The Inherent Strength of a Democracy
by Lawrence Kadish • June 2, 2022 at 2:30 pm
In the movie Juarez, a 1939 film that dramatized the life of Benito Juarez, Mexico's "George Washington," a screen writer drafted words for the freedom fighter that send a message to every democracy today, "If a Monarch misrules; the people change... If a Presidente misrules; the people change the Presidente..." The film debuted on the eve of World War II when 20th Century "monarchy," -- fascism -- had installed itself as one of the most destructive and murderous forces the world had ever endured.
In our current era, when a president's ad-lib remarks have the means to alter world events, when inflation is forcing Americans to choose between paying the rent and putting food on the table, when our allies wonder whether this administration has the courage and stamina to confront an ever more powerful China, one could easily question the future of our nation.
