Power Belongs to the People: Peace, War, and Public Accountability
Power Belongs to the People: bold truths on peace, war, and accountability. Read Essay No. 1 of The Accountability Papers and reclaim your voice.
The Accountability Papers: Peace, War, and Public Accountability
Friends, there are moments in every nation’s life when the ground shifts — when old certainties tremble and the way forward seems uncertain. We are living in one of those moments now. The march toward concentrated power, the erosion of democratic guardrails, and the temptation to treat war as a tool of political convenience are not new dangers. They are ancient ones. And they are dangers that Americans have faced before, stared down, and refused to accept.
Think of the generation that debated a Constitution from scratch, arguing furiously about the limits of executive power. Think of those who marched through fire hoses and billy clubs to demand the rights democracy had promised. Think of the citizens who filled town squares and wrote letters and ran for office and organized neighbors when their country drifted from its own ideals. Every time, America found its way back — not because of any single leader, but because ordinary people refused to stop believing in something larger than themselves.
“When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.” — Jimi Hendrix
That simple truth has never been more urgent. Peace is not weakness — it is the highest form of strength a civilization can demonstrate. And yet we live in an era where military force is too often treated as a first instinct rather than a last resort, where the suffering of distant civilians is abstracted away by technology, and where the true costs of war are hidden from the public that must bear them. We cannot allow that to continue. The voices of history are clear:
“We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other’s children.” — President Jimmy Carter
“Peace cannot be bullied into existence.” — Ali Jarbawi
These words remind us that peace is earned through restraint, courage, and accountability — never through domination. A republic does not send its sons and daughters to war on the impulse of one person, in secrecy, without legal basis, without a plan, and without the consent of the governed. The values that must guide us on matters of war and peace are neither partisan nor abstract. They are human, and they are non-negotiable.
We hold these Peace, War, and Public Accountability truths to be self-evident:
War should require approval from Congress, broad public support, a lawful basis, and a real plan.
No president should drag a nation into war by impulse, ego, secrecy, or political distraction.
Civilians should never be treated as acceptable targets. Children are never collateral damage.
AI, drones, and advanced weapons do not erase moral or legal responsibility.
No country should wage war by cutting off water, food, medicine, or electricity to civilians.
Air, land, and water should not be poisoned in the name of military victory.
Military force should be a last resort, not a first political reflex.
Defense spending should be transparent, justified, and accountable to the public.
A government that funds endless war while neglecting people at home has lost its moral compass.
None of this requires perfection. It requires participation. It requires the stubborn, unglamorous, irreplaceable act of showing up — at the ballot box, in the town hall, in the letter to your representative, in the conversation with your neighbor. The authoritarians of every age have counted on the silence of the majority. They have always been wrong when that majority found its voice.
We are Americans. We have faced tyrants and depressions, wars and injustices, and every time we have come back stronger — not by accident, but by choice. The choice belongs to us now. Peace is not passive. Accountability is not automatic. But both are possible — because they always have been — when the people refuse to look away.
Take action: Tell Congress to pass the War Powers Resolution and stop Trump’s illegal war in Iran
Why the Grassroots Resistance Can’t Wait
The movement for freedom over fascism, progress, and power to the people starts here.
Take action: Tell Congress to pass the War Powers Resolution and stop Trump’s illegal war in Iran
📢 Take action: Submit an official comment rejecting the criminalization of dissent
💸 Take action: This Tax Day, tell Congress to tax the rich and make life more affordable for working people and families
🗳️ Take action: Tell Congress to stop the SAVE America Act and defend the right to vote
🪖 Take action: Tell Congress to stop Trump from sending American troops into Iran and vote no on the draft
🛑 Take Action Now: Tell Congress: Block the $10 billion scam to fund Trump’s Orwellian Board of Peace
🗳️ Bonus action: Register to vote, vote in every election, and help your community do the same. Reproductive freedom is won and lost at the ballot box.
👑 Bonus action: Sign up for the next national No Kings Day of Action and show up in solidarity with everyone whose rights are under attack.
Together, we can champion our rights, freedoms, and democracy, hold our leaders accountable to the people’s will, and inspire voters to make a meaningful difference.
Laurie Woodward Garcia (paid with hugs and kisses, not bought by special interests) Leader, People Power United
People Power United | In this community, we will always speak out against racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia, antisemitism, homophobia, misogyny, sexism, ageism, ableism, sizeism, elitism, transphobia, misogynoir, and bigotry!
This is our moment to rise, resist, and reclaim our rights, freedoms, rule of law, and democracy. Millions of Americans are already refusing to back down — in the streets, at the ballot box, and in their communities.
Every movement that was ever won started with people who refused to quit. We are those people.
The future is not lost. It is being built — by us, right now.