I look at my two beautiful daughters, and my amazing partner – and I sometimes can’t help but feel guilty for not being able to buffer them more from the every-day tension and hollering this nation has been experiencing since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. I know politics in America has rarely been cordial – but the last 19-months has been a horrendous journey for this country, in many ways.
Sadly, much of the hollering and anger has come from the failed two-party system in America – a system that no longer recruits support/votes based on great policy and law-making but uses the toxicity of anger and fear to gather momentum. A system that is content with dividing the country into two-parts, and doing their best to only appeal to 51% of the population – which always leaves 49% feeling left out of the discussion.
A system that I call the “Perpetual Negation of Progress” as every four to eight years the country experiences a shift in power – from one incompetent group to another. Is red or blue running the show for the next term? And, it’s inevitable the new group, who spent four-years degrading the other group, will undo what the previous administration had done – even if what was done is popular amongst the populous…negating any resemblance of progress.
How do we move forward, in a more productive way, as a country – if the two major political parties who have been around since the 1800’s, utilize misinformation, anger and fear campaigns to achieve their ultimate goal, which is power over the population? How can we trust either Democrat’s or Republican’s to have the entire nations best interest as the priority, all of the time – not just half of the nation for four to eight years? How can we not see the blatant elitism that exists in Washington DC, and every state in the union? Well, because the elite have and always will make the laws that benefit their own – while pitting the poor, working and middle class against each-other. I feel, especially in California, that is exactly what the democratic party has done for generations.
In 2018, the LA times ran an article titled “California’s members of Congress are worth at least $439 million.”
To reinforce this point – and this will include a few members of the California political elite that aren’t just in Congress – but names that will assist in validating this point:
Net Worth by Politician:
- Gavin Newsom: $20 million
- Ro Khanna: $27 million
- Diane Feinstein: $58 million
- Nancy Pelosi: $100 million
This is just the tip of the iceberg for California representatives – either state or federal – and this isn’t unique to California, either. Elite members of our communities (we call them politicians) continue to make laws and policies that benefit them – while they throw some peanuts at the broader community (maybe Universal Basic Income, or Food Assistance) to keep them voting, and content. Not successful enough to build wealth and own a home, car, etc., – but just enough to keep them quiet, and angry at the other side. This is the political approach for many of the elected elites – who often times can’t get elected without millions in disposable income to effectively campaign.
Look, if I was super rich – I would also yearn for power, creating laws and rules that benefit me, while the peasants fight for toilet paper on the shelves of Costco. I wouldn’t mind driving my $100,000 car to my multi-million-dollar mansion in a gated community – where I drop my kids off at the best schools in the country, and eat at the fanciest restaurants. A community that has private security, and you won’t see homeless people shooting or smoking drugs on your sidewalk, right after taking a poop on your porch (sad, but true). One bill from the extravagant French Laundry could cover the monthly food cost for most families in the state of California – I’m sure the food is delicious – maybe Newsom will share with me if I show him my vaccine passport.
I suppose my point is – how can you address pressing issues and priorities if you have no idea how to empathize with the general population – and have never, not even slightly, walked in our shoes? How can you create a political landscape that is designed to exclude entire groups, yet say you can effectively represent an entire region or country? Why is it that we group each-other into categories, now more than ever (black or white, vaccinated or unvaccinated, Trump Supporter or not), and point our fingers at each-other? Why does it seem like our sense of community has devolved into only allowing me to be in your circle only if I completely agree with you on every topic?
Whether it’s California, where politicians think they are Hollywood super-star elites – or your most rural areas in the country – Washington DC, state governments and their media mouth pieces (Fox on the Right, CNN/MSNBC on the Left) are trying their best to lump you into a category/group, and convince you, without ever meeting someone, to dislike them based on their political part affiliation, or in some cases, the color of their skin. There is an effort to take away the individuality in us all, and prescribe prejudgments to strangers – and I for one, who bought into it initially, refuse to fall into this behavior trap anymore.
Did I vote for Trump? No, I did not. But, I have friends that did – and I love them all the same, as they simply have a different perspective, but are the same person I always loved. Would I vote for Biden again? No, I would not. His recent speech, where he attempts to mandate our way out of a pandemic, while singling out a particular group, truly defines my point in this post. The Democrat’s and Republican’s have become so hungry for power and control – they will use divisive propaganda to force others to do something against their will, in the name of “democracy.”
Well, that sounds more like a dictatorship to me – and I encourage every American who cares to register as a non-partisan/Independent, so we can take the power away from the two-party system, and expand the potential of recruiting elected officials that will actually put country above party. This, and only this – a shift from the two-party system, will start the process of creating a more reasonably governed society, with more accountability. A place where our children don’t have to live in blankets of anger and division sown by those who should be protecting them, and providing guidance.
To My Kids - The Thoughts of Your Father 