Seven Questions

With the Maryland filing deadline fast approaching for those who are (or are considering) seeking public office in the 2018 election cycle (February 27, 2018 to be precise), this blog is once again considering what questionnaires (if any) to send out to various campaigns.  Of course, the issue mix ranges depending on a number of factors (for example: whether the candidate is seeking a Federal, State, or Local office). 

While we can discuss specific policy proposals all day long ($15/hr federal minimum wage, Medicare for All, etc…), I like to return to exploring “first principles” to understand how candidates think about underlying issues. 

That said, these are the questions I find foremost on my mind in 2018, in no particular order:

1)      Do you consider the increased concentration of economic wealth in the United States to be corrosive to our democracy?  If yes, how should this issue be addressed? If not, why not?

2)      What are your thoughts on social democracy? 

3)      Racial discrimination continues to plague our nation.  This is evident in our workforce (hiring practices, income disparities, opportunities for advancement, etc…), in the administration of our criminal justice system, in systemic efforts to disenfranchise voters based on race, in the relative dearth of substantive environmental protections for communities where people of color constitute a large percentage of the population, and in other facets of American life.  What steps can and should be taken to address these issues?

4)      Thinking about the principles of liberty and equality, and this can apply to any given challenge (fiscal, social, etc…), how can they both be promoted to ensure that the “unalienable rights” of all Americans are protected?

5)      Let’s assume that something called “class warfare” exists.  If so, who has been winning? For how long? And in whose interest is it to continue the war?  

6)      Considering the UN’s sustainable development goals which refer to gender equality as a “fundamental human right,” how is America performing when it comes to promoting gender equality and what specific steps can and should be taken to secure true gender equality in the United States?

7)      Many LGBTQIA Americans have expressed concerns that the current Administration (and those who view the world similarly) are dedicated to rolling back recent legal protections fought for, and recognized, in this country.  What steps can and should be taken to safeguard the rights of LGBTQIA citizens to participate fully in the “pursuit of happiness” stated in our Declaration of Independence?  

Will this be the basis of the questionnaire? Who may receive it?  Who may respond to it of their own volition? Stay tuned, as more will follow...

In solidarity.

Black Lives Matter and America

Anyone who doesn’t recognize that Black people, in America, have been disproportionally impacted by violence (in many forms)…and suffered violence and its effects because of their race…is simply not paying attention to 400 years of history.  This is why there is a need for a Black Lives Matter movement.  No one is asking for anything other than the ability to fulfill the promise of the Declaration of Independence, to enjoy “certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”  There is nothing at all controversial about wanting these things.  Yet, there seems to be controversy, why?

The sad, cold reality is that there are those, out of fear, hate, and/or ignorance, who choose to commit acts of harm against Black men, women, and children.  Their motivations may vary but the end result is the same.  The frustration is that there are those who refuse to accept the fact that this has occurred throughout our nation’s history, and that it continues to the present day.

  

The hypocrisy is one of the more troubling elements.  Let’s employ a simple version of philosopher John Rawls and his moral constructs.  If rational people, placed behind a “veil of ignorance” and put into an “original position” where they would not know their race or other characteristics, were compelled to design a society, they would probably not formulate one where slavery or race-based discrimination existed, knowing that they could be part of an ethnic minority facing such treatment. 

So why then, for example, is it acceptable in the United States, for Black male teens to be 21 times more likely to be killed by police compared to white male teens? These are recent statistics, compiled by ProPublica from 2010 – 2012.  What mindset says that these numbers don’t represent a continuation of a horrific human tragedy?  Aren’t we, as a society, supposed to be better than this?  Where are those “patriots” who fail to man the ramparts against what should be considered un-American behavior?  They seem to stand silent, frozen atop feet of clay.  
   

We live in a heterogeneous Republic, “color-blindness” is a failure to recognize our nation as it is. This is why there is, and needs to be, a Black Lives Matter movement.  With true equality in America far more of an aspiration than a grounded actuality, there needs to be voices clamoring not for “special treatment,” but for fundamental justice, fair treatment, and the freedom to live in peace with one’s neighbors.   

Stay tuned, as more will follow.