Right Now We鈥檙e Living the 鈥楢llegory of Bad Government,鈥� and We Have an Obligation to Resist It
On April 25, I was thrilled to deliver a TED Talk in Vancouver. I鈥檓 a lover of Italian art, and one of my favorite old masters is Ambrogio Lorenzetti. In 1339, Lorenzetti finished a series of frescos whose message resonates with us today as President Donald Trump attacks the values that define America.
Lorenzetti鈥檚 鈥淎llegory of Good and Bad Government鈥� is a reminder that good government is characterized by Justice, Concord, Peace, and Wisdom while bad government is animated by Division, Avarice, Fury, Vainglory, even Tyranny. When good government reigns, all is well. When bad government plagues the realm, the Tyrant usurps the power of the people and the citizens suffer.
For me, and I hope for you, the paintings are a call to action. Democracy, as I say in the talk, is not a spectator sport. Since January 20, bad government is ascendant. But good government 鈥� in the form of people taking to the streets and the courts working as they should 鈥� has shown that the American people and our form of government will persevere if we stay vigilant and jealously guard our liberties.
Our choice is clear: We can either stay in the streets or find ourselves painted into Lorenzetti鈥檚 鈥淎llegory of Bad Government.鈥�
%3Ciframe%20allowfullscreen%3D%22%22%20frameborder%3D%220%22%20height%3D%22315%22%20src%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fembed%2FAhUhpfKeLus%3Fautoplay%3D1%26version%3D3%22%20thumb%3D%22%2Ffiles%2Fweb17-adrted-thumb.jpg%22%20width%3D%22560%22%3E%3C%2Fiframe%3E
Privacy statement. This embed will serve content from youtube.com.
Here is the text of my TED Talk:
Silicon Valley is obsessed with 鈥渄isruption.鈥� But these days, the biggest disruptor didn鈥檛 come out of Silicon Valley. It came out of steel towns in Ohio, rural communities in Pennsylvania, the Panhandle in Florida.
This last presidential election was the mother of all disruptions.
Once again, politics is personal. Millions of Americans became activists overnight, pouring into the streets, in record numbers, in record time.
The election did to family holiday dinners what Uber did to the New York City taxi system.
Couples have broken up. Marriages disrupted.
And the election is doing to my private life what Amazon is doing to shopping malls.
These days, the 老澳门开奖结果 is on the front lines 24/7. If I try to sneak away for a few miles on the treadmill, any cardio benefit is instantly obliterated by the blood pressure spike that comes with reading another presidential tweet on the headline scroll.
Even my secret pleasure of studying the Italian painters has been infected by politics.
鈥淎rt is a lie that makes us realize truth,鈥� said Picasso.
I study, even stalk, the old masters. This is my desk 鈥� with my postcard exhibition of famous and obscure paintings 鈥� mostly from the Italian Renaissance.
Art used to provide a necessary escape from the hurly burly of politics and my work at the 老澳门开奖结果.
Not anymore.
I was at the women鈥檚 march in San Francisco the day after inauguration. The crowd was chanting, 鈥淭his is what democracy looks like.鈥� Suddenly, I flashed on an old Italian fresco that first captivated me many years ago. Holding my sign and umbrella in the rain, I struggled to remember all the different pieces of an actual painting of good and bad government. It's almost like the old master was taunting me, "You want to know what democracy looks like? Go back and look at my frescoes." So I did.
In 1339, Ambrogio Lorenzetti finished a monumental commission in the governing council chamber of Sienna鈥檚 Palazzo Pubblico. His paintings still speak to us 鈥� even scream to us 鈥� 800 years later.
鈥淎rt is a lie that makes us realize truth,鈥� said Picasso.
And as we search for the truth about government, we should keep Ambrogrio鈥檚 work 鈥� not a lie but an allegory 鈥� in our collective mind鈥檚 eye.
In Lorenzetti鈥檚 time, the political legitimacy of Italian city-states was often on very shaky ground. Sienna was a republic. Yet there had been enormous unrest in the two decades leading up to the commission.
Sienna鈥檚 political leaders, who would literally govern under the eyes of these allegorical figures, were Lorenzetti鈥檚 audience. He was cataloging the obligations of the governing to the governed.
You can spend years studying the frescoes. Some scholars have.
I鈥檓 hardly a scholar, but I am passionate about art.
A work this massive can overwhelm me. So first, I focus on the big stuff.
This is the 鈥淎llegory of Good Government.鈥� The majestic figure in the middle here 鈥� dressed in Sienna鈥檚 colors 鈥� personifies the republic itself. Lorenzetti labels him Commune, and he is telling the Siennese that they 鈥� not a king or tyrant 鈥� must rule themselves.
Surrounding Commune are his advisers.
Justice is enthroned and looking up at the figure of Wisdom, who actually supports her scales.
Concord 鈥� or harmony鈥� holds a chord that originates from the scales of Justice and binds her to the citizens 鈥� making them all compatriots in the republic.
Finally, we see Peace. She looks chilled out, like she鈥檚 listening to Bob Marley. When good government rules, Peace doesn鈥檛 break a sweat.
Big images. Big ideas.
But I really love the small stuff.
Disruptive. Messy. Loud. That is what democracy looks like.
Along another wall, Lorenzetti illustrates the impact of good government on the real and everyday lives of ordinary people, with a series of delicious little details.
In the countryside, the hills are landscaped and farmed. Crops are being sown, hoed, reaped, milled, and plowed all in one picture. Crops and livestock are brought to market.
In the city, builders raise a tower. People attend a law lecture 鈥� a TED talk of the 14th century. School children play. Tradesmen thrive. Dancers 鈥� larger than life 鈥� dance with joy.
The republic is watched over by Security, whose banner reads: 鈥淓veryone shall go forth freely without fear.鈥�
What鈥檚 incredible is that these images, 800 years old, are familiar to us today. We see what democracy looks like. We experience the effects of good government in our world, just as Lorenzetti did in his life.
But it鈥檚 the 鈥淎llegory of Bad Government鈥� that has been haunting me since November 9. It's badly damaged, but it reads like today's newspapers.
Ruling over Bad Government is not the Commune, but the Tyrant.
He has horns, tusks, crossed eyes, and braided hair. He obviously spends a lot of time on that hair.
Justice now lies helpless at his feet, shackled, her scales destroyed. Justice is obviously the key antagonist to the Tyrant, and she's been taken out.
Around the Tyrant, Lorenzetti paints the vices that animate bad government.
Avarice is the old woman at left behind him, clutching her strongbox and a fisherman鈥檚 hook to pull in her fortune.
Vainglory carries a mirror. Lorenzetti warns us against narcissistic leaders guided by ego and vanity.
On the tyrant's right, we find Cruelty.
Treason 鈥� half lamb, half scorpion 鈥� lulls us into a false sense of security and then poisons the republic.
Fraud 鈥� with the flighty wings of a bat.
On the Tyrant鈥檚 left, Division is clothed in Sienna鈥檚 colors. Si and No are painted on her body. She chops her body in half with a carpenter鈥檚 saw.
Fury 鈥� wields the weapons of the mob 鈥� the stone and knife.
Democracy mustn鈥檛 be a spectator sport.
In the remainder of the fresco, Lorenzetti shows us the inevitable effects of bad government. The civic ideals celebrated elsewhere in the room have now failed us. And we see it.
The once beautiful city is falling to pieces. The countryside is barren; its farms abandoned 鈥� many in flames.
In the sky above, the winged figure is not Security, but Fear. Her banner reads: 鈥淣one shall pass along this road without fear of Death.鈥�
The final image 鈥� the most important really 鈥� is one that Lorenzetti didn鈥檛 paint. It is of the viewer. Today, the audience for Lorenzetti鈥檚 fresco is not the governing but the governed: the individuals who stand in front of his allegories and walk away with insight 鈥� who heed a call to action.
The frescoes warn us that we must recognize the shadows of Fury, Division, Vainglory, and even Tyranny when they float across our political landscape. Especially when those shadows are cast by individuals loudly claiming the voice of good government 鈥� promising to make America great again.
And we must act.
Democracy mustn鈥檛 be a spectator sport.
The right to protest. The right to assemble freely. The right to petition one鈥檚 government. These are not just rights. In the face of Avarice, Fraud, and Division, these are obligations.
We have to disrupt our own lives 鈥� so that we can disrupt the amoral accretion of power by those who would betray our values. We 鈥� we the people 鈥� must raise Justice up, bring peace to our nation, and come together in Concord.
We have a choice. We can paint ourselves into Lorenzetti鈥檚 nightmare of Bad Government. Or we can stay in the streets.
Disruptive. Messy. Loud. That is what democracy looks like.
Learn More 老澳门开奖结果 the Issues on This Page
-
News & CommentaryDec 2024
Civil Liberties
We Need to Know More 老澳门开奖结果 State Supreme Court CasesWe Need to Know More 老澳门开奖结果 State Supreme Court Cases
State Supreme Courts interpret laws that impact some of the most intimate parts of our lives. Communities have a right to know what鈥檚 on the docket. -
Press ReleaseDec 2024
Civil Liberties
New 老澳门开奖结果 Report Reveals Most State Supreme Courts Fail to Meet Key Transparency MeasuresNew 老澳门开奖结果 Report Reveals Most State Supreme Courts Fail to Meet Key Transparency Measures
NEW YORK 鈥� Nearly half of all state supreme courts across the country fail to regularly post new cases they are considering, with only six meeting four key transparency measures already implemented by the U.S. Supreme Court, according to a new report published today by the 老澳门开奖结果. The report identifies significant steps that state supreme courts should take to inform the public about their cases, which have only grown in importance as the federal judiciary has become more hostile to protecting core rights and advocates have turned to state protections and state court litigation in response. Based on an analysis of the practices and policies of the highest courts in each state, including D.C., the report 鈥淪corecard for State Supreme Court Transparency: How Does Your State Stack Up?鈥� ranks each state supreme court in five tiers based on compliance with four key transparency measures. These measures include posting new cases online in a timely manner, providing timely information about legal issues presented by cases, making dockets accessible and free for the public, and making merits briefing accessible and free for the public. 鈥淪tate courts regularly hear 鈥� and are the final word on 鈥� cases affecting abortion rights, voting rights, criminal justice reform, and more. Yet, in many instances, the highest state courts do not provide meaningful public access to information about cases affecting the rights and liberties of millions of people. We urge state supreme courts to bring more transparency to the critical work they do,鈥� said Julie Murray, co-director of the 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 State Supreme Court Initiative. 鈥淚n the face of a federal judiciary increasingly unwilling to protect core rights and an incoming administration that threatens to exacerbate that problem, state courts are an important defense for our liberty. They should be leaders in transparency, too,鈥� said Bridget Lavender, Skadden Fellow with the Initiative. The report emphasizes that state courts 鈥減lay an outsized role鈥� in many parts of the law, but their ability to 鈥済uard our liberties depends in significant part on whether those courts adopt transparent processes.鈥� It further highlights that state supreme courts have led the way on enormously consequential decisions in recent years. In particular, some state supreme courts have recognized the right of same sex couples to marry, and did so long before federal courts. They have also declared the death penalty unconstitutional under state law despite contrary federal law, protected access to reproductive health care as a right even as that right was being stripped away at the federal level, and provided more robust protection to people subject to unreasonable searches and seizures. The report urges state supreme courts to take action to improve their transparency practices, taking notes from the courts that have already implemented these measures. It notes that regularly posting new cases and the issues they represent, and providing timely access to dockets and merits briefing allows the public, the press, and the legal community to track cases as they unfold, identify cases with statewide consequences, and understand what鈥檚 at stake. -
Press ReleaseNov 2024
National Security
+2 Issues
老澳门开奖结果 Urges House to Kill Bill that Could Give Trump Admin Power to Crush Dissent and Go After Political Enemies老澳门开奖结果 Urges House to Kill Bill that Could Give Trump Admin Power to Crush Dissent and Go After Political Enemies
WASHINGTON 鈥� The 老澳门开奖结果 strongly urges the House of Representatives to vote NO on H.R. 9495, the Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act, which would grant Donald Trump and his handpicked secretary of the Treasury power to investigate and effectively shut down any tax-exempt organization 鈥� including news outlets, universities, and civil society groups 鈥� by stripping them of tax-exempt status based on an unilateral accusation of wrongdoing. 鈥淧assing this bill would hand the incoming Trump administration a dangerous new tool it could use to stifle free speech, target political opponents, and punish disfavored groups,鈥� said Kia Hamadanchy, senior policy counsel at 老澳门开奖结果. 鈥淭he freedom to dissent without fear of government retribution is a vital part of any well-functioning democracy, which is why Congress must block H.R. 9495 before it鈥檚 too late.鈥� While there is a 90-day 鈥渃ure鈥� period in which a designated nonprofit can mount a defense, it is a mere illusion of due process. The government may deny organizations its reasons and evidence against them, leaving the nonprofit unable to rebut allegations. This means that a nonprofit could be left entirely in the dark about what conduct the government believes qualifies as "support," making it virtually impossible to clear its name. Last month, the 老澳门开奖结果 and a diverse array of over 130 other tax-exempt organizations 鈥� including human rights, reproductive health, and immigrants鈥� rights groups 鈥� wrote to Congress urging them to vote no. The letter also explains that the groups do not oppose the provisions in H.R. 9495 that relate to preventing the IRS from imposing fines and penalties on hostages while they are held abroad. Indeed, these provisions have already passed the Senate on their own, and if the House of Representatives were to pass a version of this bill that did not include the text of H.R. 6408, it could be sent immediately to President Biden for his signature. -
News & CommentaryNov 2024
Civil Liberties
Donald Trump Will Return to the White House in January. The 老澳门开奖结果 is Ready.Donald Trump Will Return to the White House in January. The 老澳门开奖结果 is Ready.
Starting in 2016, the 老澳门开奖结果 filed more than 400 legal actions against Trump and his administration. As Trump returns to the White House, we鈥檙e ready to return to the courts and Congress to fight for our civil liberties.