Douglas E. Welch

Civics - 8 in a Series - January 6, 2021 - Sedition, Insurrection, and Treason - My Word with Douglas E. Welch

I never imagined when I started this series, that I would be ever writing about the horrors we have experienced as a nation in the last week.

The Constitution clearly states, “We the PEOPLE of the United States of America…”.

This all changed on January 6, 2021. On this day, a certain amount of our citizens decided that rather than continue our nation and government as it has been for 245 years, they would raise arms against their nation and their fellow citizens in an attempt to overthrow it.

A “Rubicon” was crossed that day.

All of us realized that there are those among us who are not working FOR our society, but rather, AGAINST it. They broke with the basic tenets of society which says that we work together, peacefully — we establish norms and laws, collectively — for the benefit of all citizens. They decided that their rules, their norms, outweighed everyone else in our society and our nation. They raised arms directly against their government and their fellow citizens. I hope that we can all see this as wrong and the antithesis of the society we have tried to create. Some have tried to establish an equivalency between the summer’s protests against racism and the inequitable application of justice. There is none. Attempting insurrection far outweighs anything we have seen. There can and should be no comparison.

Only one group of people tried to overthrow the government last week. They proudly committed their sedition in public, recording their plans and their actions. They cannot deny it and we cannot deny who they were. WE cannot deflect. We cannot lie about who they were. They showed us exactly who they were through their own voices and actions.

These people assaulted our collective society, attempting its overthrow, while simultaneously wanting to enjoy the benefits of our society, but society and civilization require us all to agree, collectively, on some very basic tenets. To abandon those is to abandon society and civilization.

A civilized society demands that we stand together against those who would seek to destroy it. If we do not we will lose our society, our civilization, and perhaps even our lives.

So, just what is “civics” anyway?
Civics is defined as: the study or science of the privileges and obligations of citizens.Civic education is the study of the theoretical, political and practical aspects of citizenship, as well as its rights and duties. It includes the study of civil law and civil code, and the study of government with attention to the role of citizens―as opposed to external factors―in the operation and oversight of government. — League of Women Voters of Delaware.
In order to have the government we want, we need to both understand and engage in civics activities in our local communities. I am dedicated to doing better in 2021. How about you?