I hate to say it, but it's been a whole freakin' year since I wrote part 1. More like 5 years, amIright?? Pandemic (& pandemic fatigue) aside, I feel like I've really missed writing. & what better to write about than some of the things that have been laid bare in American society in the past ~9 months? The first part of this post was optimistic - laying out some points that personally seem like common sense, but I know are probably seen as "radical" (which, tbh, is just a sad reflection of society's lack of imagination :[ ). This post will lay out some of my hopes too - but instead of aiming high, I'm setting out to establish a low bar for American society. Things that we should all - Yellow, Black, Brown, or White - agree on. I never thought it would be necessary to establish a bare minimum for society, but I also never thought that a law enforcement officer would kneel on someone's neck for 9:30 while 3 other officers stood by and didn't do a thing. I never thought Senators would so brazenly take advantage of a pandemic that's killed 300,000 AND COUNTING. I never thought American society would see their politicians come up with trillions of financing, only to provide $1,200 to some of us - and not fire them damn near across the board. So, here we go.
- Law enforcement should have a higher standard. I'm leaving this one
open-ended on purpose because there are so many standards that could be
higher. Eligibility standards, in terms of an improved screening
process, educational attainment, and whatever else you might think of.
Legal standards, in terms of a system that holds them accountable
(notice: I'm not asking for us to screw over police officers. If you
think accountability is a dealbreaker, then you probably have an
orientation toward police officers as authoritarians and not public
servants.). Health standards - they should probably get better and more
opportunities for mental health maintenance. I could keep on, but I'll
leave it up to you. What higher standards do you think law enforcement
officers should have?
- Politicians shouldn't profit from office. The salary for Congress is $174,000 at minimum - this is so much more than "enough" that it's offensive some of these people still take the time to insider trade. Median HOUSEHOLD income as of 2019 was ~$69,000. As in, every congressperson makes 2.5x the median (again) HOUSEHOLD income in America. That sounds obscene to me and fits more with the impression that politicians are out-of-touch overlords in America than public servants (unless you think it's normal for a servant to make almost triple the boss... then I digress).
- Americans need to hold their elected officials accountable. In the past year, I've realized that I'm with Ro Khanna (House Rep) and think that Senator Feinstein is God awful. I think Sam Liccardo is kinda crappy, but I've learned that the San Jose City Council and the City Manager deserve a lot of blame for the way things are run in San Jose as well. On a national level, it's bizarre that the federal government has provided us with scraps, failed to create a national response to the pandemic (remember when the death toll was supposed to be 200k in the worst-case scenario? I remember), and...... a ton of GOP politicians were elected right back into office. So they could... keep doing nothing for us?? I'm not saying Dems don't hold any responsibility - but the HEROES act has been sitting on Mitch Mcconnell's desk for many moons, so... let's blame that crusty old bastard and the rest of the politicians that fall in line behind him (i.e. every GOP Senator).
It's not an expansive list, but it's a starting point. It's mind-boggling that I would consider this a starting point, but with all that's been brought to the fore in the past 9 months... I thought it was worth writing about. Hopefully none of this sounds wild to you & we can work towards a future that looks like this in America.
