Jan 6th: Another date that will live in infamy
And some thoughts on how to move forward from here.
I watched with increased horror the unbelievable scenes beamed into my home and across the world.
A horde overran the US State Capitol after months and hours of exhortation by Trump and company to ‘fight like hell’ to ‘take back the country.’
Yet another cynical person in power played with the emotions of a worried and increasingly angry and divided population to take the mighty USofA one step closer towards becoming another Banana Republic.
And while horrible, this was not a total surprise to anyone watching the political landscape. It was building up. Riots in various states, deteriorating law and order, racist tropes inserted into political discourse….and on and on.
I came to California as a young man in my mid 20’s. And promptly fell in love with the state, country, and the people. I have since had the privilege of working across the globe. I have lived in China, India, and France and ran a big, global organization for a Fortune 100 company. So I think I know better than most how we compare as a country, economy, and society and what we are doing right or wrong vs others.
Hand on heart, this is a great country with good people.
Are we perfect? No! But then show me one person who is.
Try showing up in another country with a different accent and skin color, no money or education. And then show me a path to a good life, a safe and welcome place to raise a family, to enjoy freedoms, to gain power and wealth.
The best place to do so is still here. That is why this country is still such a strong magnet for 90% of the world.
But the shine is wearing off. Continuous political bickering, infighting, trying to gain and keep power at the expense of fellow Americans….and a lot longer list of sins is slowly eroding the moral and soft power we wield across the world in people’s hearts.
Internally, we have become used to and numbed to our strengths. So a lot of the population is focused on what is wrong, instead of what is right. And a lot of people are pointing fingers at ‘others’ for the problems.
The increased polarity is slowly pulling the country apart. We are becoming the Divided States of America.
Whose fault is it that we have reached this unimaginable place?
Our feckless leadership, that’s who! Across both sides of the aisle!
With power comes responsibility. But today it seems like leaders can get away with murder while the common person is held accountable for the most minor of infractions. One year after January 6th, the common person is behind bars. The leaders are still roaming free, raising money in fundraisers, and controlling political power. Wow!
Our leaders eroded the middle class in the interest of winning elections and the ideology of ‘free markets. One side opened the borders. The other gerrymandered the heck out of each state. All the while blaming the ‘other.’
Can you imagine a situation when the ‘enemy’ or the ‘other’ is from the same country!! Not someone outside but Democrats pointing to Republicans and vice versa. Americans are busy treating fellow citizens as ‘enemies’ because they think a bit differently!
It was ironic that the same political establishment started wringing their hands when someone like Trump showed up and played their cynical game better than any one of them. It was almost comical to see the genuflecting by the ‘leaders’ towards this individual most of them hated or sneered at before!
Trump skillfully played to people’s long-building frustrations and gave them a voice. Take our jobs back. Stop letting others take advantage of us. Control the borders. Then skillfully, inserted racist tropes about rapists and job-takers.
Yet again, created ‘enemies’, the ‘other’ for the worried and angry population to focus on.
What is the way forward?
The great strength of democracy is the ability to put forth different views. As a ‘brown 1st generation immigrant’ here are my 2 cents.
We are good people. We are a great nation. Let’s get the pride back.
We have issues. Let’s not make them smaller or bigger than they are. We are not unique or evil. Every human being or society has issues that need to be dealt with.
We will not solve our issues by increased polarization. We can not become ‘Republicans’ or ‘Democrats’, ‘Patriots’ or ‘Progressives’. We have to be American first. We need to lower the temperature and heal this great nation.
The economic problems are actually the easiest to solve. Given our robust frameworks, education system, our focus on innovation, and the diverse population, we can easily retain our dominance economically, politically and morally.
It would just take a few good people to step up without regard to personal agenda and greed. People who are willing to work across the aisle, for all Americans. People who will listen to the silent majority, instead of the 2 extremes who are slowly pulling the country apart.
This country has given me a lot. I want to do my bit to hand over a stronger country to future generations. Last year I started getting engaged in public discourse. Take a look at my website LetsMakeCAWork.com A lot of the issues are similar for the rest of the country.
We, the sane silent majority, need to again band together against the insane extreme elements on both sides of the aisle.
