50 WOMEN OVER 50 FOR MONTANA’S FUTURE
The story of NOW:
Within weeks of my graduation from Havre High School in late May 1972, Montana voters approved a new constitution. I have lived under the fundamental rights of an extraordinary Constitution these past fifty years. Montana has arguably the best State Constitution. Over these five decades, there have been many attempts to undermine or enhance these rights. However, the 1972 Constitution is currently facing its biggest threat.
We live in divisive violent uncivil times. We have experienced the disintegration of many social and civic institutions needed to maintain a functioning civil society. We live in a plutocracy, not a true democracy. Plutocracy describes a society governed either directly or indirectly by extremely wealthy people. It is far too easy for powerful out-of-state interests to manipulate and control our politics as a rural state. Plutocrats can buy Montana Senate seats with less money than most other states.
It’s tempting to assume that voting in the upcoming election is all we need to do to protect our democracy, but that is a misguided analysis of our risks. Not only are we living under a plutocracy, but we are also seeing the signs of rising fascism. So don’t make the mistake of thinking fascism cannot happen in the United States. That delusion ignores our history and the history of other democracies that fascists have taken over.
Legal challenges have been filed against 18 bills passed into law by the 2021 Montana Legislature and Gov. Greg Gianforte. These legal challenges argue that the new laws violate the Montana Constitution. The unconstitutional laws impact the following fundamental rights:
- Women’s reproductive health care choices. (In the last three sessions, the Legislature has also attempted to restrict or undermine our right to end-of-life choices — what is referred to as death with dignity).
- The personal dignity and fundamental rights of persons (especially people who do not conform to strict dualistic notions of gender or sexual preference).
- Provisions that undermine the right to vote intentionally disenfranchise selected categories of voters that tend to be liberal, progressive, young, old, working class, or Native American.
- Provisions restricting an employer’s right to maintain a healthy workplace or that undermine public health measures.
- Undermining our inalienable right to a clean and healthful environment by allowing powerful fossil fuel utility companies to pass the costs of their outdated, harmful energy production to Montana citizens.
- Undermining the separation of power between the Judiciary and the Executive and Legislative branches also undermines the ability to uphold and defend the Constitution.
These unconstitutional laws are only the tip of the iceberg. Suppose we do not take a stand against the rising authoritarianism, religious extremism, and oppression of individual rights. We will find ourselves in the position of “good Germans” who failed to stop the rise of Hitler. We will lose our fundamental right to speak truth to power.
The time to speak truth to power is NOW. The 2023 Montana Legislature will be even more emboldened than in 2021. They may succeed in securing a super majority, which means they will have even more power to destroy the fundamental rights contained in the 1972 Constitution. 50 Women Over 50 for Montana’s Future can make a difference. A nonpartisan storytelling campaign has the power to persuade members of both political parties while maintaining a strictly nonpartisan approach.
If we do not organize to resist those who want to take our fundamental rights away, we will regret our failure to act. The suffering they can inflict on us includes:
- women dying from complications of pregnancy or infertility,
- the inability to adequately manage pain and suffering at the end of life,
- the inability to marry the person we love,
- the inability to vote, or to have our votes count,
- the inability to express opinions that disagree with authoritarians,
- invasions of privacy in our homes and businesses,
- rampant public health crises.
The plutocrats are funding the fascists, which has always been true of fascist uprisings. As we face the threats of massive species extinctions (including a threat to human life on earth), everything is at stake. We are responsible to care for the earth for the benefit of our children and grandchildren so that they might thrive. The exploitation of the earth includes the exploitation of people and all living things. Domination = exploitation.
The time to share our stories is now. Stories have always had the power to teach, inspire, and persuade. During our current crisis of truth, where misinformation is dominant, data and facts are debatable. Stories have the power to change hearts and minds, and in a deeply divided culture, stories help us identify shared values. You may think your story doesn’t matter, your story is private, or you cannot make a difference. But when many of us share our stories, we create a movement for social change. “We” is always more powerful than “me.”
The Story of SELF:
I grew up in a highly political family. My father ran for office as a Democrat and served for 16 years. In the 1950s, my grandfather was an early member of the John Birch Society, a radical far-right conspiracy-driven movement. My parents represented two ends of the political spectrum. I grew up with a unique ability to believe that people could adamantly disagree on almost every political issue and still love each other. I also debated in High School and College, which developed my ability to see both sides of issues.
The national debate topic for my senior year was: the federal government should establish, finance, and administer programs to control air and water pollution in the United States. The Environmental Protection Agency was created in December 1970, and the first Earth Day was in April 1970. Rachel Carson published her book “Silent Spring” eight years earlier. Even though I could debate both sides of the issue, my personal values aligned with the environmental protection movement.
Looking back over the past fifty years, I am confronted by our lack of progress and somewhat ashamed that I have not done more to protect the earth and the non-human world.
Over these five decades, I have remained a political independent. Unfortunately, political campaigns have become increasingly divisive. Republicans and Democrats have harassed me, telling me I must vote straight Blue or Red. I vote my conscience, and I have helped with campaigns for candidates that I know and trust. I advocate for issues and causes that matter to the people I care about, including my children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. I believe we need to think of Seven Generations with every policy we support or oppose.
I have been a Christian all of my life, and the teachings of Jesus shape my ethics. I am deeply disturbed that people who do not love their neighbor, who do not feed the poor or care for widows and children, have become the face of Christianity. It’s disturbing because their actions and words are often hateful and judgmental, definitely not what Jesus taught. The hottest issues for these religious extremists (that call themselves Christians) are abortion and gender normativity (which includes freedom to marry, transgender health care, and forcing women back to the days when women were the property of men without personal rights). The irony is that their positions are not compatible with the teaching of Jesus.
The Story of US:
For me, the gravest concern is domination or oppression related to human-caused changes in our natural world (climate change, environmental degradation, pollution). We are all in the same boat. We are all part of the web of life. Too often, we think we are separate, our actions don’t matter, and the problem is with “them,” not “us.” The truth is that we are all stardust. The entire universe is stardust, gases, and space. Everything we do, or don’t do, matters. The survival of our species depends on our ability to prevent the extinction of other species. Our survival depends on clean air, water, and fertile soil. The climate crisis is not a future threat. It is a clear and present danger. If we cannot overcome our divisions today, we will not find the solutions that will allow our grandchildren to thrive.
I am organizing the 50 OVER 50 project because I tried to find other Montana organizations where I could publicly advocate for all of the fundamental rights provided by the 1972 Constitution. Advocacy organizations tend to get siloed into their specific issue area. Some organizations are working to protect our inalienable right to a clean and healthful environment (two leading Montana environmental organizations were founded in 1972). Women’s organizations have been tirelessly working for over 50 years to defend women’s right to choose. The League of Women Voters led the effort behind the 1972 Montana Constitution, and they are still organizing to support the values of democracy, including voting rights. They recently hosted an excellent webinar, Privacy Our Right to Be Let Alone, focusing on the right to privacy in Montana’s Constitution. You can watch the webinar on YouTube. https://youtu.be/O77LHzFEJfo
I believe collecting and publishing the stories of women who have lived these past 50 years with the 1972 Montana Constitution will make a huge contribution in 2023. Sharing our stories will inspire others to take action to protect and defend our Constitution, especially our fundamental rights. It is an opportunity for women to exercise our leadership to motivate others to join in our efforts to protect these rights. There is nothing partisan about these rights: the right to a clean and healthful environment, the right to personal privacy, the right to individual dignity and equal protection under the law, the freedom of speech, and the right to vote.
The 50 Over 50 project invites women over 50 to share their stories as part of this project. We will offer webinars to train you in the principles of writing and sharing public narratives (stories that change public perceptions). If the writer is willing to share their story on a public blog, we will publish them on this Medium publication. If you are active on social media, we encourage you to share your story that way. If you are concerned about personal privacy, you may publish your story anonymously. The published stories cannot include any reference to membership or participation in a political party, nor can the story endorse a political candidate. If women are interested in forming story circles (groups of 8–12) to build community and empower each other, those will be supported. By early February, we will publish a booklet with 50 stories. We will deliver these booklets to every member of the 2023 Montana Legislature.
If we fail to act, if we fail to prevent the fascist-leaning actions seeking to oppress the many for the benefit of the wealthy and powerful, if we give up, we will end up regretting our inaction. We will be like the good Germans, eventually stunned and suppressed, cooperating with the Nazis while their neighbors and coworkers were forcefully hauled off to prisons or concentration camps. Fascism is rising all over the world. It most certainly can happen here.