Will America Ever Change?

A few years ago, at Sundance, we watched the premiere of the Edge of Democracy. The director, Petra Costa, earned an Academy Film nomination for best documentary. The film is a personal political memoir growing up watching the unraveling of two presidencies.

What stuck with me is how the Brazilian constitution is set up. It is a federative and presidential republic. Like ours, it is the foundation of all legal decisions. My takeaway is that not much will ever change in Brazil, so presidents are tossed in jail by the new leaders, which then repeats itself.

Our Government repeats too but in different ways. We get to vote for a new leader every four years and other elected officials, so we could say the people decide who is in power. But that would be way too simple.

I keep wondering how we get past the anger and divide in this country? And how divided is it? If we got rid of the electoral college and vote, including the number of Senators in each state, we would become more united as a nation. Now it is a game of redistricting, so the Republicans always win. The states should have equal representation in the house and senate based on how many people live in those states. But now, a small state carries as much weight as a large state holding us all back. The way the money works in elections is called white supremacy. I heard that again and again from the women who finally broke through to hold an elected role in the City Council of NY.

Will our Government or the people ever make a significant change to eliminate the elevating anger in this country, or will we continue, like Brazil? And that scares me as an American.