, sends out an email to subscribers describing the process of choosing the graphics and text for the cover of that week’s edition of the magazine. It’s an intriguing peek into the editorial staff’s perspective on a subject as they condense the substance of their reporting into a few words and images. Some weeks, the commentary is so spot-on and well-rounded that it serves as a primer on a subject. This week’s American cover focuses on the movement on one side of the abortion issue, what The Economist calls “America’s most dynamic political movement” and “the grassroots movement that could yet decide November’s presidential election.” While the cover captures the focus of the article inside, the de Tocqueville reference in the commentary excerpt below captures what keeps me hopeful about the future of the United States of America.
Minton Beddoes introduces the discussion on designing the cover by stating:
“A third of American women aged 15-49 now live in states where abortion is either illegal or impossibly restricted. Some states have passed statutes so severe and vaguely drafted that doctors fear they may be forced to choose between saving a patient’s life and breaking the law. Yet gloomy as this reversal seems, it has also given rise to America’s most dynamic new political movement: a revolt of millions of Americans who think that the government has little business inserting itself into private decisions.”
With that in mind the editorial team started designing the cover with images of women’s hands holding gavels and played with variations on the universal sign for women. These images were meant to evoke the Dobbs Supreme Court decision and the backlash against it. The Economist describes the Dobbs decision as assigning “people more or less choice depending on where they live.”
The editorial team then switched gears “to focus on politics rather than the law.” They switched to an image of Rosie the Riveter holding a gavel. Rosie the Riveter represents American women who worked in factories during the second world war as well as the economic emancipation that comes from working outside the home. The gavel didn’t work visually, so they looked for an object that would help convey the scope of their reporting. A vote on a ballot and some elements from previous versions completed the graphic.
“At a time when America is divided in two, we also have citizens coming together to fight for a single cause. The pro-choice movement involves more of them than any such uprising since Black Lives Matter in 2020 or the Tea Party more than a decade ago.
This new movement is not made up of keyboard warriors vying for attention online, but of people giving up their weekends and evenings to try to persuade their neighbours of their arguments. It is participatory and local, the kind of thing that Alexis de Tocqueville raved about after visiting the country back in 1831. It is how democracy in America is supposed to work.”
It is my opinion that The Economist almost gets it right, except for excluding the efforts of the pro-life movement. I believe it is fact that “America is divided in two” and that we “have citizens coming together to fight for a single cause.” But I also believe that, in addition to those fighting for a single cause, there are citizens who are pro-choice and citizens who are pro-life who are above all pro-American Democracy and who are working to find ways to come together to find common ground.
Participatory and local are two features of this political season that will be crucial for America’s survival as a country and a democracy and for Carbon County’s cohesion as a community. Public officials and the electorate coming together to apply modern knowledge and constitutional tenets to craft and enact legislation that meets the needs of today’s citizens and is supported by a wide swath of our diverse populace is the only constitutional way to move forward as the United States of America. To that end, Montana Independent News is working with others to put together a series of weekly community gatherings during September and October that will include candidate forums with audience participation in addition to social time to meet and exchange ideas with other Carbon County voters and the candidates while enjoying refreshments. Statewide and local candidates have expressed an interest in participating. The vision is to provide a space where Carbon County residents of all political stripes can gather together to learn about the candidates and to civilly discuss issues with them and each other.
In addition, Montana Independent News will be submitting questions to November’s candidates tailored to their race and circumstances. If you have any questions you would like to ask the candidates, please let me know by responding in the comments section, emailing me or Direct Messaging me through Substack.
Working together is the only way democracies and representative republics work. Let’s work together today to ensure we all have a voice in how we are governed tomorrow.