It’s been a rough few weeks, personally, but even more so for our country

But I’m back!

I haven’t written in a couple of weeks because of my overwhelming sadness. Personal sadness brought on by the realization that one phase of my life is completely over – that would be my professional life as a risk manager. A job I found myself in by complete accident and thrived at for almost 20 years. I rose to the top of my profession and was elected to be president of the national association of enterprise risk management. Then all of that was taken away from me by the Trump administration in very short order. I was pushed out of my job and forced into retirement. Last week I resigned my presidency. This is no longer part of my life and I must accept that and move on if I’m to regain some of my joy. Work has always been a defining factor in my life, as it is for many of us. To be denied that facet of my life has been more devastating that I would have imagined.

But my sorrow over my plight is exacerbated by my sadness for my country and what we are becoming – an authoritarian state. As we “celebrated” the 249^th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence I was struck by how far we’ve fallen so fast (much like my own life) in just 5 months. As I typically do I started looking to history for inspiration or understanding. I came upon the letter from Thomas Jefferson, the primary author of the Declaration, to Roger Weightman who had invited Jefferson to a celebration of the 50^th anniversary of the signing. I found out that this letter used to be read as part of the civics education in our country for many years. How I wish we would reintroduce that tradition.

Too ill to travel, Jefferson instead penned a profound letter that would become his last public statement, written just days before his death on July 4, 1826, the same day that his rival and friend, John Adams died. Jefferson’s letter to Weightman is a meditation on the enduring significance of the Declaration of Independence. He describes the Declaration not as an instrument for one people or one era, but as a document that proclaims “the rights of man” and asserts the self-evident truths of liberty, equality, and the pursuit of happiness. Jefferson emphasizes that these principles are not limited by geography, time, or circumstance; instead, they are universal and belong to all people. What are those principles?

Jefferson writes that these “unalienable rights” are the birthright of every individual, bestowing legitimacy upon governments that protect them and condemning those that do not. In his words, the Declaration “was intended to be an expression of the American mind,” articulating truths meant to inspire freedom seekers everywhere. He believes that the world’s progress toward freedom is inevitable, and he hopes the American example will continue to inspire other nations. Jefferson’s confidence in “the march of mind”—the spread of knowledge and reason—shines through as he predicts the eventual victory of liberty over tyranny. The letter serves as a beacon, encouraging citizens not to take their freedoms for granted but to continually strive to secure justice, equality, and human rights. Even as Jefferson’s own life drew to a close, his words looked forward—with hope—to a world where the “light of science and liberty” would illuminate every nation and every heart.

I wish that all would read this letter on the celebration of Independence Day and routinely to remind themselves of the founding principles of our country. We’ve failed to live up to them all but isn’t that what inspiration is for – the set a goal to work towards? https://contextus.org/Thomas_Jefferson%2C_Letter_to_Roger_C_Weightman%2C_June_24%2C_1826.4?lang=en

I’d like to contrast what is going on in this country today to what Jefferson expresses in his letter. Many of the lessons learned from history were applied to the constitution by many of the same men who signed the declaration. The constitution was designed to enshrine the rights of liberty in law. The law that would be applied to all equally. How far we’ve drifted away from those principles. One of the key tenets of our basic law is the division of power, not allowing one person ultimate authority to control all aspects of life. We have failed at that today as Trump takes more and more power away from the states and locally elected officials. The check on the executive branch is primarily left up to the congress.

The congress has given almost all their power to the executive. The reasons are clear in my mind – the republicans in congress are cowards and only care about their reelection. They see the president as all powerful with their base and therefore will do nothing to stand in his way. In the constitution only the congress has the power to tax – but they have given that right over to the executive in the form of tariffs. Tariffs are taxes. There is no question about that. They have given that power to the president and refuse to take it back. A simple vote to wrest back the power is all it takes. They have also given the president the power to create a police state.

In the new law passed by congress and signed, ironically on the 4^th of July by Trump, the Department of Homeland Security is given the power to create a series of “detention camps” to hold the current boogey man created by Trump and his enablers, migrants – especially brown and black ones. Every authoritarian needs a scape goat and his are immigrants. These detention camps are actually concentration camps by anyone’s definition. As Trump announced when he went to “alligator Alcatraz” to celebrate its opening he’d like to establish a network of camps. In addition to building concentration camps ICE is deploying agents across the country in plain clothes and masked.

These “agents” grab people off the street. Brown people primarily. They do it without a warrant (in violation of the constitution and the laws of our country). They refuse to show their identification or badges in violation of the law. They wear masks and refuse to show their faces. They “detain” people by throwing them into vehicles and taking them away to detention facilities. They arrested a number of American citizens and even politicians who want to see what they are doing at facilities in the city or their state.

The administration has a goal of 3,000 arrests a day. At no time in American history can I find examples of this ever happening. The worst part is 10s of millions of Americans are fine with it. This isn’t American. Do you know what is American? Superman. An immigrant who came to America and made it a better place.

The MAGA movement hate Superman. They are boycotting the new Superman movie because his story is about humanity and we all know that doesn’t cut the mustard with the mouth breathers that are MAGAts. Donald Trump. Nazi Ice Barbie Kristi Noem, Tom Hollman, Steven Miller – are all UnAmerican! Unless you are native American you are an immigrant. My family has been here for almost 400 years and I know that I’m the descendant of immigrants.

I fully expect that the prisoners in these concentration camps will be put to work in the fields harvesting our crops, a job many of them did before being rounded up and imprisoned. The only difference is they won’t be paid. I hope I’m wrong but I’ll bet good money on it happening sooner than later as prices skyrocket for food due to a lack of labor in the fields.

This is America under Donald Trump. It is Un-American in every sense that I ever understood America to be. We are not the shining city on a hill to be looked up to any longer. The world sees it. People aren’t coming here, not even to visit. Inbound tourism to the United States is currently experiencing a decline, with a notable decrease in international visitors. While 72.39 million international visitors came to the US in 2024 current data for 2025 shows a decline indicating a 14% decrease in international travel to the US compared to the same period last year. Land trips from Canada declined by 26% in March, and air travel was down 14% year-over-year, according to the U.S. Travel Association. Visits from Western Europe also saw a decline in March, marking the first decrease since 2021, according to the U.S. Travel Association. The economic impact will be in the billions of dollars according to the travel and tourism association.

It is a sad state of affairs and I’m very sad for my country. I’m confident Jefferson and the other signers of the declaration and writers of the constitution would not approve of todays America.