What Baffles Me

I woke up with deep sadness. My body is remembering and anticipating 9 11. So many lives were lost among them my son’s friend. So many firemen, servicemen who have died for freedom, and others who sacrificed their lives to save the lives of others. My sadness, my grief goes beyond that, I am grieving what I see as the loss of our essence, of who we are, what this Nation stands for, Democracy. Because we have refused to look at the truth of who we are, acknowledge our pettiness, our selfishness, our cruelty, we lost our luster of our real value.

We refuse to face the past, the traumas, the open wounds, that have yet to heal. We claim we can not be blamed for the acts of our ancestors, which is true, yet we continue to benefit if we are part of the dominant race. We refuse to look at our ancestors as fully human.We pretend that they were glorious and noble, gentleman, defenders of values, and religious rights. We refuse to acknowledge their status as slave owners, or cruel members of a town that made it a Sunday picnic to watch a lynching. We refuse to see them as filled with prejudice, erroneous beliefs and hatred. For this was as much a part of their persona as the person who spent time with us teaching us how to hunt, fish, or explore a library.

We romanticize the past as prosperous and peaceful, which was true for a few, but definitely not for all. We fail to see that changes made years back are the pillars of what is happening today.

When the legislation made it so that organizations were only responsible to stockholders and not to stakeholders, Capitalism which rules our economy went on steroids. Before, organizations would share profits with workers at the end of the year. That seldom happens. This change has encouraged the self-buys, the enron mentality, and a disregard for the environmental damage. The consumerism that exploits nature way beyond what it can render at a renewable pace, thus creating scarcity and higher prices.

The change in tax legislation, which stopped charging the very rich a high, and fair tax, to now where the richest have become richer than the rest of the world. This has resulted in the middle class shrinking and the poor becoming poorer.

Rather than focusing on fixing those problems which are part of the Democratic process, we are choosing simplistic solutions. The trickle down economy is a myth, it has not worked and continues to make things worse. We want both a scapegoat and a savior.

When I worked as a therapist I worked with children. It always caught my attention the cultural differences I experienced from the parents. If the child was American, the worst sin for the parents was that the child LIED, and for the Hipanic parents that the child showed NO RESPECT. For a Culture that places such value on the truth it is astonishing to me that so many will choose to support someone like Trump who lies constantly. Any journalist worth his weight in gold will attest to the number of lies that he tells. He did not win the election, court after court showed it did not happen, and yet he still persists. He is already talking about fraud in the coming elections, when we have not even voted, setting up the stage to deny it. It baffles me how a value that seemed so important to impart in our children, gets condone, set aside, or ignored. You know, Trump is Trump, as if that made it OK and excusable. If it is not OK for our children, then it is definitely not OK for the person in charge of a Nation.

The frequent contra argument that I get is that the other side lies too. Focusing the attention on the other side does not excuse his behavior.

Republicans value law and order. Again it baffles me how such an important value gets excused on a person that is supposed to represent the Nation. Trump has shown contempt for the law and the judicial system time and time again. He believes the law does not apply to him and thanks to the latest Supreme Court ruling he appears to be right that he can violate any rule as long as it happens while he is in office. 

He is a felon, and has been found guilty. He kept sensitive papers that belong to the Nation, not to him in his home, even after they were requested many times. Before he became president he was banned from opening a Casino in Las Vegas because of his lack of regard for the law. The counter argument I get is that he is being picked on, that he didn’t do anything wrong. However he did commit all the things that he is being charged for. If it was you who had done those same deeds the law would come after you for doing them not because they were picking on you.

If we want to talk about injustices in this country, let’s look at how many people have been unjustly accused of crimes they didn’t commit. How many minorities end up dead without any cause except for being the color of skin they are. Those are injustices. If you value law and order then you should value that Trump be made accountable for his abuses of justice.

Republicans believe in the rights of the individual good over the collective good. All Americans do not want one person dictating their actions and yet through Capitalism on steroids, they are allowing a few billionaires to dictate the direction of the Country. For someone who values their independence so much, it baffles me the willingness to elect someone who has made it clear that he wants to become a dictator. Trump has already tried to stay in power by trying to get people to believe that he won the election. He now has the permission of the Supreme Court to do as he wishes if he gets to be in power. There is nothing that takes liberty and freedom more than a dictatorship. Why if you want to live in a Democratic Republic would you vote to lose your freedom? It baffles me.

The counter argument I get is that Harris is a Socialist. The fear is planted that she would become a dictator like Maduro. There is nothing in her history that indicates that. I could see a leaning toward Social Democracy like Sweden and Germany. The fear planted, oh she is a socialist by those campaigning for Trump on this matter is ludicrous.

In a functioning Democracy we have both. We have elements that support the whole society like Social Security, free education, medicare, etc. And we have the freedom to innovate, to be entrepreneurs. Government and industry working together for the wellbeing of the population and the world. Every Nation needs infrastructure that we share. Needs a safety net in times of peril, fires, hurricanes, floodings, etc.

Yes we are hurting, food prices have greatly increased, housing is insufficient and unaffordable, insurance has sky rocket. All are complex problems that don’t have a simple solution. Climate change (of which Trump is a denier), speculators buying houses with cash, above the price so that they can rent them at astronomical prices. Tariffs, and mono agriculture, that require costly pesticides, and dwindling water, monopolies of food producers, and food stores by a few companies, etc., etc. are the all part of the complex reasons why everything is costing more.

All of them need to be tackled and dealt with, at many different levels by all people.

Don’t vote primarily on this point. One person, as much as he promises, is not going to make things better and if he implements his tariffs against China and others it will only add another variable to make things worse. It is what Bush would have characterized as “voodoo economies”. Ignoring Climate Change and sacrificing whatever little is left for our children, unless we reverse the trend (which is doable) will only make the problem worse in a not distant future for our children and ourselves.

We can not sacrifice our freedom, our Democracy by looking primarily at the cost of things. We have to work to make it better, together, Trump is not going to make things better for the 99 % of us.

Closing the border and deporting people, which was done during the depression. Often including American Citizens, born in the States were put on trains and lost everything in the process, has not worked. Placing more barriers has not slowed down people escaping from desperate situations. It has just made their journeys that much more perilous. Many more are dying as they escape wars, climate change displacement, and dying from starvation.

We are a Nation of Immigrants, closing the border is not the answer. The more we suppress it on one end the more it bursts at the seams. The only ones that gain are those who exploit human misery. Yes you can’t take everybody, and there is a system that can help deal with that if we implement it with justice and humanity.

History shows that isolationism has not worked in the past. The problems created by automation, cost of precious metals used in modern technology, the displacement of workers in factories and organizations with AI technology is not going to be solved by deporting everyone. Don’t make it your vote because you fear your privileged position will be affected if you do. It keeps you from focusing on the real culprits that make finding a job difficult.

Please look beyond the cost of eggs, and the so-called invasion of illegal aliens, that allows you to ignore the real values and principles of this Nation. Law cannot exist without justice. Individuality can not exist unless we are there as a community to support the common good and the individual. There is no integrity unless we walk our talk. We can’t condone lying when we value the truth. We need to face our shortcomings and work to fix them. Trust can only develop from our vulnerability and willingness to face our light and our shadow. Our strength lies in knowing that we are human, that we stumble, that we believe that we can do better, and we work toward being better. We don’t glorify the past. We learn from the past, aspire for the future and focus on the present toward being better as a nation.

Democracy is messy and it requires all of us. It requires all our votes and our commitment to a future. A legacy that we can be proud of. When we contribute to the healing of the nation and ourselves we are freeing our children of a generational trauma.

Let us choose Democracy, let’s choose to support those values that we hold dear. Saying I will fix it, just trust me, I will make things better than likes of what you ever have seen. Is snake oil, that promises to fix all your ailments and improve your life. Don’t fall for it. It is not worth sacrificing our freedom, our Democracy to the promise of a would be dictator.

Although he has denied knowledge of the document 2025, which he has said there are things I like and some I don’t like, he has certainly surrounded himself with people that are clearly linked to it. 2025 is a clear plan which would turn our Nation into the equivalent of a Christian Taliban. And you know how well people under the Taliban regime have been able to be free, especially women.

Vote for Democracy, for the messy process that moves us toward our ideal, that benefits all, not just the very rich. Don’t let the false propaganda cloud your judgment. Please vote for Democracy. Once you lose your freedom it is almost impossible to gain it back. Don’t let that happen. Vote for Harris.

Our strength has always been in believing in our ability to be better and to be better for our Nation and for the world. Let’s polish that strength so that it can shine and guide us. Let your vote count, Democracy is supported by it.