I can breath again

I rarely express my political opinion here. For me politics like religion is personal.

However, if you know Peter’s politics, then you know mine.

Yesterday Joe Biden was declared the President-Elect of the United States and I am very happy. Kamala Harris is even a bigger deal being Vice-President Elect as she is a woman, minority, and the child of immigrants. An old white guy being the President is pretty much business as usual.

Caroline said that her anxiety levels dropped by more than half. She was happy and even bubbly about it. She texted her friends and they were talking about this all day.

In the neighborhood there were celebrations breaking out and people talking to each other about how they felt. The houses that were brave enough to put out Biden/Harris signs were gather points at a safe distance where people were jubilant.

Caroline and I took a very long walk and just enjoyed the day.

I know it was just an election, but things feel different. Caroline said that she had feels of hope for the first time in a long time. She could see a future for her.

She is a little disappointed that she was one month and two days short of eighteen, but she plans on voting from her birthday on.

I feel like I can make plans again. I feel like we will get COVID under control. I feel like we will get our trash economy back up and running again. There will be major changes because of the pandemic and that is not a bad thing.

I firmly believe that the stock market is only an indicator of the economy. We are more than a number. Bigger numbers does not mean that the middle class is doing any better. And it defiantly does not reflect how the poorest in our society are suffering during this pandemic.

I believe in public education and giving every child in this country a chance to better themselves.

I want to bring back civics classes and home economics including basic life skills like how to rent an apartment. How to budget money. How to open a bank account. How to apply for student loans.

I believe firmly that the Arts should be part of that education. Children who can read music are activating parts of their brains used for other intellectual uses. Art gives them the ability to express themselves. Woodshop give them practical skills they can use for life.

As you can tell, I am big on education and we need to restore what has been stripped away and return to the public schools what has been stolen from them.

I want our military personal to make enough money that they don’t have to take a second job to make ends me. I want good schools for their children too. I want the VA to work for our Vets rather than being an obstacle course to just get basic treatment. I respect and appreciate our military and think we do need to support the people within. I want them to be able to get the benefits promised them when they signed up. I am not sanguine with building things that the armed forces have said more than once they don’t need or want.

I want to help family farms survive. I have no love for the corporate farms who are grabbing most of the money that should go to the small farmers. My mother grew up on a small farm and it was a hardscrabble life. She worked her way from there to becoming a Professor Emeritus of Emory University.

I believe that Black Lives Matter.

I believe in getting rid of for-profit prisons who have created a business model that depends on the incarceration of our citizens. Those in these hell-holes are disproportionally filled with the poor, the marginalized, and the young black men of our country. I firmly believe that the Regan Era no tolerance policy towards drugs has done more harm to two generations of black men than just about any other legal maneuver. Drug addicts need treatment not incarceration. They need help to get to the root of why they do drugs and how they can get out of it.

We need more social workers and councilors to help our population with the fall-out from COVID and the mental toll it has taken on all of us.

We need to help each other. To re-unite as a country and take on the big issues that face our citizens. We need to restore our ability to create and think outside the box. We were an inventive society and we need to get back to that. Again the schools are a big part of this.

We need to restore our country and remember what made us great and will make us great again.

I think Joe Biden is up to the task and I have hope for the future of our country for the first time in four years.

I am grateful that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won.