If Congress actually worked for us, would we go from one war to the next as our homeless population grows? Would we put the welfare of citizens from another country ahead of our own citizens? Would we still have lead-poisoned water in Flint Michigan after five (5), six (6) or more years after learning of this problem? Would we have thousands of other cities like Chicago with lead-poisoned water? Would there be any major issues facing Americans that would take a back seat to foreign interventions, especially when those interventions oftentimes takes place in countries few Americans know about?
I will let you contemplate all of the other issues to which Congress allows America and Americans take a back seat. Just consider the fact that $800 billion went to our military this year, up from over $700 billion in the last few years, a figure that continues going up, year after year. First off, how do we spend so much on weapons, yet never seem to have enough weapons? Maybe, that's why we're always at war... I imagine the demand for bombs would dry up, if we weren't dropping them somewhere so often
What if we (and by we, I mean Congress) stopped providing the war hawks with an endless supply of money to build new bombs? Maybe we would cherish the bombs we already have stockpiled and drop fewer of them more sparingly.
Secondly, how could all the bombs we drop be making us more secure when we haven't won too many wars where we've dropped so many of those bombs? If anything, all of that bomb-dropping has proven that we're not as strong as we pretend to be. It's like being a bully who gets beat up all of the time.
For those of you who are fond of American acts of aggression, let's take a broader look at the recent history of the United States. Let's look back to the 80s. I use this decade as reference because I spent that decade in my 20s. I spent that decade as the first in which I was an adult with responsibilities like rent, insurance and other bills. It was the decade when, for the first time in my life, I was in charge of keeping myself alive. While this was a challenge for the young me, I don't remember it being so much so as to be unattainable or unsustainable.
At 19 years old, I moved from Columbus, Ohio to Miami, Florida, lived on the beach (not South Beach yet... that would come later). I had my own car. I ate well, drank well, danced and partied almost every Thursday, Friday and Saturday and had a perception of the future that was nothing short of optimistic. This is why, whenever a young colleague or acquaintance says something like "You wish you were young." I inevitably think of my life in the 80s and respond thusly. "I do, but not in this day and age. I wish I was young back in the 80s." And, this is invariably why, when I challenge them to pit their life today against the life I lived and loved in the 80s, I must always stop myself when I realize they've run out of 'pros' two or three sentences back. What these discussions all boil down to is that my generation worked just as hard as today's young adults work, but we also enjoyed life outside of work because there were always AFFORDABLE activities to do on your days off and work rarely made you work on your days off. As a matter of fact, limited work hours was actually a selling point as to why one shouldn't start their own business back in the day.
"If you start a business, you'll have to work so many more hours."
It's funny how that argument no longer holds true. Employees are having to work two or three jobs these days and some are even resorting to donating plasma to make ends meet.
Not into the partying or vacation aspects of life, how about peace of mind. Is that something you'd be interested in having in greater quantities? Anecdotally, my mind was more at ease back in the day. My mother's mind was more at ease. Everyone I know slept better back then. Today, it feels as if everyone is scared of the future, even those who have good jobs. Everyone's afraid these days. Afraid of being laid off. Afraid of getting sick. Afraid of questioning narratives like mandatory vaccines or lockdowns. If all of these wars and economic decisions American leadership makesare supposed to benefit us then why does this country feel so much more divided day by day. If Congress is making decisions that are supposed to benefit the country, why can't the Public question them? Good ideas should always be defensible.
Part of the problem is inflation which feels like something the Government should be able to control, or at least have influence over through the Federal Reserve, but there's more to it. While prices have become inflated over the decades, wages have remained relatively stagnant. So, rent or mortgages have gone from being 25% of your earnings to 50% or more. Less cash for activities outside of work, including vacations sounds like an opportunity for greater levels of stress. Young people are finding it harder to move out of their parent's houses and being demonized for living in their parent's basements. People on the verge of retirement are realizing that they only have two choices this late in life: Work until they die or just die.
While I personally view the 80s as the peak of life in America, I referenced that time because there are a few other things that happened in that time which have shaped today's America. The 80s is when leaders like Mitch McConnell and Nancy Pelosi joined Congress, as a Republican in the Senate in 1985 and a Democrat in the House in 1987, respectively.
Now, it may simply be a coincidence that America has only trended downward, according to almost any metric since those two entered the national political scene, but it's difficult to ignore the fact that most of America's biggest issues were supposed to be addressed and resolved by Congress. And, those two aren't alone in having been responsible for the direction in which this country is headed. Chuck Schumer has been a U.S. Senator for New York since 1999.
The Regaining American Democracy (RAD) word or phrase of the day is:
Pelosied - verb
When a voter continually elects a leader despite the fact that the leader's record details just how opposed her or his policies are to said voter's best interest.
Related - Pelosied is interchangeable with McConnelled, Schumered, or AOCed
