I understand that many of us don’t take the midterm elections as seriously as the presidential, but perhaps we need to reconsider this time around. I think most of us realize things aren’t working as they should, and that our government is broken, or at least ineffective in many ways. The problem is that many of us do not understand what is broken and how we can fix it. We have the unfortunate tendency to not take the time to see what is really going on, and instead, choose the easier option of just moving on to the next President and Congress in hopes that they will somehow do a better job. We have become a “quick fix” society in so many ways, and therefore do not do the necessary work in order to create the changes we need. The reality is that although many of us are truly disgusted, exhausted and indeed would just like to move on, we will not get what we want in our government if we don’t take care of things now. An even more honest observation is that if we think things are bad now, they will in fact get much worse without our attention. Let’s take a fresh look at what is going on in our government and what we can do about it.
What we are experiencing now is the inaction of our own Congress. I would suggest, again, to resist blaming the Biden Administration for things not getting done. Any decisions made at the presidential level would be temporary at best. Lasting, effective change can only happen through the legislation created in Congress.
The U.S. Senate
It is the U.S. Senate who has the final say about putting forth new legislation. Many of the things we need as American citizens have already been adopted and passed in the House of Representatives. The Democratic Party is in fact doing their very best to create the changes we need. I do understand how frustrating it is to see things not getting done, but it is not the fault of the Democrats at this time. It is the Senate that finds itself in a constant state of paralysis and is therefore unable to bring forth legislation that can truly help us in any way. Unfortunately, the rules within the Senate do not allow new laws and policies to pass without 60% of the entire vote within that body. The Democrats currently have 50% control, 51% if you include the Vice President. The reality is that they do not even have the fifty votes to implement new policies, because there are two Democratic Senators who are clearly voting with the Republicans. The 60% requirement is called the “filibuster”, and it is this arcane rule that needs to be removed in order for us to move forward. Long story short, we need to elect at least two more Democrats to this body if we want to see any real change. We obviously cannot continue in this manner, so we are the ones that need to make these changes this fall with our vote.
The U.S. Supreme Court
With the addition of more Democratic Senators to Congress, we will have the ability to correct the incredible problem we have in the U.S. Supreme Court as well. The removal of individual rights, and these are human rights, will continue to happen at this level of our government. The Republican Party is responsible for placing extreme, right-wing justices to our highest court. Their goal is to establish a theocratic state in which extremely conservative religious views will take over our lives and reality. This will prove to be very damaging and harmful to our current way of life. To participate in a religious philosophy is a right that belongs to each of us, but it is in fact a personal and private matter. We cannot have the personal, religious ideology of a few dictate what we can and cannot do in this country. This is what we escaped from when we arrived here in the first place. Any individual’s personal philosophy, whether religious or political, should never be forced on another person, much less 330 million. If we take action and bring in more Democratic Senators, we will have the opportunity to appoint additional justices to the Supreme Court to offset this absolute disaster. We can no longer afford to remain apathetic in these matters, or we will most definitely find ourselves living the kind of life we do not wish to live.
State Legislatures
Whether you live in a red state or a blue state, you must be aware that your needs are not being met in many cases. I have said many times that your personal ideologies, religious, political or otherwise, will not bring to you what you require in your life. If your state legislature is making it more difficult for you to vote, or if you notice your individual rights are slowly being taken away from you, it is time to make a different choice. My friends, these are not partisan issues, these are human issues. It appears as though many Republican state legislatures will have the opportunity to overturn the popular vote with the new laws they are enacting within your state. If this begins to happen in our election process, then, our vote really will not matter. We will no longer be living in a democracy. What kind of world do we want to be living in? It’s time for each of us to realize what we exactly want and need in our lives and figure out the best way to achieve those ends. It’s time to forget about party labels and what they have represented or meant to us in the past. Life is about taking the necessary actions in order to create better conditions for ourselves. Only we can do this, and we can do this. As serious as these considerations may be for you, they are nevertheless simple and practical ones.
With everything that is going on, it should be very clear to all of us that voting in the National or Presidential Election every four years is not enough. A Presidential Administration can only do so much. We need to become just a little more involved by making our voices heard in state and local elections as well. This is the “grassroots” level that has never been more important than it is now. I totally understand how exhausted and frustrated everyone is. We need to care enough to get just a little more involved and vote in the midterms. It’s really not that difficult, all things considered. We can build a better future.
All my love and support, be well