We have had important US elections but this one in November 2020 is undoubtedly the most important. Why? America and the values by which it was created, and the world, are teetering on collapse. That's not hyperbole by any stretch of rationality.
Throughout the world the pitchforks are out and being sharpened as you read this.Think you can avoid the inevitable outcome in your little secure Villages? Well, think again. It's only a question of probability. History is replete with the death, destruction, and carnage that couldn't be outrunned.
About 45% of the American population and its congress are willing to let an emotional occupant in the White House have the nuclear football at his beck and call. Are you crazy or what? And now, the nuclear option includes low yield warheads that make it more likely that a world leader who has asked "what's the use of having nuclear weapons if we are not willing to use them?", will actually trip and fall into the abyss of insanity. That's just on the right of the political spectrum.
Growing on the left is an impressive array of young progressives and women with the backbone willing to confront the failings of the unequal "trickle on" neoliberal old white men economic policies. Not since the culmination of the anti-Vietnam war protest, that virtually peaked with the shooting of students at Kent State by the US military, has the left roared. Their power comes from the fact that their ideas, wants, and desires most represent the values of not only the middle-class, but also the actual values and opinions revealed by the majority when polled on individual issues.
This is not a new struggle but one that is forged in violence, starting with the American Revolution and intensifying with the American Civil war with over 700,000 Americans dead. And this led not to a period of calm but to a "reconstruction" era.
Ushered in was an era of not only innovation, economic growth, and great wealth for a few that Mark Twain coined as the Gilded Age, but it also was a period of class struggle. It was a period of rampant income inequality, abusive labor practices, and domestic terrorism towards former slaves and freedmen. An era where primarily Republican excessive corruption and economic greed led to economic collapse and the Great Depression.
But out of the despair, destitution, and lost dreams rose the New Deal which gave America, and much of the rest of the world, the blueprint for the period of prosperity we now enjoy. And now we face our greatest challenge in Global Warming. And that which gave us our prosperity, challenges us to evolve beyond our rudimentary animalistic instincts and become the stewards of our earthly environment as proposed in religious scriptures since near the beginning of humanity.
Yes, we have made great progress towards "civilization" of our worst instincts both in America and in the world. But we have much further to go if we are to survive this genetic experiment we label humanity.
I personally support the campaign of Bernie Sanders. I send him money and I expect to vote for him in March. I hope to vote for him again come November. Why? Bernie Sanders can best be described as the perfect opposite of that in the White House now. I would love to see Elizabeth Warren as his trusted VP. I am not at all sure about the other candidates.
What Is My Motivation?
I simply wish to return America to the New Deal that was put forth by FDR in the 1930's. Republicans blocked it from reaching its full promise of the "Four Freedoms" that President Roosevelt outlined. However, much of Europe went on to surpass the US in concern for its citizenry. And that is what Sanders proposes while others denounce him with misrepresentation, self-serving mischief and outright lies.
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While I am much closer to end of life than beginning, I myself am a product of excellent public education, excellent healthcare through the veterans healthcare system, and 7 years of nearly free higher education. I have a safety net in Social Security payments for me and my wife along with Medicare insurance for her. And also with our own initiative, we have prospered beyond that. I have enjoyed the Four Freedoms FDR proposed at the time of my birth and I see no economic reason others should not enjoy the same now and into the future. I have gained my "Four Freedoms" on the back of a system designed by FDR for me to prosper. I did not do it alone. Those "old conservative white men" that say you can't have it now are just self-serving and offering you bullshit.
Yes I am an old white man myself living the life of luxury by world-standards in the retirement haven of Florida, I am surrounded by old white men that vote to extend the Jim Crowism-style democracy of the reconstruction era, who deny the working-poor basic healthcare with no Medicaid expansion, and elect a known billion-dollar-thief of Medicare funds as Governor and Senator. Shame on us. Florida is one of those states that deny the basic tenets that brought it prosperity in the first place. Yes, we are a shameful communal bunch of narcissistic greedy bastards that will surely burn in hell if there is in fact a vengeful God.
Photo Caption: Do we really want to prostitute daughters so they can have the same education we got for virtually free? (URL in photo removed by author. I refuse to give free advertisement to corruption and evil as the corporate media gave to much of the election coverage in 2016.)
The vision that America was to be a shining example was first derailed by the human slavers and railroad barons and now by the political corrupters and money-slavers of Wall Street. It is a future still yet unwritten. It can be a future of peace and prosperity or a future of premature death and suffering. It is increasingly unlikely there will be anything in between. Reader, this awaits your personal decision.
There is no doubt in my mind that a Sanders-Warren administration, with the support and cooperation of both the public and the government, will usher in the greatest prosperity in human history. And with that, we might just survive the climate crisis that we have thrust upon ourselves. Without it, we will surely fail.
Then, our children and grandchildren will curse us and they will suffer immensely in a world that has warmed by 4 degrees. Hopefully, they will struggle to survive in a small pocket in an increasingly inhospitable world not near where you now stand but on the shores of the Arctic Ocean. What's not to like by letting go? A bulging 401k and respect of your grandchildren.
This is no secret or great revelation. It's obvious. And many already understand this including the children and grandchildren. They just are not too sure what to do about it...yet. Yes, the pitchforks are out, being sharpened, and yes the Bastille will be stormed. And no physical, virtual, or imaginary border wall will hold out the angry mob that's on the verge. Will you get trampled?
In 1960, and again in 1992, the football was passed to a new generation that has now aged and become a generation of old tired white conservative men. A generation responsible for more than 50% of all greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere. OK guys, it's time to give it up. You have one last chance to do the right thing before you become worm food. Now pass the ball to someone who will at least try to score and allow younger generations to not only survive but to succeed where we have failed.
About the Author
Robert Jennings is co-publisher of InnerSelf.com with his wife Marie T Russell. He attended the University of Florida, Southern Technical Institute, and the University of Central Florida with studies in real estate, urban development, finance, architectural engineering, and elementary education. He was a member of the US Marine Corps and The US Army having commanded a field artillery battery in Germany. He worked in real estate finance, construction and development for 25 years before starting InnerSelf.com in 1996.
InnerSelf is dedicated to sharing information that allows people to make educated and insightful choices in their personal life, for the good of the commons, and for the well-being of the planet. InnerSelf Magazine is in its 30+year of publication in either print (1984-1995) or online as InnerSelf.com. Please support our work.
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This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 License. Attribute the author Robert Jennings, InnerSelf.com. Link back to the article This article originally appeared on InnerSelf.com
Remember Your Future
on the 3rd of November
Learn about the issues and what's at stake in the November 3, 2020 US Presidential election.
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