There were moments of anxiety as President Biden deliberated on whether to be the Democratic Party's candidate. The nation sighed in relief once the decision was made, knowing who the presidential and vice-presidential candidates would be for the 2024 election. A wave of freshness, new possibilities, and hope for a different future swept through the country. This positive energy was especially significant given the Republican opposition, which was marred by grievances, anger, hatred, and even calls for violence.
The Need for Change
This election presents a rare opportunity to break free from the "politics as usual" that has dominated the last several decades. Since the bright new hope of leadership was so violently extinguished in the 1960s, American politics has devolved into bitter infighting, characterized by divisions between red and blue states, tax cuts for the wealthy, union busting and growing income inequality. Big money has gained a dominant role, rendering Congress dysfunctional and politicizing every aspect of governance, including the Supreme Court. The pursuit of money for political campaigns has overshadowed societal needs and the concerns of ordinary citizens. Even the Democratic Party succumbed to this game, sacrificing the needs of its base, the ordinary citizens, in pursuit of political funding, all while claiming that an educated elite would lead the way to the promised land.
Meanwhile, America has been projecting its free-market capitalism across the globe under the guise of democracy, insisting that democracy could only thrive under free-market principles, even using the military to spread this gospel. This approach eventually led to global trade agreements driven by corporate needs and perpetual wars fueling the domestic economy. By the early 21st century, it became clear that this direction was unsustainable for most ordinary people around the world. Disillusioned with democracy as it was presented, people were tempted to turn to strong leaders and autocratic governance as alternatives.
The economic elite, largely unfazed by these developments, realized they could operate even more freely without the constraints of democracy. In the U.S., this elite found a way to control the disaffected citizenry by redirecting their anger toward a so-called "liberal elite." In exchange for reclaiming national power, they could install an autocratic leadership modeled after a corporate CEO, ensuring their dominance and control for the foreseeable future.
The New Republican Party
This was the birth of the current Republican Party, with its ties to big money, disdain for democratic processes, and willingness to exploit the frustrations of ordinary citizens who feel left out and were searching for scapegoats for their loss of power. All of this coalesced under the leadership of one of America's most primitive and cynical capitalists, Donald Trump.
While stoking the anger, fear, and frustration of ordinary citizens, the ultimate goal of this new Republican Party was to eliminate the democratic restrictions that hinder free-market capitalism, thus allowing it to dominate the nation and the world. They seemed willing to undermine the electoral process and even incite rebellion to gain power.
Now, we face a crucial election-- an election that will determine whether we continue as a democratic nation or descend into an autocracy dominated by unbridled free-market capitalism.
This autocracy, as proposed by the Republican Party's candidate, will have little tolerance for differences in race, ethnicity, political ideas, religion, or lifestyle, and certainly no room for immigrants. It will disregard issues of social justice, inclusiveness, and equality, and will create a legal system open to political manipulation. Climate change will be ignored, and future pandemics may be met with the same inadequate response as the Trump administration's handling of COVID-19. Meaningful elections will become a thing of the past, and the acceptable ways of life will be dictated by those in power. The rich will become richer, and the poor will be inconsequential. The health of the environment will depend on the whims of corporate masters, and much of the population will eventually live in sacrifice zones, expendable in pursuit of the economic elite's needs.
Transformation
But then, we encountered a transformative moment. When President Biden, the current leader of the Democratic Party, "aged out" of any future leadership role, it felt almost serendipitous, like the final "aging out" of outdated systems long overdue for change. This moment signaled the possibility of a shift-- perhaps an end to our blind support of free-market capitalism, or the end of a Cold War mentality. It was an evolutionary change, a break from the past, offering a chance to redefine our world, our planet, and the role of human beings in it, a chance to build an America for the 21st Century.
And just in the nick of time!
There is a palpable sense of relief, a feeling of being unburdened from events and systems that previously seemed too big, too powerful, and beyond our control. Now, there is a rejuvenating breath of fresh air, a surge of energy, and a sense of empowerment and hope.
We have the opportunity, through the vote. one of the few remaining ways to express our hopes and concerns for the future. We can vote for the kind of future we want for ourselves and for future generations. It is a "use it or lose it" moment to preserve the most precious legacy of this nation: democracy, and to begin the slow march back to a more functional democracy for this nation.
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