On Saturday, Oct. 18, from noon until 2 p.m., Indivisible Sequim will hold another mass demonstration on the streets of our little town.

We’ve seen thousands of our friends and neighbors show up to support us since March when we first sounded the alarm about the rising authoritarianism of the Trump administration, the growing threat to our rights and freedoms, and the tragic cost it is exacting on our most vulnerable citizens — on all of us, for that matter.

We will again join millions of our fellow Americans to send a clear, unmistakable message: we do not want, and will not bend our knee to, those intent on subverting our Constitution, consolidating power in the hands of one man with no accountability, and deliberately, systematically, violating our rights, taking away our freedoms.

This is what we are protesting against with every fiber of our being.

We are again demanding that in this country, there will be “No Kings” with the attendant cruelty, corruption, divisiveness, hatred, and incompetence that always invariably accompany tyranny.

At the same time, we are demonstrating for the ideals — the principles — that we, as a nation, have aspired to for the past 249 years because, make no mistake, those are at grave risk as well.

I say “aspired to” because the historical record is replete with our halting, stumbling efforts and failures to live up to those ideals, to live by those principles.

It hasn’t been only an aspiration, however, and the historical record also reflects the commitment, the sacrifice, the price we’ve been willing to pay to make those ideals, those principles, an enduring part of who we are.

The most revolutionary concept articulated in the Declaration of Independence was: “All men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness — That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed.”

However flawed the phrasing may seem to us today, it was at the time a radical re-framing of what the relationship should be between those who govern and those they govern.

It was the foundation for challenging tyranny in all its forms; it was the basic premise for a wholly different approach to governance.

Eleven years and a war later, the U.S. Constitution was drafted to establish such a government, the Preamble capturing its essence:

“We the people of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

It was a bold new experiment, but it, too, had its flaws, and the pursuit of “a more perfect union” has defined our history and marked our progress — however slow and faltering — as a nation, as a people, for two and half centuries.

On Oct. 18, what we are demonstrating for is a world where compassion, decency, and fairness are values we live by. It is one in which reason, knowledge, and the ability to think critically are embraced as the means to solving tough problems. It is one where people strive to meet challenges and overcome obstacles by working together.

On Oct. 18, what we are demonstrating for is a nation in which every one of us bears the responsibility for protecting and defending the rights and freedoms of all of us. It is a nation where “consent of the Governed” means consent of all citizens, not just powerful wealthy men, select groups, and monied interests.

It is a nation in which, at every level, honesty, integrity, and accountability are demanded of any and all who would govern.

On Oct. 18, what we are demonstrating for is a future dedicated to improving on the idea of America as the standard for what a nation should be.

A future where “government of the people, by the people, and for the people” has not perished but been improved. A future in which we continue moving toward that most aspirational American goal — “a more perfect union.”

It has fallen to us now to envision and articulate what that more perfect union will be — and to make it real.

Come join us Saturday on the streets of Sequim and all across the United States as we strive to achieve these goals.