Nothing lasts forever and this presidential election, it too will end. November 9 will be the end of a Caligula-esque presidential election. Its end can’t come too soon.
None of the last 18 months have resulted in any forward progress, no substantive discussion of solutions moving civilization forward. Nothing wise or learned has come from these would-be leaders.
The world does look toward the U.S. presidential election in a big way because it is a barometer of policies affecting billions. The world has been shortchanged this time.
We did stumble on one thing: how cunning and treacherous people feigning the narcotic of power become when there’s a threat of its being taken.
From the town halls, to the state caucuses, to the conventions, to the debates, this election has been a massive ripoff of the voters and those who donated time and money and trusted a system proved by ego and garnished by selfish greed and treachery.
Voters have been played at every act, scene and role. Nothing about what happened in this election this year has really counted. Many are now disillusioned.
One really can’t tell who Clinton is. Whether her statements are a public perspective or a private policy, or her public intent matches her private action, is a big mystery. Who is she? One cannot not find that out in mainstream media, less than 25 days from the voting booth.
Trump is a relic, so painfully, flagrantly and awfully out of step with the times. No hope there either.
Even presidential candidate Vermin Supreme has far more credibility with his promise of a pony for everyone.
When this election is over the same issues will still be there waiting to be fixed. Ironically, none of the elected will be up to the task. Maybe it’s not because they lack the will, or courage to try to fix them. Maybe our would be elected are trying to tell something they cannot come to admit: they simply don’t want to fix the national level issues.
What are those national level (big) issues?
The other day I thought large scale issues were important: national debt, wealth inequality, public education, unending wars, military spending (more than 53% of the discretionary budget), economy, bank fraud, corporate welfare, a tax on Wall Street, etc.
But now I realize the big issues affecting us are really not the big issues but the smaller local issues where organizing for change is not only realistically possible, it’s in our interest because it affects us directly.
Therefore the issues we need to be worried about are the ones we can reasonably change: the local bike trail that needs widening, local housing availability, local spending on public schools, a local board for police oversight, good community centers, moving money to a local credit union, viable public parks and spaces, etc.
So what options do we have?
Sides can keep beating up each other over how bad things have gotten at the national level. It hasn’t worked up to now. Leadership really doesn’t care to fix national problems or they would. Congress won’t even confirm a Supreme Court Justice!
Since it’s obvious we can’t rely on national leaders, anything we do is going to have to be done by local leaders at local community levels.
Communities with self-empowerment for common good are incredible vestiges of power. It doesn’t take as much to organize, and there’s more chance to speak truth to power at local levels.
Locals can’t control huge runaway issues like debt, banks, and Wall Street and wars that influential elites seem to have a grasp over. But maybe locals don’t need to have such concerns.
Maybe the elections we need to worry about are the ones close to home.
I still hope to get a pony someday.
