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To the Journal editor:
Occam's razor is a philosophical principle, that when "several" explanations fit the facts equally well, the simplest one is usually preferable or correct.
America is terribly divided, so bad that some citizens and politicians view fellow citizens as the enemy of the state just because they belong to an opposing party, ideology, or religion. Our Founders' faced horrible division, but how did they unite "The People"? Hold that thought.
At the grass root level, I feel American citizens have the same needs and wants: Providing police and courts resources to get violent offenders off the streets; Improving mental-health and addiction treatment; Need of good paying jobs; Promoting small businesses, improving access to competitive markets, while restricting monopolies or special treatment; Addressing inflation and cost of living; Reducing the National Debt; Increasing affordable housing for all income levels; Establishing national monetary/budget policies with transparency and accountability; Climate and Energy solutions balancing science, economy, and technology to build a climate-resilient infrastructure to transition to energy good for the planet; Good affordable healthcare; Access to good education without abandoning public schools. Add in military conflicts, AI, and other complex issues, I empathize why many of us retreat to our in-groups or gravitate to leaders claiming they will fix our woes.
Back to our Founders' time, America was more divided than we are today. The people were being oppressed by a King and his loyalists, and Church of England asserted religious oppression targeting Roman Catholics, Baptists, Quakers, Jewish, not to mention atheists or people who openly believe in another religion.
Yes, the majority of the Founders where religious, but understood oppression divides and for true liberty to exist each of us must be allowed to find our own meaning of life, not be told. Our Founders boiled down society's complex issues and root causes into a simple philosophical human principle, their Occam's razor moment which became a litmus test for every future law, policy, and citizen to uphold. The most profound principle ever written, setting America on the journey of self-improvement: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
In 1808, Congress prohibited importing enslaved people; 1830s-1860s Abolitionist movement reached critical mass; 1863, Emancipation Proclamation; 1865-1870 the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments passed; 1920, Nineteenth Amendment passed; 1924, Indian Citizenship Act passed; 1948, desegregation of the U.S. armed forces and in 1954 public schools; 1965, Voting Rights Act passed.
Creating long lasting and celebrated solutions only happens when our elected representatives listen to their district's citizens, seeks out the best resources, and vets out falsehoods. It's an undisputable fact, when the majority believes in our Founding principle the Nation thrives and the World wishes to emulate. America's history is "We the People's" diary recording our accomplishments and how we learned from our mistakes.
It's our time to write the next diary entry as we strive to improve as a people, as a Nation. This November's election is another litmus test, our personal Occam's razor moment when we pull the voting booth curtain closed and ask ourselves this simple question: "Do we still believe all people are created equal or not?"