Why Biden Can’t Be the Status Quo President
After the Republican residency of 2016 to 2020, many people feel a return to normalcy is what the country needs. However, is that really true?
The first contention between a return to normalcy and progress is in regard to climate change. While Biden’s policies to fight climate change are a step in the right direction, they are not enough in the current stage of climate.
The American Physical Society states that “Earth’s changing climate is a critical issue and poses the risk of significant environmental, social and economic disruptions around the globe”.
This means that drastic changes must be made right now to prevent a climate disaster in our lifetime, that is, if it is not already too late. Biden has made strides with his climate proposal, the Biden Plan, but there is still room for improvement. A quicker plan would be better since Biden will have at most 8 years in office and a 30-year plan can either be discontinued or just as likely, too slow to affect the Earth and prevent the climate crisis. The ScientificAmerican also poses concern with Biden being able to implement his policies with a Republican Senate and conservative court. However, even if the Georgia run-off does not go the Democrats’ way, if Biden centers all aspects of policy with the climate crisis in mind he can, at many turns, stealthily avoid opposition. This would mean hiring environmentalists to a wide variety of positions in the executive branch, even those seemingly unrelated like housing, and making great use of executive orders. The opposite is currently happening as Biden picks, most notably White House advisor Cedric Richmond and potential pick Ernest Moniz, come under fire for ties to the oil and gas industries. Additionally to climate-focused appointees, stricter regulations on corporations, like a ban on fracking, factory farming, and any other extremely harmful practices, would be ideal. Given that the world will face tremendous consequences, anything less than ideal is insufficient from the president and he should do everything in his power to prevent this disaster. The status quo is not doing enough to halt a climate crisis and that simply cannot be allowed for the future of the planet and anyone that lives on it.
The second point of contention between what the people need and Biden’s plans is his proposal for police funding. Protests across the world arose after the murder of multiple black people by police officers and politicians have been discussing the best way to address police brutality. Biden intends to increase police funding. This, while well intentioned, is not proven to reduce police brutality or general crime at all. Furthermore, it contradicts what protestors want: a defunding of the police department and a reallocating of funds towards poor communities and education. The police already have enough money to be reassigned to better training. The New York Police Department spent a quarter billion dollars on settlements in 2018 alone. What the police department needs is not more funding or reform, it is systemic change that addresses the roots of the problem: racism, over-policing, and violent behaviour. President-elect Biden needs to enter the Oval Office ready to make big and meaningful changes. He cannot permit a broken system to be upheld for any longer.
One thing progressives and liberals can both get behind is Biden’s attempt to unite the country, and more specifically the left. Although Biden won the primary, progressive candidates like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren won the hearts of many. Sanders and Warren won a combined 34% of the popular vote, and Yang’s more progressive policies were supported by over 160 thousand voters, prior to them dropping out. President-elect Biden has made good efforts in working with progressives already, but it is important that young progressive continue to reach out to him and demand to be heard in decisions that will affect them most. Uniting the country means representing every person in America, especially progressives who put aside their ideals to make sure Biden wins the presidency through their campaigns and endorsements. Representing progressives is hiring progressive people into positions of power and working with them to create a better America. This cannot be done under the status quo which directly opposes progress in favour of the current state.
The question stands, why should President-elect Joe Biden move away from more moderate policies to more progressive ones? After all, he won 81 million votes running as a moderate candidate. While this is true, it is important to consider Joe Biden’s platform. Biden, although more moderate, has the same ideal of avoiding a climate crisis as any other of the candidates in the Democratic primary. If he wants to do that, the only way is radical change; it is too late for slow progress. If the fear is that this will disappoint voters, that may not be true. “Electability” was the leading factor in people’s decisions during the democratic primary, so it is probable not all, but many more voters, are also content with more progressive action. However, even if that is not the case, voters will feel much less content with an uninhabitable Earth for their children, than they would with a policy shift. Elected officials are there to make the best calls and a pro-science candidate like Joe Biden should have no issue aligning with scientific advice and the urges of climate activists.
A return to normalcy would entail ignoring the threat of climate change, making meaningless change in regards to the criminal justice system, and shutting down progressive movements that desire better conditions for working people. Regressing to normalcy, at least under the Obama administration, means having a higher deportation rate than the one under Donald Trump. Building back better is incompatible with the return to normalcy. Progress is needed for a good society and right now progress is needed for a society that aspires to last. So please, continue to advocate for improvement and do not allow Joe Biden to be a status quo president.
