It is said that [Franklin D. Roosevelt] saved the nation by betraying his class. His highly progressive income taxes and safety net programs had the effect of limiting extreme wealth or poverty. Our nation prospered, workers were protected by unions, riches were attainable, and we had shared core values. You still had to work hard to get ahead, but social mobility was our story.
It is also said that history was cyclical. As those who have experienced a great lesson pass, the memory fades, reforms are abandoned and the forces morph until the same great lesson needs to be re-taught. History, being a harsh teacher, gives the test first, then the lesson.
The recent MAGA coup attempt fits this narrative. Whole classes feel excluded from the dreams that their parents shared. Societies and their supporting economies endures as they obey basic ecology. A sustainable economy is an ecosystem with wealth recycling, just as nutrients flow in a food chain for the benefit of a healthy pond. Fail at this and self-government will fall to someone capable of running a casino or managing a huge inheritance.
PAUL BENSON, Hawarden, Iowa
When the Constitution was first written, it was about men — literally. White men who could own black men as slaves. Only they were claimed to be equal and have “inalienable rights.” This we know because Blacks were not freed from slavery until 1863 and women couldn’t vote until 1920 with the 19th Amendment. Interesting.
Lately we see that rights given “regardless of sex” (i.e. via the 19th Amendment) still don’t apply to all ”men” (meaning both sexes, so it is said). If all “persons” were stated as “having inalienable rights” from the beginning we wouldn’t be having this debate over the “rights” of LGBT persons. They are human beings, after all, whether or not they are “different” in the ways they are.
Are we to deny rights to people with only one leg or no hands or any other physical difference? And are we to deny rights to people who won’t touch broccoli, but love cabbage only? On what basis can anyone person be denied their “inalienable” rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? This shouldn’t be seen as a “right” or “left” issue. It is a personal issue.
The “right” talks about God and Law. They seem to live in a pre-Christian era. Christ came to fulfill the Law. And he summed up all of the laws in “Love God and love your neighbor as yourself.” “And who is my neighbor,” Christ was asked (Luke 10:29-31). To which He replied with the Parable of the Good Samaritan, which I’m sure very many people have heard of. But there is also Proverbs 21: 2-3, which says, “Every man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord pondereth the hearts. To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.” And also, “Now, therefore, harken unto me, for blessed are they that keep my ways. Hear instruction, and be wise and refuse it not” (Proverbs 8:32-33). “For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favor of the Lord. But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: All that hate me love death” (Proverbs 8:35-36).
God promises this to all who come to Him , whatever their group, party, favorite color, nationality, age, income or anything else humans’ existence consists of.
It would be nice if those who claim to know and believe God would listen to Him (and it wouldn’t hurt all others to know and do so, either).
CHERYL LOVELY, Presque Isle, Maine
There may be something about the quadrennial inaugural season that inspires a bit of poetry, even from non-poets, but none-the-less, The Progressive Populist was very accommodating to include my unconventional submission in its 2/15/21 edition; it would not have gained a prominent airing anyplace else.
As your comprehensive overview of the very promising early directives and overtures of the Biden/Harris administration indicates, this long-overdue political turnabout is worthy of some waxing poetic. As a Bernie supporter, I voted Biden without hesitancy, but with some lack of enthusiasm, and I have been rather pleasantly surprised early on.
Harking back to that moment in the second Obama term when Biden endorsed gay marriage at the expense of his boss’s heartburn, I had hoped Joe might have the ability to rise to the progressive moment, and thus far he has met and possibly exceeded that expectation. In my opinion, the acid test will be the degree to which Biden fights to keep the minimum wage increase in-place, sure to face fierce head-winds from many corporate and Establishment quarters.
But a vigorous Democratic effort there, and simply engaging a comprehensive federalizing of the COVID vaccine roll-out, may be political stimulus enough to hold, energize and expand the Dem. base going into 2022. And hopefully this is just the start to a cleaner, more-equitable going-forward.
MIKE WETTSTEIN Jr., Appleton, Wis.
The last TPP I received contained much enthusiasm for progressive initiatives and this is entirety appropriate. There was, however, nothing on getting past next year’s elections with Democratic Party congressional control intact, and this is (and was) unfortunate. This control is quite insecure and Biden has already pretty much exhausted what can be done by executive action alone.
I would urge all readers to realize that not all Republicans are (or were) Trumpists and to make a strong effort to attract these non-Trumpist Republicans to the Democratic Party. A revealing Feb. 17 op-ed in the Wall Street Journal by William Galston makes the crucial distinction between [Republican] party regulars and [Republican] Trump supporters — we should make that same distinction. This could be difficult; says Galston “Sixty one percent of Trump supporters but only 38% of Republicans believe that Democrats are mostly bad people whose ideas would destroy the country.” For many of us, even the 38% minority report of Republicans might constitute a declaration of war. But we must forebear. Mr. Biden is, we must admit, elderly and VP Harris did not conduct an effective presidential candidate campaign. Furthermore while those of us who consider ourselves environmentalists, applaud the cancellation of the XL pipeline, those jobs lost paid more than green jobs will. Yes, there is evidence of an exodus from the Republican party. Great! But we need these Republican defectors to vote with us and we need the stream of defectors to continue.
McConnell turned on Trump with his impeachment speech but declined to impeach on a technicality. If he becomes Senate majority leader again, it will once more be a case of total stonewalling. Friends, I urge you, stay engaged with your moderate Republican acquaintances. Dulcet tones; low key persuasion.
JOHN PALMER, Huntington, W.V.
Talk of speaking truth to power! Legend has it, ancient Greek mathematician Euclid had the nerve to tell King Ptolemy there was no royal road to geometry. Even a monarch had to stain his brain to master the science.
In generally the same vein, the coronavirus has imparted an extremely bitter lesson. For all its quasi-miraculous achievements, our empirical scientific prowess can be caught off guard, an unexpected and deadly disease descend, and humanity scrambles for a remedy.
Not to wax moralistic, it does appear that we have grown too proud of our awe-inspiring feats in contending with Nature. There’s simply no regal boulevard to find a nostrum or panacea. Perseverance is required to conquer this pandemic.
WILLIAM DAUENHAUER, Willowick, Ohio
Can a minority party, intent on supporting partisan corruption by repeating the Big Lie as gospel, win future elections?
YES, if they limit the Democratic majority’s votes with 253 “election reform” laws being proposed in 29 states. The proposals would limit voting by mail, reduce voting days, and enable legislatures to select Electoral College electors irrespective of the popular vote count.
To thwart this preparation to steal the next election, the For The People Act protects our fair voting system. It will pass in the House, but to pass in the Senate, the Dems must end the filibuster, to enable a simple
majority vote to prevail.
Two Dem Senators oppose ending the filibuster. Their opposition flitters away the limited, valuable time that Dems have to control Congress and correct the evils that give the Trumpublican minority their power.
Please contact Senators Joe Manchin (WV) and Kristen Sinema (AZ).
BRUCE JOFFE, Piedmont, Calif.
Now this from our federal government’s Believe it or Not Department: “The Biden-Harris administration is likely to follow the Obama-Biden request for a $300 billion commitment to nuclear modernization.” (“Nukes, Trump and Cybersecurity,” John Buell, 3/1/21 TPP).
Whenever I read that the leaders of countries armed with nuclear weapons spend tons of money to upgrade them (instead of using that money to lessen world hunger, for example), I’m reminded of what I’ve heard that could very well be true: That in a far away galaxy, a more advanced civilization used Earth as a garbage dump to rid themselves of their morally defective specimens.
DAVID QUINTERO, Monrovia, Calif.
Jim Hightower’s column “We Are All Animals” [2/1/21 TPP] contains an error you should have caught: “homo” [in Homo sapiens] is actually spelled “Homo,” since it is the name of our genus.
LLOYD (a faithful subscriber)
From The Progressive Populist, April 1, 2021
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