5 years have passed since the beginning of the Iraq war, 7 years have passed since the beginning of the Afghanistan war, we have recently witnessed the foothills of failings in our financial institutions, it has been 7 years since 9/11, we have lost 4,168 brave soldiers to war, and an additional 30,634 have been wounded in battle.
I would like to commemorate the passing of these events with an act of Democracy.
Below you will find the first page of an enormous "open letter" to government that I have written titled "War Is My Concern, but it is Not My Only Concern" The topics discussed in the letter are broken into 2 primary sections: Domestic Concerns and International Concerns. Each section offers a clearly bulleted list of suggestions for change and the text is designed in such a way that you could easily get the idea of the letter from simply reading the bold text.My letter is the result of roughly 6 months of writing and editing. In the beginning I simply couldn’t bare the weight of my DIScontent any longer. Writing it out allowed me to breathe easily again. What began as a small project, aimed at catharsis, has evolved into something much larger than I ever imagined it would be.
My intent is to inspire a global conversation between myself and anyone who might take the time to read my letter —though initially, the intended audience for this letter were the government officials in office and those who aspire to take office in the future. I am happy to share it more broadly now. Perhaps you too will become a part of my conversation with government. I believe that the voices of the people can drive the evolution of our Democracy and I think our Democracy is screaming for direction.
My expectation for posting this letter, for all to see, is not that every person will agree with me but that after reading my letter each person will have an opinion as to whether they agree or disagree. The issues at stake in the upcoming election are matters of life and death for many people in the US. We should all know what we have given up thus far and to whom we have given—before we elect to give any further. My hope is that this letter will speak to the people and, in turn, inspire them to speak to other people and to their elected officials.
Thank you so much for participating.
Sincerely,
Diane DaCruz-DiDonato
You can find the on-line version of this letter at:
http://warismyconcern.wordpress.com/
This version is complete with photos and a table of contents that will allow you to click back and forth between sections of the letter. If you plan to skim the letter, it is easier to do so through the blog.
OR you can send me an e-mail and I will send you the PDF attachment so that you ma forward or download it.
Excerpt:
(Page 1 of 77)
"To whom this may concern:
I cannot write to you on behalf of "we the people." I am one-person -one small vessel in the many of "we." I write to you now, in this tumultuous time, because my future cannot forego the price of looking the other way.
On behalf of myself, the ones that I love, and any person in my future that might look to me for explanations: I write this letter to address any and all candidates vying for the presidency of 2008, to all current state and federal officials elected or appointed, to all state and federal officials to be elected or appointed, and to all current and future members of Congress.
My name is Diane. Who I am is irrelevant. I don't have money, no one knows me, and I can't offer space or favors. I am a U.S. citizen. I write to you because I love my country. I write this letter because I've not met one person who thought this letter could make a difference—not one person who still believes that we live in a society where individual voices dictate change. I write this letter not as a Republican or a Democrat. I write this letter as an American. My bias lies solely in the lap of Democracy. I was raised to believe that America upholds Democracy—a Democracy that elevates the lives of its constituents by distributing equal opportunities amongst the masses—a Democracy that works for the people rather than against the people. I was raised to believe that America upholds a value system that inspires and encourages the human spirit to thrive. What I see today contradicts the values of the founding fathers. I believe that it is my responsibility as an American citizen to give voice to what I see because I see Democracy failing.
I write to you because I see a new version of Democracy emerging that has forgotten the people and that is NOT acceptable. In the 2008 Presidential election, I hear the word "change" being tossed around like a political football from one candidate to another. I don't want "change." I NEED restoration. I love our constitution and I would like to see you, who we have elected, do your job. You were hired by the people to protect that, which the founding fathers considered sacred—the United States Constitution. I don't need any of you to be right or wrong about how we got here. I NEED a plan for how best to implement the restoration of our constitution. Restore the checks and balances that made our country the leading world power that it is. Partisan politics are no longer acceptable. The American people hire government officials to advocate on their behalf and, above all, for their benefit. I write this letter to let you know that I expect every one of you to do your job. Consider this letter a job review as well as an official notice that we might just have to let you go."