By Ruth A. Sheets
May 3, 2026
In Joyce Vance’s “Civil Discourse” Substack of April 30, 2026, she asked a couple of really important questions: why are conservatives so afraid of democracy? Why are they afraid to let the voters decide elections?
After this week’s appalling Supreme Court Roberts 6 decision to gut further the Voting Rights Act, this is my enhanced response to Joyce’s questions. I have been an active political being since I was 14 or 15 years old. I wrote to my governor, my senators and my Rep, even the president, and still do, concerning issues I see as important. One thing I noticed is that conservatives than and now, are people who are scared of the future, although more recently, the fear is showing up in ways and intensities that have not been seen for a while. Conservatives seem also to be scared of life. They often hide in conservative religion which can trap them in a one-way-of-thinking scenario with "sin" at the center and that everyone is an evil sinner, or everyone but they themselves is (it varies).
As I see it, conservatives think they got whatever position they have in life through their own unaided natural ability and skill, but possibly down deep, fear that isn't the truth. Instead of realizing that most people have doubts like that, they put others down, wanting to keep them down, thinking that will somehow raise themselves up.
Many conservatives don't want to "let voters decide elections" because those less-talented, lower-class voters would never pick the “right” people. Believing that, those in charge of American conservatism must rig the election in favor of the "good" guys (usually men) or ultra compliant women, and with money, media, and some AI, they do.
These days, maybe always, conservatives tend to get wealth in a variety of ways and will fight really hard to keep it and use it for themselves to get even more. It seems wealth begets conservatism; conservatism often fosters wealth for those at the top too.
Non-conservatives have a range of points of view, and rightly so. Those often conflict, which can mean a lack of unity. Each group may have its own goals, its own “critical” issues to fight for, its own style. Often those non-conservatives don’t take the time to heed each others’ issues, certain theirs is the most important. Conservatives have had decades, maybe centuries to shape their message, too often involving lying, blaming, deceit, name-calling, gaslighting, etc. One might correctly think they need these tactics because their message is poor or unpopular. Conservatives seem to listen to no one and nothing but money and their personal comfort, so they use whatever they can to undermine their opponents, their enemies.
Our nation and planet are in trouble, all of us. As far as I can tell, conservatives don’t really care as long as they get theirs. It is critical that non-conservatives find many different ways to work together to defeat conservatism, or at least put it on a back shelf. We truly don’t need its efforts to wreck our lives, our democracy. We can’t stand by and just watch everything destroyed that this nation has worked for as it “progresses” toward forming “a more perfect union.”
We can decide on, as many have recommended, a set of positions, issues that non-conservatives can hold in common and can stand on no matter what is thrown at us, like:
- valuing diversity and the histories of all groups;
- stopping divisions stoked by conservatives and others;
- ending violence against immigrants, closing concentration camp prisons, abolishing ICE and limiting Border Patrol to the borders;
- developing ethical requirements for our Supreme Court, term limits to 18 years and limiting the number of justices any one president can appoint, increasing the court to 13 justices to cover all districts with 1 justice each;
- ending gerrymandering of all kinds while making sure minority voters actually have proper representation;
- reforming our tax code to make taxation fair for everyone, everyone pays at least a bit and those who have more pay a whole lot more, including corporations;
- limiting shareholder power in corporations;;
- bodily autonomy for all people, not just men;
- enhancing support programs for all Americans: SNAP, WIC, FEMA, whatever is needed;
- universal healthcare;
- nominees for judgeships/justices approved by at least 3 independent legal organizations, with candidates who have experience on the bench or quality legal cases they have handled;
- regulating AI while at the same time valuing and supporting science and research;
- working harder for renewable energy and restoring our environment as global warming is seriously addressed.
I bet there are a few others, but those would be a start that all non-conservative candidates could support. It's time to come together to stand against the scared white conservatives who would destroy everything we have so they can feel safe and in control of those scary others, rather than try to improve life for all.
