How Fear Is Trumping Our Vision

And Why Beating Donald Trump Isn’t the Only Thing That Matters

For millions of working class people, here’s something I expect to be a very familiar predicament:

The commonplace nature of this sort of dilemma for people who work themselves to the bone and see the profits of their labor disappear, is obviously indicative of an unjust and broken system. And yet, I completely understand why someone would suck it up, and make the choice to dig themselves a deeper hole to stave off the most immediate threat, because I have been that someone countless times. I’ll bet you have to. So I don’t begrudge those who feel they need to make a similar back-against-the-wall decision in the current Democratic primary.

From recent drop-out candidates, to news anchors, to Super PACs, to Hillary Clinton, we’ve heard the same unequivocal assertion: the ONLY thing that matters in 2020 is beating Donald Trump. This is the result of one of the current administration’s most insidious effects — Trump’s small-mindedness has everyone thinking small.

Just like in the hypothetical, yet all too real, example I gave before, I get it. A repeat of the past four years is an untenable prospect, and truly an existential threat to our nation and the greater world… BUT it is not the only threat. Unfortunately we don’t have the luxury of plucking the Trump-shaped splinter out of her hand, putting on a bandage, and declaring that the worst is behind us. There is a lot of talk at present about getting things “back to normal” and for many, trusty Uncle Joe Biden feels like a comforting cup of that “normal.”

But the reality is that for minorities, the poor, the disabled, the sick, and millions of other marginalized Americans, the brand of normal we’re accustomed to in this country is a horror show. The thing that particularly middle-class white US citizens likely don’t want to admit to themselves is that wether the White House is blue or red come 2021, they’ll be mostly fine. I know that to be true in my own life. While I have struggled and continue to struggle financially under the thumb of the predatory health insurance industry, for the most part, I as a white middle class male, have not known great hardship stemming from one party being in power over the other. And that’s what keeps me up at night when I hear that beating Trump in November is the only goal we should be concerned with.

It paints clearly in my mind two futures that are disgusting in their own right: One in which the president is re-elected because the Democratic Party fails to put forth a bold plan that addresses modern problems with new solutions. And one in which a moderate Democratic platform unseats Trump, and scores of relieved Democrats pat themselves on the back, tune out the politics for four years and enjoy things getting back to business-as-usual, while people less priviledged than themselves suffer all the same.

Business-as-usual leaves the treatment of critical illnesses in the hands of wealthy shareholders. Business-as-usual profits from endless war. Business-as-usual imprisons people of color in droves to turn a profit. Business-as-usual creates refugee crises the world over and cages its victims when they come seeking mercy. Business-as-usual poisons the Earth and trivializes the consequences.

These are the pillars of our nation that every executive and legislative branch have upheld since the Reagan era, regardless of which side of the aisle was holding the reins. That includes the Obama years, and I’m still proud to have voted for him twice, but President Obama’s efforts and successes gave us hope for greater things to come. That time for greater things HAS TO BE NOW.

This is my plea in the coming months to everyone who has yet to vote in the primary. Think bigger than beating Trump. While Bernie Sanders is falling behind in the ballot box, and Elizabeth Warren wasn’t able to build the coalition she deserved, their ideas and proposed solutions are extremely popular across demographics. If I can’t convince you to vote for Bernie the man, then I implore you to put the pressure on your candidate to champion the kind of systemic change Bernie’s candidacy represents. That to me is the heart of the message, “NOT ME. US.” Please consider the needs of millions of people beyond yourself and your immediate community, and understand that the bare minimum of ousting 45 won’t secure a better future.

If we truly rise to the challenges that have always plagued us, not just the ones exacerbated by the last 4 years, then together we can start to eliminate the kind of lose-lose situations I opened with here, for each and every one of us. Let us not vote with the fear of losing, but fearlessly for the rights of dignity and prosperity we know we must win.

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