"E Pluribus Unum" was adopted as the motto of the United States in 1776 by a few men whose name you might remember: Franklin, Adams and Jefferson. The Latin translates as "From many, one." It's on money and on the Great Seal of the United States.
But is it still a true statement? These "United" States are anything but united, anything but one great nation "with liberty for all." The member states, spread "from sea to shining sea" are different in many ways — in population numbers, in racial and ethnic origins, in political affiliation, in wealth and natural resources, in religious beliefs or non-beliefs, in how they define key words such as liberty, justice, fairness, equality, personal responsibility, international relations, and so on.
Instead of speaking with one voice and belief in certain basic principles of government, the USA is not unified, it is as divided as it has ever been in its history. The founders of 1776 would expect today's leaders, the members of Congress and the executive branch, should be focusing their interests and time on reuniting the nation, making it Unum again.
But that is not going to happen. Both parties (George Washington warned us in his farewell address against the dangers of political parties) are pushing agendas to increase the power of their own parties.
Members of Congress hold great power, and the presidency is often described as the "most powerful office in the world." They should all be focused not on power for their partisan interests but for unity and common cause for all Americans.
This country is so divided that some citizens think the last presidential election is still undetermined a year after voting ended in that race. A former president keeps his divisive, disproven, litigated and found false claim of a "stolen" election. His constant repetition of his lies about election results endangers all future elections as segments of the electorate have come to doubt the honesty of all elections. Trust in elections is the beating heart of democracy, and this democracy can die if we let it.
It can be argued that the political office holders, the public officials of this singular nation, are not the real power brokers. The 535 members of Congress (including the Senate) are not as powerful, some would say, as the hundreds of ultra-wealthy individuals and large corporations who "buy" influence on Capitol Hill. Their money makes possible the power of the members of Congress, who may spend half their time asking for money from donors. This makes the United States beholden not to the common good but to the narrow interests. On the most important of issues, elected officials willingly vote against the interests of the people who elected them and vote for the narrow interests of individuals and corporations who accept gun violence on the nation's streets, permit the spoiling of nature and ruining of our water and our atmosphere, and look away when huge numbers of Americans are addicted to drugs being distributed by giant corporations with full knowledge that the pain killers they manufacture are addictive and ultimately fatal.
E Pluribus Unum can only have meaning if Congress, legislatures and voters focus on what is best for everyone, not just the few who have grown wealthy from ignoring what is best for everyone.
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