An Open Letter to Donald Trump–10/1/2020
- Phoenix Congress 2020 represents members of the American Union, who are willing to vote for both Republicans and Democrats in the 471 federal races who will meet our terms, including Donald Trump. This is part of a series of open letters explaining our demands.
October 1st, 2020
Dear President Trump,
Mr. President, today is the first day of October. Across the United States, the signs of autumn can be observed in the changing colors of the leaves, the briskness of the air, and the shortening of the day. Autumn represents the transition from summer to winter, the end of one season and the beginning of another.
The cycle of the seasons is not unlike the Phoenix cycle in American history. Every four generations, or 80 years, there has been a major shift that changed the very core of the way Americans live and relate to their country. Four generations ago, the New Deal was passed. Four generations before that was the Civil War, which resulted in the 13th amendment. Four generations before that, the Declaration of Independence was signed.
2020 is a year that brings the next cycle for the American social contract. Our nation will forge a new path with the next administration. Americans across the country are worried about what the next era of society–the new social contract–will bring. You can see the evidence of that fear in the extreme rhetoric from the two major parties and their supporters this election cycle. This fear is not new, but it has been building and in 2020 it seems to be at a boiling point. However, the Phoenix Congress believes that even in the midst of extreme partisan division, there is one thing voters can agree on: their desire to see our country be more prosperous, just, and peaceful.
The founding fathers had the same desire when they wrote the Constitution. Written into the Preamble are five duties that Americans are responsible for fulfilling, both individually and collectively. Those five duties are to establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty for themselves and their posterity. The founders knew that the promise of what America could be would only be realized if American citizens felt an obligation to pursue it–that is why those are duties, not rights or privileges.
Mr. President, the Blueprint for a Better America is the type of legacy-defining legislation that America needs in order to shape its future and fulfill our five duties. This legislation is on the scale of the New Deal and the 13th amendment in the way it brings broad, sweeping reforms to the social contract. The Blueprint for a Better America will end poverty, end mass incarceration, and end the endless wars–it will address the triple evils of American society that have been a plague since before Martin Luther King Jr. identified them decades ago.
Tomorrow, October 2nd, 2020, is the International Day of Nonviolence, and the birthday of Mohandas Gandhi. The Blueprint for a Better America legislative package will be released, and the countdown for you to accept the terms of the deal offered by the Phoenix Congress officially begins.
The offer is simple: you enact the Blueprint for a Better America legislation by October 30th and you will receive the vote of the American Union members. To show your support for this legislative package, the Phoenix Congress invites you to join our fast for peace on October 15. As a sign of good faith on your part, we demand that you announce a pardon for the political prisoners Reality Winner, Edward Snowden, and Julian Assange at the next debate. We look forward to your response.
Respectfully yours,
Other articles on Medium:
Series of open letters to Trump: Listed on our website
A call to action around Martin Luther King, Jr.’s triple evils: The Marginalized Must Unionize in 2020
A look at our duties as Americans and the legislation they inspire; The Blueprint for a Better America
