Government Musings
Like most Americans, I'm very interested in what's happening in the White House these days. I fear that ethics and justice are compromised by President Trump and his cronies, and I notice that President Trump often doesn't tweet the truth and is regularly disrespectful to many via name calling and other disparaging remarks. This is not the kind of person I value as a President of the United States, so I'm reading and watching what's happening, and speaking up when I think it's important. There's certainly more that I can do. As I ponder what I know and want to understand more today, I have the following thoughts:
Presidential?
A leader of our country should represent what we value, and what I believe most Americans value is respect for one another, respect for diversity, and a goal of forwarding a country where there is life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all. I believe that our efforts to achieve a respectful, diverse, and positive country and people lie in efforts related to fair taxation, optimal education, health care, and basic needs for all people, protection of our natural resources, and regulations that protect the rights, opportunities, and liberties of citizens.
Immigration?
This is a GIANT worldwide issue that has its roots, in many ways, in the injustices many places on Earth have faced over time. In general, most people like to remain in their home country if they can live there safely and prosper in ways that are meaningful and beneficial. When lots of people want to leave their homelands, it is mostly due to the fact that they can't live there safely or well. This issue requires deep thinking, debate, and worldwide attention with the efforts to make every place on Earth peaceful, livable places that afford citizens of the world the opportunity to travel and exchange ideas and goods. In fact, I believe the world government should charge countries for the troubles they create for their citizens. There should be a cost involved for treating your own citizens in ways that are life ending or unjust.
For the time being though, I believe that any law abiding person who is now here should be given a path to citizenship, and as far as border patrols and illegal immigration--I do think we have to rely on a renewed immigration policy that is created in a humane way by experts in the field.
Environment
There's is no doubt that our climate is changing and our resources are increasingly challenged. This requires substantial attention. We can all live, work, innovate, and recreate in more Earth-friendly ways, and I believe we should let experts in the field lead us in that direction with political support.
Laws
We should support a government that increasingly improves and revises laws to keep up with changes in research, knowledge, and understanding of our world and its people. Good laws lay the path for a strong country. We should also work to eradicate the kinds of conditions that lead to lawlessness, conditions of discrimination, poverty, environmental problems, lack of education, and gross inequity in opportunity and resources.
Abuse of Laws
We should encourage all who face injustice in any way to speak up. There is no room for leaders or others who continually break laws or push laws to the edge for their own gain. We do not move ahead when our leaders are greedy, self-serving, discriminatory, narrow minded, or unjust. When people speak up about small injustices, we are less likely to face great injustice.
Technology
Of course I'm a fan of net neutrality because what we don't need is information that only the elite can obtain. That would further a huge gap between haves and have-nots and result in greater injustice with regard to opportunity and life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in our country and world.
Education
I am strong supporter of a strong public education system that welcomes people of all classes, races, religions, gender, and any other kind of differentiation to learn together in schools that have the conditions for excellence for every student. We have strong schools now, and with good funding and support, those schools will improve even more. To give up on our public schools is to give up on our democracy and the opportunity for every citizen to thrive.
Political Action
I encourage everyone to become politically active in some way. We all have to speak the truth and stand up for what we believe in. We have to readily welcome debate and work to listen to each others' point of view. We can't be afraid that if we change laws, innovate, or revise current structures, policies, and roles, that we will lose out. Instead we have to embrace positive change, change that includes the voice and choice of all Americans.
Honor the Bright and Courageous Leaders in our Midst
Elizabeth Warren is a hero to me because she is tirelessly waging a battle against injustice in very technical, unsexy, and complicated areas of our governmental policies and laws. She is very bright, knows the law, and is going forward to promote equity for every citizen. Because she is a smart woman who typically relies on her intelligence and hard work rather than the values that are often attributed to woman (physical beauty, service to men, entertainment) who are esteemed in our culture, she is made fun of by people like the President of the United States, a person who rarely to never goes deep with any policy discussion or debate and relies on sound bites alone. I do believe it's in our basic selves that we tend to sway towards what's easy, attractive, and appealing, and we move away from what's complicated and difficult to understand. But we have to fight that basic nature and honor those intelligent leaders amongst us who deeply understand the laws and Constitution, and fight tirelessly for justice through the legal channels that exist.
President Trump's sport is finding an individual's weak spot and publicizing it for all to see and hear about again and again and again. He's a marketeer that relies on marketing strategy to get his simple points across. He labels people quickly and repeatedly tweets out any aspect of their behavior, past events, looks, or anything else that he thinks the public will grab onto, remember, and like him, dismiss a person with. So he's done that with Senator Warren's claim of Native American ancestry--I agree with a recent Boston Globe article and believe it would be best for Senator Warren to write and publicize a succinct explanation of this (perhaps she has), but I don't think this one point in a terrific career of standing up for the average American should be her hallmark. When we look at people, we have to see them as humans with multiple experiences, triumphs, and some challenges too.
Sadly, in our times, many who are being chosen for top positions in Washington don't have the credential to match their positions. This does not support a strong government and reeks of cronyism and disrespect of government as well. We need to look for the bright and courageous leaders in our midst, people who have devoted their lives to deep study and service, and people who have the intelligence, knowledge, and skill to make the important decisions that will decide the kind of future we have. This is serious business and we can't be satisfied with mediocre, friends or friends-of-friends, and big contributors to fill the ranks of the country's most important leadership roles.
The Future
Our future and the future of our children and grandchildren depends on us. It depends on us making the time to put recreation aside now and then to focus on the politics of the day. It depends on us as Timothy Snyder in his book, On Tyranny, suggests reading the longer texts and stories of what's really happening. It depends on us looking deeper as we analyze a candidate's background, service, and ideas rather than relying on a few soundbites when we make decisions.
More than ever a good future depends on each of us making time to understand what's happening, contribute to the debates of our time, and spending some time getting involved in local, state, national, and world decision making.
I know that I'm working to steer my ship more in this direction. What else can we do?
Presidential?
A leader of our country should represent what we value, and what I believe most Americans value is respect for one another, respect for diversity, and a goal of forwarding a country where there is life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all. I believe that our efforts to achieve a respectful, diverse, and positive country and people lie in efforts related to fair taxation, optimal education, health care, and basic needs for all people, protection of our natural resources, and regulations that protect the rights, opportunities, and liberties of citizens.
Immigration?
This is a GIANT worldwide issue that has its roots, in many ways, in the injustices many places on Earth have faced over time. In general, most people like to remain in their home country if they can live there safely and prosper in ways that are meaningful and beneficial. When lots of people want to leave their homelands, it is mostly due to the fact that they can't live there safely or well. This issue requires deep thinking, debate, and worldwide attention with the efforts to make every place on Earth peaceful, livable places that afford citizens of the world the opportunity to travel and exchange ideas and goods. In fact, I believe the world government should charge countries for the troubles they create for their citizens. There should be a cost involved for treating your own citizens in ways that are life ending or unjust.
For the time being though, I believe that any law abiding person who is now here should be given a path to citizenship, and as far as border patrols and illegal immigration--I do think we have to rely on a renewed immigration policy that is created in a humane way by experts in the field.
Environment
There's is no doubt that our climate is changing and our resources are increasingly challenged. This requires substantial attention. We can all live, work, innovate, and recreate in more Earth-friendly ways, and I believe we should let experts in the field lead us in that direction with political support.
Laws
We should support a government that increasingly improves and revises laws to keep up with changes in research, knowledge, and understanding of our world and its people. Good laws lay the path for a strong country. We should also work to eradicate the kinds of conditions that lead to lawlessness, conditions of discrimination, poverty, environmental problems, lack of education, and gross inequity in opportunity and resources.
Abuse of Laws
We should encourage all who face injustice in any way to speak up. There is no room for leaders or others who continually break laws or push laws to the edge for their own gain. We do not move ahead when our leaders are greedy, self-serving, discriminatory, narrow minded, or unjust. When people speak up about small injustices, we are less likely to face great injustice.
Technology
Of course I'm a fan of net neutrality because what we don't need is information that only the elite can obtain. That would further a huge gap between haves and have-nots and result in greater injustice with regard to opportunity and life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in our country and world.
Education
I am strong supporter of a strong public education system that welcomes people of all classes, races, religions, gender, and any other kind of differentiation to learn together in schools that have the conditions for excellence for every student. We have strong schools now, and with good funding and support, those schools will improve even more. To give up on our public schools is to give up on our democracy and the opportunity for every citizen to thrive.
Political Action
I encourage everyone to become politically active in some way. We all have to speak the truth and stand up for what we believe in. We have to readily welcome debate and work to listen to each others' point of view. We can't be afraid that if we change laws, innovate, or revise current structures, policies, and roles, that we will lose out. Instead we have to embrace positive change, change that includes the voice and choice of all Americans.
Honor the Bright and Courageous Leaders in our Midst
Elizabeth Warren is a hero to me because she is tirelessly waging a battle against injustice in very technical, unsexy, and complicated areas of our governmental policies and laws. She is very bright, knows the law, and is going forward to promote equity for every citizen. Because she is a smart woman who typically relies on her intelligence and hard work rather than the values that are often attributed to woman (physical beauty, service to men, entertainment) who are esteemed in our culture, she is made fun of by people like the President of the United States, a person who rarely to never goes deep with any policy discussion or debate and relies on sound bites alone. I do believe it's in our basic selves that we tend to sway towards what's easy, attractive, and appealing, and we move away from what's complicated and difficult to understand. But we have to fight that basic nature and honor those intelligent leaders amongst us who deeply understand the laws and Constitution, and fight tirelessly for justice through the legal channels that exist.
President Trump's sport is finding an individual's weak spot and publicizing it for all to see and hear about again and again and again. He's a marketeer that relies on marketing strategy to get his simple points across. He labels people quickly and repeatedly tweets out any aspect of their behavior, past events, looks, or anything else that he thinks the public will grab onto, remember, and like him, dismiss a person with. So he's done that with Senator Warren's claim of Native American ancestry--I agree with a recent Boston Globe article and believe it would be best for Senator Warren to write and publicize a succinct explanation of this (perhaps she has), but I don't think this one point in a terrific career of standing up for the average American should be her hallmark. When we look at people, we have to see them as humans with multiple experiences, triumphs, and some challenges too.
Sadly, in our times, many who are being chosen for top positions in Washington don't have the credential to match their positions. This does not support a strong government and reeks of cronyism and disrespect of government as well. We need to look for the bright and courageous leaders in our midst, people who have devoted their lives to deep study and service, and people who have the intelligence, knowledge, and skill to make the important decisions that will decide the kind of future we have. This is serious business and we can't be satisfied with mediocre, friends or friends-of-friends, and big contributors to fill the ranks of the country's most important leadership roles.
The Future
Our future and the future of our children and grandchildren depends on us. It depends on us making the time to put recreation aside now and then to focus on the politics of the day. It depends on us as Timothy Snyder in his book, On Tyranny, suggests reading the longer texts and stories of what's really happening. It depends on us looking deeper as we analyze a candidate's background, service, and ideas rather than relying on a few soundbites when we make decisions.
More than ever a good future depends on each of us making time to understand what's happening, contribute to the debates of our time, and spending some time getting involved in local, state, national, and world decision making.
I know that I'm working to steer my ship more in this direction. What else can we do?
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