For us, with hope and squalor
What does squalor have to do with saving democracy?
Immigrants of all eras have started their lives in our poorest neighborhoods in order to get a foothold on starting the climb to the real American dream: the dream of a decent life. This often means living in squalor. Everyone I spoke to in these neighborhoods while canvassing for the mid-term elections were polite, interested and almost all said 'thank you' for the literature and campaign pins. After a while the abandoned automobiles looked more like projects, the non-working refrigerators on the porches looked like they had been replaced with new ones, the black plastic bags of trash were waiting for a day off work to be disposed of, and yips of the herds of chihuahuas sounded musical and humane as well as being a security system.
People around the world love America for its freedom and its laws. They don't love its military presence, but they respect it and, in some cases, rely on it for stability. Migrating to and living in America is the goal of many people because here, one can, with hard work, get ahead. Getting ahead is relative. If you come from a place where there is no work, not enough money, no privacy, boring and insufficient food, dirty water, roads that don't go where you want them to, no education for your children, then, even poor America, looks pretty good.
Trump is against immigrants because it gets him votes. He actually likes immigrants because he can pay them a pittance to keep his golf courses and Mar a Lago running. In July of this year he asked to hire 78 foreign persons to work at Mar a Lago. If he succeeds in building a wall it will have to have a door and I'm sure he and his family will have keys. Since the majority of our country is made up of immigrants or the children or grandchildren of immigrants it seems anti-American to want to keep them out. But Trump is anti-American. Soon, I think, we will discover that not only did he launder money for the Russian oligarchs but works for Tsar Putin. But that is another story. This is a story of hope.
And Trump is a symbol of hopelessness. His politics are of fear, greed, anger, and ignorance. He has generated fear by demonizing the poor of the inner cities and the immigrants headed here for a better life for themselves and their children. Trump's greed is well known and he has endorsed it by giving tax cuts to enhance the wealth of the greediest among us. He generates anger in those who have failed to achieve the American dream as advertised on TV, by making them feel the dream was stolen from them by the educated, the government, immigrants and everyone who receives assistance from the government. Ignorance is Trump himself as his lies testify to. These four emotions are the tools he uses to forge a hopelessness that can only be corrected by the rule of a king, an authoritarian, a fascist dictator. It is all he knows. Democracy is a failure in his eyes.
American democracy is under attack. After losing to Obama the Republican refused to play anymore and took the ball home. McConnell seethed, Boehner drank and Ryan prayed to Ayn Rand. Then they decided to obstruct the functioning of government by enacting the policy of making Obama fail. The dysfunctional government led to discontent and discontent led to America electing an orange clown as president. A clown is the appropriate outcome to the childishness of McConnell, Boehner and Ryan. If democracy survives this, it will be strong enough to survive anything.
But our democracy's survival is not something we can depend on nor wait for. We must all start acting to elect people who know that we all live on the same planet, that we all want safety, education for our children, food, a job, a place to live, access to good health care, clean air and water, good roads, and, sometimes, a little help.
The poorest neighborhoods are havens for those who need a start. The signs of hope are everywhere mixed with the debris: well tended flowers, toys, broken refrigerators left out because they were replaced with a new one. Squalor can be a sign of failure. But after my recent experience with canvassing door to door in these poorest of neighborhoods, I would say that more often it is a sign of hope.
Immigrants of all eras have started their lives in our poorest neighborhoods in order to get a foothold on starting the climb to the real American dream: the dream of a decent life. This often means living in squalor. Everyone I spoke to in these neighborhoods while canvassing for the mid-term elections were polite, interested and almost all said 'thank you' for the literature and campaign pins. After a while the abandoned automobiles looked more like projects, the non-working refrigerators on the porches looked like they had been replaced with new ones, the black plastic bags of trash were waiting for a day off work to be disposed of, and yips of the herds of chihuahuas sounded musical and humane as well as being a security system.
People around the world love America for its freedom and its laws. They don't love its military presence, but they respect it and, in some cases, rely on it for stability. Migrating to and living in America is the goal of many people because here, one can, with hard work, get ahead. Getting ahead is relative. If you come from a place where there is no work, not enough money, no privacy, boring and insufficient food, dirty water, roads that don't go where you want them to, no education for your children, then, even poor America, looks pretty good.
Trump is against immigrants because it gets him votes. He actually likes immigrants because he can pay them a pittance to keep his golf courses and Mar a Lago running. In July of this year he asked to hire 78 foreign persons to work at Mar a Lago. If he succeeds in building a wall it will have to have a door and I'm sure he and his family will have keys. Since the majority of our country is made up of immigrants or the children or grandchildren of immigrants it seems anti-American to want to keep them out. But Trump is anti-American. Soon, I think, we will discover that not only did he launder money for the Russian oligarchs but works for Tsar Putin. But that is another story. This is a story of hope.
And Trump is a symbol of hopelessness. His politics are of fear, greed, anger, and ignorance. He has generated fear by demonizing the poor of the inner cities and the immigrants headed here for a better life for themselves and their children. Trump's greed is well known and he has endorsed it by giving tax cuts to enhance the wealth of the greediest among us. He generates anger in those who have failed to achieve the American dream as advertised on TV, by making them feel the dream was stolen from them by the educated, the government, immigrants and everyone who receives assistance from the government. Ignorance is Trump himself as his lies testify to. These four emotions are the tools he uses to forge a hopelessness that can only be corrected by the rule of a king, an authoritarian, a fascist dictator. It is all he knows. Democracy is a failure in his eyes.
American democracy is under attack. After losing to Obama the Republican refused to play anymore and took the ball home. McConnell seethed, Boehner drank and Ryan prayed to Ayn Rand. Then they decided to obstruct the functioning of government by enacting the policy of making Obama fail. The dysfunctional government led to discontent and discontent led to America electing an orange clown as president. A clown is the appropriate outcome to the childishness of McConnell, Boehner and Ryan. If democracy survives this, it will be strong enough to survive anything.
But our democracy's survival is not something we can depend on nor wait for. We must all start acting to elect people who know that we all live on the same planet, that we all want safety, education for our children, food, a job, a place to live, access to good health care, clean air and water, good roads, and, sometimes, a little help.
The poorest neighborhoods are havens for those who need a start. The signs of hope are everywhere mixed with the debris: well tended flowers, toys, broken refrigerators left out because they were replaced with a new one. Squalor can be a sign of failure. But after my recent experience with canvassing door to door in these poorest of neighborhoods, I would say that more often it is a sign of hope.
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