To the Editors:

What do you think our parents and grandparents, members of that storied “Greatest Generation,” would have to say about the behavior of the United States recently? The generation that sent their husbands, fathers, and brothers to face what must have seemed like certain death to respond to the rise of fascism in Europe. The generation that recognized women were invaluable outside the home and in roles not limited to wife and mother. The generation that witnessed the eradication of devastating diseases like polio and smallpox thanks to the creation of life-saving vaccines. Would it fill them with pride to watch our government crack open the fascist playbook to control the media, dehumanize segments of society, and turn everyday citizens into rabid proponents of rounding up the “unwanted?” Would they smile at the idea that a woman’s sole purpose in life is to bear children, whether she was a willing participant in their creation or not? Would they applaud to hear that the science which saved many of them from a life of crippling debilitation, paralysis, or even death, has been tossed aside for conspiracy theories and childhood mortality?

The United States, known to that generation as the shining beacon of democracy, is no longer recognizable. We are failing them by allowing this country to continue down this dangerous path toward fascism and oligarchy. We are failing each other by allowing our government to turn us against each other and stop seeing humans, only “others.” And we are failing ourselves by not fighting hard to live up to the ideals the Greatest Generation believed they had instilled in us. Do better, America. 

–Katie Rivet