With the midterm election just days away, maybe the largest conversation in this moment is about acceptance. I hesitate to say “freedom” rather than acceptance because that word has been co-opted by those who spout freedom in the same breath they are taking it away. A gun rights activist spouts “freedom to bear arms” whilst failing to address the gun violence in our schools, super markets, and synagogues. A vaccine denier and anti-masker spouts “freedom” while forgetting their place within Community, not understanding that community health initiatives allow us freedom to move around as opposed to being in lockdown. An anti-trans spewer of hate screams “religious freedom” while denying that trans person the safety to hold their own space and walk in the world without fear of harm. There are legitimate fears in this world, some are real and others manufactured. Evidence shows us where the actual threat is. There is no evidence to suggest that guns are being taken away or even threatening to be taken away. The very citizens who spout Second Amendment rights are, in fact, the same group who actually attacked our country. They were not defending themselves from the government as second-amendment rights advocates tend to argue; they were ATTACKING the government. Evidence has shown that getting vaccinated and wearing masks were and are successful deterrents from spreading the coronavirus and other infectious diseases. However, anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers refused to get the vaccine or wear a mask because of their freedoms. Meanwhile, with that decision, they took away everyone’s freedom to gather and move about the world safely. They increased the length of the pandemic and caused more deaths…and all they had to do was wear a piece of cloth over their faces for the good of the community. Religious fanatics cry “religious freedom” as an excuse to discriminate against those whose lifestyles they don’t agree with. No one is preventing them from practicing their religions; they instead are the oppressors, telling others how to live, persecuting those who don’t adhere to the ever-changing hegemony that is our culture.

ALL of these issues boil down to one side failing to accept the reality of persons who don’t fit into their definition of what is “normal” or traditional. These divisions are exacerbated by the media, a tool for any group to either utilize or weaponize in order to push their own narrative or agenda. Culture wars have existed since the dawn of societies. Culture wars are a tug of war between those who want to keep the status quo (or even go backwards to an earlier way of thinking and seeing the world) and those who want progress, change within society to make more lives better and resources more accessible. Conservatives or traditionalists see progress as “dangerous” or chaotic, usually because they don’t understand how or why a change is happening. Liberals or progressives see change as inevitable, making room for growth of acceptance in society from those traditionally excluded, moving the needle of understanding to be more inclusive, less restricting. Division is driven by fear of losing power, that hegemony…or power shifting…usually viewed by one side (in this case, conservatives) as a zero sum game. In their minds, when one gains power, another loses it. This doesn’t necessarily have to be the case. Power shifts depending on many factors. In a democracy, it makes sense to ensure that more people hold power, not less. Democracy was built so that majority rules rather than allowing a monarch or a few wealthy people to determine all our fates. When one side (in this case the conservative side) sees their power being lost, rather than changing their views or ideas to align with the majority, they begin to manipulate the system in place to their advantage, increasingly putting limits on democratic voices through power plays such as gerrymandering, voter suppression, and disinformation or propaganda.

This has played out in one direction or another throughout history. The most current power shift has been occurring since Reagan was elected and the economic agenda was pushed to move our resources (in the form of money) from the middle-class to the top. Theoretically, supply-side economics favors the freeing up of money at the top to invest in both workers and innovation within the supply chain. It favors cutting taxes for business owners and deregulation so that supply can increase and the economy can thrive. Unfortunately, 40 years of this has only made the disparity between who is wealthy and who isn’t wider. The middle-class is disappearing and we are not better off economically. What has happened instead is, large companies have used their tax cuts as a way to make their CEOs and shareholders wealthier through stock buy backs. Rather than investing in growing their companies and creating more jobs, they maintain the status quo and continue to line their own pockets. Subsequently, wages have not increased for workers even though the cost of living gradually increases. It was Abraham Lincoln who argued that true innovators are the hungry ones, those seeking a place higher on the totem pole of wealth. The wealthy get complacent while the underdogs continue to work, fighting for the American dream. Demand-side economics allows workers to flourish, driving the economy through their innovation and ability to create, improve, and maximize their resources. Personally, as with anything, I feel there needs to be a balance, but Reaganomics is an abject failure. At this point, pushing those policies is irresponsible and even nefarious. We need to put more money in the hands of everyday people because they are the spenders, the ones who drive the actual economy. And workers are the ones keeping the machine running efficiently, not executives and shareholders. When workers are able to invest in the process of both innovation and economic prosperity, the tipping scale evens out and quality of life for all rises.

Achieving this balance is done through a more equal taxation plan and through regulation. We will never all agree on every taxation division plan or on every regulation instituted. That is the give and take of the democratic process through local, state, & federal representation in the form of elections, debate, and access to education/information. It is inherently messy. Sure, dictatorships can be much cleaner and more efficient, but in the end, who benefits? Not the majority, that’s for sure. And that brings me to the need for law and order. Without adherence to laws and formal procedures, democracies can’t survive, let alone thrive. I don’t think many people thought about the importance of a peaceful transfer of power in the presidency until January 6th happened. We came dangerously close to a coup and, ultimately, the loss of our fragile democratic Republic. How did we get here? It was the result of a slow erosion of holding people accountable to the law. When corrupt politicians, bank CEOs, and the wealthy elite continuously get away with bad behavior or even law-breaking, it emboldens them to continue getting away with even more egregious crimes. In a democratic society, no one should be above the law. An unequal distribution of consequences destabilizes societies because citizens can no longer trust their government, and this leads to revolution.

The United States of America is in crisis right now. Our structure of democracy is being challenged and tested at every seam, every pillar, every stake. The only way it doesn’t pull apart and flounder is through unity. We have to stand up and say what we value. Do we value our guns over the safety of our children? Do we value an individual “winner-take-all” mindset over the collaboration of an entire country of great minds and innovators working to create an infrastructure and economy that benefits all of us? Do we value a status quo where some will benefit more than others based on their race, gender, or sexual orientation as opposed to every single citizen having an equal standing and voice within our foundational systems and democratic process? These are the questions at stake right now. As the world teeters in the fight between increasingly authoritarian regimes and democratic governments, where will the United States fall? THAT is what’s on the ballot in just a few days. 

Political parties continuously evolve and change over time. What was once the Republican Party of Abraham Lincoln changed over time into the party of Dwight Eisenhower, both very liberal mindsets of their time. Both bent towards progress and fully bought into the democratic process. What the Republican Party has gradually morphed into since the 1960s up through the present has been a gradual shift back towards the pre-depression days prior to FDR and the New Deal. The wealthy elite and big business do not like regulation; they do not like the increase of power into the hands of many as opposed to a few. They prefer to use their capital to influence politics. That is why they used the courts to push decisions like Citizens United in 2010, which allowed dark money to flow unchecked into our elections and gave the wealthy elite business owners a larger voice in our democratic process, essentially buying up votes through legalized bribery. The Republican Party has become the party that wants a pre-New Deal future, a dismantling of the administrative state, doing away with the Environmental Protection Agency, Social Security and Medicare, and other agencies meant to protect workers and ordinary citizens without means to protect ourselves otherwise. A “New Deal” government gives ordinary Americans more leverage compared to a few wealth elite business owners. It levels the playing field and ensures all Americans a certain quality of life as well as opportunity to create, innovate, and improve our own lots in life based on our merits and investments. The Republican Party today is not the party of Lincoln or Eisenhower; it is the party that, in recent years, has bent towards authoritarianism and some would argue Fascism. Scholars and theorists can argue over that but, essentially, whether it is fascism or not, it looks the same to the average American. Power is transferred to one or a few who then change the government system so that it works for them and only them. The Republican Party, through force, manipulation, and coercion, is slowly hammering at the pillars of balanced power while distracting the public-at-large through divisive “boogeymen” that pin us against each other. They manufacture non-existent culture wars such as CRT, book bans, and transsexuals in sports…pushing narratives that aren’t an actual problem in society but, rather, create a manufactured one so that we are busy fighting each other over the media-spun “downward spiral of society” while the rich rob us of not only our money but our agency. Currently, the Republican Party is spouting that crime rates have gone up. The reality is that crime is prevalent in cities run by Republicans more so than by Democrats. Another reality is that the federal crime rate has partially spiked due to incidences of hate, sparked by anti-Asian, Anti-semitic, and anti-black attacks around the country driven by inaccurate and un-nuanced Republican narratives.

The rise of social media has increased the spread of disinformation. This is no secret. But it has also made the information landscape vast and wide. Many feel overwhelmed and have no idea how to get accurate information. They question everything they read or see, not understanding what or who to trust. This is a legitimate issue in today’s society. The answer is more education on how to vet sources, being more well-read in general, and being willing to put in the work of understanding the information landscape as well as regulating it. It CAN be navigated quite well if you know what to look for and how to spot disingenuous material from true journalistic integrity. That all starts with a solid education. In my view, the only way we achieve a truly educated society is through public education. Privatizing education is anti-democratic. Every single human being (not just citizens) of this country deserves a quality and free education held up by high standards of academic excellence. Access is key to a well-educated and well-informed voting public. We should ALL want an educated society so that our country flourishes. There must be a balance between industry aka the private sector and democratic foundations in the form of public services. In my view, every citizen at a minimum should be entitled to a quality education, quality healthcare, and access to information…all paid for as part of our taxation system. How can we call ourselves Americans if we don’t know how to invest in each other and take care of each other? To me, what our taxes pay for determine our collective values in this country. Do we value an educated public? Do we value the ability to get affordable and quality healthcare no matter our lot in life? Or do we value wealthy elites hoarding all the wealth, allowing them to determine what is or isn’t valuable? By cutting the taxes of the wealthy, what we are actually doing is giving away our own currency, and agency, in determining what we value and what we don’t. In a Capitalist society money talks…and money is action, unfortunately.

I could talk about abortion rights and the role of inflation on our current economy, but I have addressed those topics elsewhere and doubt I will change any minds in a few short days. I will just say that bodily autonomy is, in fact, a fundamental human right that we should never take for granted and understanding the abortion issue requires more nuance than the black and white view of the “you’re killing babies” argument that the Right likes to hurl at us; and our current inflation problem (and all periods of inflation in the past) was not caused by the policies or actions of a president. We take part in a world economy that can be disrupted quite easily. Today’s inflation was caused partly by major disruption resulting from the pandemic. The world did shut down after all, and when it reopened caused massive supply chain issues that wreaked havoc on the world economy. Biden did quite a lot to help solve those bottlenecks actually, not that Republican propaganda would push such information. If Biden is seen as doing anything good, the Republicans have nothing to run on to regain power. Their entire agenda has been stopping Biden from accomplishing anything rather than running on an actual platform of ideas. Their two agenda items thus far in this century have been to provide tax cuts for the rich and to “own the libs” aka block anything Democrats want to do for us. The other cause of inflation has been the war in Ukraine. It has disrupted the oil industry as well as food production globally. Between those two major world events, the pandemic and the Ukrainian war, many corporations have also used those excuses to price gouge the public. Many industries are seeing record profits thanks to this including the oil and gas companies. They don’t need to raise prices, but if they can get away with it…why not? That is Capitalism unchecked.

The election on Tuesday, November 8th boils down to a referendum on what system of government we want to live within. Do we want to live in a democracy where majority rules and our voices contribute to decisions being made about our livelihoods? Or do we want to live in a country dictated and run by an authoritarian and/or a wealthy few? Do we want a country based on America’s founding principles of equality before the law and the freedom to practice our own religion and voice our own beliefs without fear of government intervention and/or prosecution? Or do we want a theocratic regime installed and led by the MAGA movement and their band of insurrectionists, cult-followers, conspiracy-theorists, white Christian nationalists, and bigotry? A world led by people with no respect for the law, no respect for diversity, and no respect for the founding principles of this great nation should not stand. I know how I voted (thank you early voting). I voted blue through and through because I want my voice to continue to be heard, and I want my daughter to have all the freedoms I was once entitled to that are now being stripped away one-by-one thanks to a politicized Supreme Court bought and paid for by the Federalist Society and the corrupt legislators that manipulated the system to their benefit (i.e. Mitch McConnell). A vote for blue is a vote for cooperation, coalitions, and compromise. A vote for red is a vote for authoritarian madness where freedoms will gradually be taken away. Sadly, that is where we are right now…so vote accordingly.

I began this blog post with the idea of acceptance. The reality is we live in a large country with a melting pot of cultures, ideologies, viewpoints, experiences, and values. The ability to co-exist in such a vast nation requires us to accept one another as we are. Acceptance requires us to listen, learn, read, and engage with others so that we seek understanding rather than trying to divide. Division is manipulation, and it is almost always underpinned by misunderstanding and misguided hate. Don’t allow yourself to be manipulated into hating a group of people who likely view the world much more similarly to you than different. We all want the same things: safety, shelter, food, education, health, love, acceptance, and a sense of community. Fundamentally, that is how we all thrive. Together, not apart, we can achieve these needs for every member of our society. Divided, we only hinder that goal. We need to shed the “my team” mentality of political parties and understand that we are all Americans, and no American has the exact same set of ideas. However, together we can compromise our way through to a more just and free society. I like to use the metaphor of trees because they are an underrepresented and undervalued ecosystem on this Earth. Not only do trees talk to each other, they have vast systems of communication through their roots, vines, and branches…creating communities of cooperation. It has been studied and proven that they actually share their resources, helping to distribute nutrients and water to other parts of their ecosystem, ensuring not only the survival of every member but the ability to thrive. If plants can do this, so can we. All we have to do is shed our egos and get out of our own way. We are meant to cooperate, not be told what to do. In this cycle, vote for democracy; vote for Democrats. Our own survival and ability to thrive depends on it.