With everything escalating in the world right now, and Republicans imploding, I don’t understand why Democrats are so inept at the use of media. The Right calls it a “Liberal Media” (if that were true, there would be liberal ideas non-stop) but we know that is not true.
- Two of the largest hurricanes ever recorded hit back-to-back and they tell us, now is not the time to talk about climate change, even as islands vanish from the face of the earth. Where is the Democratic voice who will champion the silenced EPA?
- Republicans in the very states that now need FEMA funding have raged and voted against social disaster relief programs in the past, and while the media points it out, Democrats make only cursory mention of it. Even as the programs take center stage, where is the defender promoting these necessary “big government” social programs?
- We have been in need of infrastructure spending for so long I can’t even remember how many roads and bridges are in need of repair. Now that even more are destroyed by hurricanes and floods, where is the hero to call for job creating infrastructure legislation?
- With so many displaced U.S. citizens in dire need of basic food, water and shelter, healthcare should easily be front and center. Especially since the Trump administration slashed funding for Obamacare sign-up drives and has threatened to end scheduled payments to insurance companies; Trumpcare would be Deathcare. It’s a tragedy in the making. Thanks to Democrats, single payer healthcare is more popular than ever right now, but where is the chorus of voices that got us this far?
- Now that more workers are needed in disaster reconstruction and skilled labor for regular seasonal food production, it’s the perfect time to praise immigration, work visas and even unions. Why are the champions of labor silent?
Who is raising the hopes of a collective action? Where is the call to arms that will rally the Democratic body to itself in a unified purpose? Does anybody really think the “Better Deal” slogan is going to inspire people to get out and vote? Have we all become the blind leading the blind?
If there is one thing we can be certain of is that Americans want change and want it now! Obama promised it, but didn’t deliver. Trump sold us change, but it turned out to be the daily changing of his diaper while he tweets policy.
The wage income gap is as wide as ever. The poor are still as poor as ever. Xenophobia and fear of immigrants has escalated so much that we are planning to cull our own to “purify” the nation by deporting Dreamers in the name of “compassion.” Our bridges and roads are crumbling while cities are under water and still no leaders can bring themselves to feel outrage in hopes of a better deal?
“People Over Profits”
It’s just that simple.
Now is the time to rise up, speak and gather the party with a unified message that actually addresses all of these issues. Democrats do try to govern, but policy wonks, like Hillary, will not capture the support of an angst filled populace. Certainly not a populace that is so easily manipulated by a media that is itself so easily manipulated! We have been cyber-attacked, and for the love of power and profits over people, this administration remains in denial.
We could scream Nazi, traitor, anti-christ, white supremacist, or any other apt derogatory description all year and little will change. Fear and mob mentality is taking hold. It is written in scripture, “without a vision, the people will parish.” Democrats trying to win people over or inspire them with “better this, better that, better blah blah blah,” is not a vision.
We all hope for something better, but prefixing everything with the word “better,” is not a strategy or a mission statement and certainly not a vision. Surely at least that much is obvious from every “bigly” and “best” and absolutely Orwellian statement Trump has blathered on about from day one of his presidency.
What we need is a clear vision expressed in the simplest way possible to convey an idea whose time has come. An idea that carries all the hopes and dreams and aspirations of a people.
Citizens United was what I call an “Animal Farm” policy. A clear declaration of how some people are more equal than other people and a shot across the bow of our Democracy. It put profits over people by declaring that corporations are people.
It also gave fuel to the rising “cult of personality” that Orwell describes and Trump is a product of. This “greed is good” mentality was a clipping of wings of the angels of our better nature. We have been in moral decent ever since.
Government has been hijacked by oligarchs of indeterminate origin since profits now have power over people. The logical, direct, and only response to this, from a rising justly motivated America, can only be to reestablish that we value People Over Profits.
It may seem a distant ideal, but it is a vision that all people can rally to and agree upon. For too long have the wealthy guided the narrative of Americans while using that narrative to hoard the wealth of our labor for themselves under the guise of “trickle down economics.” Orwellian statements, campaigns, policies and even bills have been promoted and enacted into law that do the opposite of what they claim.
Now we have arrived at point in American political history where almost every agency is staffed by a person antithetical to what that agency’s mission is. We are witnessing our own deconstruction and we must find the will to speak out and say, “No more!” We can rise and reclaim our heritage, if we wake from the complacent stupor we have succumbed to… but will we wake?
Will we remember the value of people over profits? Is it too late to halt the rising tides that have creeped up on us because we are too stubborn and in denial? Mesmerized by the twisted writing on the wall that is a testament to our values, now opposite of what we once believed? “People Over Profits” is the mantra that can restore us to sanity. If we want it, we need but declare it and begin to act as if we do place people over profits. Until we do, we won’t get a “better” anything.