The tragic events of Jan 6, 2021 at the United States Capitol Building have overshadowed the condition that preceded them—a long-gestating breakdown of public trust in the institutions of government, including the electoral process. This distrust is epidemic throughout the trans-Atlantic sector, and has created a strategic instability of concern to the whole world. The continuing failure to work with Russia, China, India and other nations—nations governed by ideas and in ways divergent from our own—to reverse the foolish economic conditions and failed policies that turned the Covid-19 threat into a global pandemic will, if not reversed, soon bring down each and every government of the trans-Atlantic world.

The duty of each citizen in a free republic, when confronted by an existential threat, is to do as Benjamin Franklin and Martin Luther King did—create a more perfect Union.

This January 18th event happens on the anniversary weekend commemorating the birthdays of both. Founding Father Benjamin Franklin, the leading scientist of the eighteenth century and the intellectual leader of the American Revolution, admonished his posterity that they had been given “a Republic, if you can keep it.” The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, America’s leading advocate in the 20th century for the fulfillment of the United States' Constitution through non-violent direct action, sought to do that, and succeeded.

Now, it is our turn. Let us use this doubly significant occasion to reject toxic partisanship in favor of the measured, dispassionate examination of grievous violations of the national public trust that have been not only alleged but also documented by those in our nation that are often voiceless.

Introduction:
"Injustice Anywhere is a Threat to Justice Everywhere" -- Martin Luther King & Today’s Crisis in the American Presidency
Dennis Speed - Schiller Institute NY-NJ

Beauty Over Violence: Beethoven, Schiller, and the Idea of the Sublime
Helga Zepp-LaRouche - Schiller Institute - Founder and Chairwoman

Love Conquers Hate: A Schiller Institute 1995 Conference on Creative,
Non-Violent Direct Action
(video excerpts featuring civil rights leaders Rev. James Bevel and Rev Wade Watts)

Dialogue: “You Have Not Converted A Man Merely Because You Have Silenced Him” -- The Deeper Implications of the Digital Oligarchy’s Suppression of Thought
Members of the Schiller Institute International Investigative Commission on Truth in Elections

Panel Discussion:
“Truth And Reconciliation: For A Citizens' Committee on Truth in Elections”
Participants will discuss the past two decades of dissatisfaction with and dysfunction in the American electoral process, culminating in the crisis of 2020. The question posed by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. “Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos, Or Community?” is the discussion’s starting point.

Questions and Answers Session