The Political “We” 2024

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The following is my personal thoughts about politics, generally, formed over many years of observation and involvement.  This is just a summary, only intended to assist as a thought-starter for anyone who reads what follows.

Anyone who knows me knows my politics.  In this post, before the Democratic Convention next week, I want to take a short look at my personal view of us, collectively, as U.S., as in all of us.

Following the Convention, which ends Aug. 22, I’ll write more specifically about the next 2 1/2 months.

When it comes to voting, every one of us is as powerful as anyone else.  We each have one vote, period.  We each have the opportunity to get involved or not.  At the end of the day, we get exactly who we elect to represent us.  When we complain about the politics or the politicians, we are complaining about ourselves, collectively.

In the last Presidential election, 81,284,666 persons voted for Joe Biden; 74,284,666 for Donald Trump; a few for an assortment of others.  That’s the good news.  About one third of those eligible  to vote in 2020 did not vote at all….  These non-voters ‘voted’ by their absence, possibly against their own interests.  Generally, fewer vote in off-year elections.

We have about three months to get up to speed and get registered (if we’re not), learn the positions we will be filling in the election, and particularly who the candidates are (ALL of them on your ballot, whatever the office) and what they stand for.

Another number interests me.  There are said to be about 1,000 billionaires in this country of over 345,000,000.  Each of them each have only a single vote, too, just like the rest of us.  If they all were collected in my town of 83,000, they couldn’t win a single election.  They don’t have any more power than I do, or you.  Nor do they all think alike.

Surely, they have boat loads of money with which to manipulate and deceive, but for this to work they need people who believe the ‘advertising’.  They gain power only by our forfeiture of our own individual power to make a difference.

Those who know me in the political context know that for a lot of years now I have said the future lies with the action (or inaction) of three groups: young people, women, and persons of color.  At my age, “young” is my kids age or younger – around 60 or less.  Each of the groups mentioned need to  be very visible to get their justified seats at the table of power at all levels of society.   At the same time, there are millions of people like me, older white folks, who support this change.  But each of us also only have one vote….

There are new challenges.  Unlike any other generation in my lifetime, there is a generation gap in how persons communicate with each other.  It is folly for me to suggest that I can effectively speak to or for the groups mentioned above for differing reasons.  I come from a different era.  I retired near 25 years ago.  But it is foolish for the new generation to pretend that we don’t matter; as it is for us to pretend that only we elders matter.

We are not all alike, no matter how small the unit you’re considering: whether as a single person, family member, spouse, parent, part of a neighborhood and town, county, state, nation or world.  When each of us vote, my hope is that we each will vote for the leaders at all levels  who really genuinely care about what I would call the “We”, all of US.

In the late 1980s I wanted to illustrate how I saw the political orientation of U.S. citizens.  Below is the rough illustration I came up with, which seems to be consistent with other opinions I’ve seen over the years.  I’ve used it often.  The only change I’ve made on this one are the hi-lite in three places below.

Here’s the illustration in pdf; Political Scrum 2024.

It has been my observation that the media we rely on generally focuses on conflict, most obviously found at the farthest fringes of left and right.  This is not to be critical of either extreme left or extreme right.  We seem to like conflict.  At the same time, fringes are just that: fringes.  The vast majority of us are somewhere in the messy middle, and we all depend on cooperation to thrive.  Obviously, this is just a personal opinion.  You can judge it through your own personal situation.

Like the illustration, this country of ours is a remarkable “mess” of people generally successfully living in community together.  We are all different in our own unique ways.  Somehow or other, up to this point in our history, we have managed to not only survive but to thrive.  It is up to us to keep it that way.

I have much more to say.  This is a start.  More to come after the convention.  Comments welcome.

POSTNOTE Saturday afternoon: As it happens, less than 24 hours ago I got a letter from President Biden that illustrates the conundrum of living in the most powerful nation in a diverse society and world.  The letter is here, one page, and speaks for itself: Pres Biden re Gaza Aug 12 2024.  This particular letter was especially unusual.  It was on genuine stationery and came first class mail.  It was printed August 12, mailed August 13 and received August 16.  In my day-to-day world I don’t expect to hear from any President or for that matter any government official about anything.  In this particular situation I had written the President about a current international issue.  You have to read the letter to see what it says.

I pdf’ed the letter and sent it to two good friends, on opposite sides of the issue, both Americans, neither directly involved in the conflict.  The first responded after I published this post, but hasn’t seen this post yet.

I will say no more about that.  The President, indeed any government official at any level, is constantly faced with making decisions which are unpopular with someone.  There is not a single decision, I would guess, that will not be considered wrong to someone.  President Truman faced this with the atomic bomb in 1945, when he became President just months after FDR was inaugurated for a 4th term, and a month before the Germans surrendered.  Best I recall, he was an old-time vice-president, with no portfolio of consequence, and little knowledge of the atomic bomb being developed.  But at the time he became President, the decision about the bomb was left in his lap.  And depending on one’s point of view, the decision was correct or not….

In the case of yesterday’s President’s letter, it is not known, but very possible, that neither antagonist (who don’t know each other personally) will not like its contents.  It’s a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” situation.

Take a look, and apply it to your own non-negotiable priority for the next administration.

We sink or swim together….

COMMENTS (more at end):

from Fred:  I haven’t said it before, but I do like your hand-crafted graph of the electorate.

Bet you have the popcorn already popped for Monday Night’s event. We plan to watch. Perhaps a new version of William Jennings Bryan will show up and capture the nomination.


from SAK: I really like your Political Scrum 2024 – I also think it’s pretty accurate. Increasingly there are independents – I remember Ralph Nader running & how Berkeley students campaigned for him. I think the system is beyond its sell-by date & needs a lot of fine tuning if not an overhaul. It suits the powers that be & therefore is unlikely to change any time soon I suppose. Similarly for the UK which I know much more about.

As for the ultrarich, while it is true that they have one vote, one can look at the issue from a different angle & note that they have a lot of “influence”. Elon Musk for example. These days he has opted to intervene here & there – including in the UK where he announced a civil war & incited many to serious acts of violence. A poor US farmer distracted by making enough to survive on is unlikely to have such influence.

Aneurin Bevan, was a lively British Labour leader – Labour in the UK is a party close to the US’ Democrats while the Conservative party (also known as Tory) is closer to the Republicans. Well he said something that resonates in the US as well:

“The whole art of Conservative politics in the 20th century, is being deployed to enable wealth to persuade poverty to use its political freedom to keep wealth in power.”

This “persuasion” can be based on racism, all kinds of phobias, anti-immigrant sentiments, antiestablishment feelings, religious fervour or fanaticism, whipped up anti socialist beliefs, hyped individualism à la Ayn Rand, impossible nostalgia . . . it is ironic that some of the “Conservatives/Republicans” are prominent in the establishment or are far from religious etc. The irony is lost on the poor voters.

As for the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima & Nagasaki, I know not whether that was correct or not, but from my own Christian perspective it was immoral as is all violence. “Just war” sounds like a contradiction in terms else how can we hope for peace and justice 😊!?

Quick Response from Dick (more a little later, check back):  There is hardly anything I disagree with in SAK’s response.  Later today (it’s 5:30 a.m. as I write) I will reflect a bit more on what SAK has to say.  It will likely be a new post, dated August 18.  Check back on Monday.

from Don: A marvelous email. I forwarded it to several friends. Hope to join you and the other great Woodbury Democrats,  before, during, and after November 5.

 

 

3 replies
  1. Larry Gauper
    Larry Gauper says:

    Good column post again, Dick. And I really liked President Biden’s letter. He expressed my view perfectly. Overall election apathy continues. Most people, for example, can’t name their state representative or state senator. Maybe not even at the federal level. A democracy cannot stand with this kind of individual voter apathy.

    Reply
  2. Harry J Bury
    Harry J Bury says:

    Thanks, Dick, for taking us down memory lane.

    As a Catholic Priest, I wonder why Christians do not take the
    Triune God and the human and divine Jesus literally when
    the Triune God clearly revealed in the Ten Commandments,not to kill.
    No exceptions. Also, Jesus was clear in His statement
    “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.” He mentioned
    no exceptions such as “IN SELF DEFENSE. Hence , If we really have
    faith in God,why do we Christians
    not follow God’s commandments/invitation? It seems to me that it is
    beyond time when we refuse to kill and build instruments designed
    to kill.What say yee?
    Fr Harry J Bury

    Reply
    • dickbernard
      dickbernard says:

      “What say yee?”, I would agree with my friend, SAK, in England (see last paragraph in his comment to this blog, above). At the same time, there has always been and likely will always be the irresolvable tension between ideal and real, as it plays out today in Israel/Palestine/Gaza and Ukraine/Russia and on and on. Peace and Passivity are not synonyms, unfortunately. As I have noted, innovations like the United Nations have mitigated albeit imperfectly towards a “Better World” which is my personal mantra. At the same time, there will always be evil, which has to be confronted in other than peaceful ways. Persons like yourself do yeoman service. Thank you for your service for peace.

      Reply

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