One Vote to Save Democracy in America
I’m no expert in politics. I’d never even been especially politically engaged until fairly recently. What I very much am, though, is someone who would like to continue to live in a (small “d”) democratic America.
I come from a fairly conservative upbringing. I went to an American Baptist church for much of my childhood. I went to Catholic schools from third grade through to my sophomore year in high school. Until moving to Italy after finishing college, I pretty much always lived in what we might now call “red” America, first in rural northern California and then in rural Idaho, where some of my closest friends were Mormon. So I understand conservative values. I may even still hold certain conservative values if I had to somehow make a list and categorize each of my various values as either “conservative” or “progressive” (whatever those words mean to me or to you).
That was the first quarter century of my life, but I then spent the second quarter century of my life living abroad, in Italy. Italy is certainly not the most “left-leaning” European country, but there are aspects of life in Italy that one might call more “socialist” than in the U.S., not least of which is the sort of universal healthcare that is ubiquitous in just about every industrialized nation except the U.S. So having lived abroad, I think I have a perspective on democracy, on fascism, and on socialism that is worth sharing with whoever cares to read this.
The upcoming election is being framed, on the right, as a battle between American values and Socialism. Republican politicians and right-wing political pundits are trying to take advantage of our fear of corrupt, autocratic Socialist governments, such as those that can be found in South and Central America, while hoping we will ignore (or be unaware of) the socialist institutions in democratic countries around the world, such as in pretty much every country in Europe, not to mention in Canada.
The key words here are “corrupt” and “autocratic”. I don’t think there would be much argument that there are corrupt politicians on both sides of the aisle. At the same time, can there be any doubt that Trump is far more corrupt and authoritarian than Biden? How can we look objectively at the events of recent years and come to any other conclusion?
To me, then, it’s not a battle between American values and Socialism. It’s a battle between true democracy in America — our most fundamental value — and a form of autocratic government rule that is more akin to fascism: an authoritarian, far-right ideology.
Look, I understand, for any “conservatives” who are still with me, that it’s nice to have politicians in power who you feel are protecting and defending your values. But life in a democracy isn’t a zero-sum game like the business world has traditionally been (although that may be slowly starting to shift, I hope). Pure capitalism is the ultimate zero-sum game in which only the strongest can truly thrive, and trickle-down (or supply-side) economics has never done anything but make the rich richer.
There has to be a way that all citizens, “red” or “blue” or independent, can feel like their needs are being met, their rights are being protected, and their values are being defended. We need to all work together if we are to have any hope of getting through the massive, global challenges of this pandemic and of climate change with anything like the quality of life we all strive for and aspire to.
Democracy is an important part of being able to work together in this way. But government also, pretty much by definition, has to provide certain “socialistic” institutions in order to ensure the health, wealth and liberty of all its citizens — of all of “society” (see the connection there?).
For example, having lived in a country with universal healthcare, I can confidently state that privatized, employer-based healthcare is, without question, completely nonsensical (if not actually immoral). Medicare for All is being held up on the right as the main (if not only) example of how the left wants to make America a socialist state, but the U.S. is, again, the last industrialized nation in the world that doesn’t guarantee affordable healthcare for all who live here. That doesn’t make Canada a Socialist state, or Europe either. It makes Canadians and Europeans unafraid to go to a doctor when they’re feeling even just a little under the weather. It makes them not have to become burdened by debt and declare bankruptcy if, heaven forbid, some major health-related emergency should befall them. In other words, it helps them to feel “free”.
I could go on and on, but my main purpose in writing now is this: Whether conservative or progressive, liberal or independent, Republican or Democrat, if you, too, want to continue living in a (small “d”) democratic America, you simply must put aside partisan politics for at least one election cycle and vote for Democrats up and down the ballot in November (or earlier if you can).
If the current GOP political leadership is allowed to continue down the path they are currently on, we will no longer be able to call America a democracy. And that’s not just hyperbolic rhetoric. The corrupt power-grabbing on the right has gotten objectively out of control and needs to be reined in. There will be time after the election, under a Biden presidency and Democrat-controlled Senate and beyond, to get back to upholding and defending conservative values openly and honestly and in a way that doesn’t deny those same rights to every individual living in these United States. Then over the next two years, a new batch of Republican politicians can take stock of their party and of their conservative values and begin the process of rebuilding Americans’ trust in the GOP.
From now until November 3rd, we all have one vote to save democracy in America. #VoteBlueNoMatterWho, at least now in 2020. Our very future depends on it. Literally.
