Most people know that I am a big fan of Joe Biden! But there is an elephant in the room that people have avoided at discussing at all costs. It has been an exercise in shortsightedness. Even with the many indictments that have been made against Trump, he is still neck and neck with President Biden in the polls. There is no guarantee that Trump or a Trump like clone will be the next president in the White House. That is a risk that our democracy cannot afford to take.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg has been celebrated as one of the greatest members of the Supreme Court particularly for her role in support of women. I agree, but she had one flaw. She had been ill and stayed too long at the farm preventing President Obama from having his choice of a Supreme Court Justice even with McConnell’s unethical move to say that her death was too close to an election so let’s wait. As we know he spoke out of both sides of his mouth allowing Trump to stack the court.
Greatness doesn’t guarantee that the great do not have a blind spot. President Biden needs to be reminded of a fundamental axiom of ethics is that it deals with choiceless choices, choices that we wish we didn’t have to make.
There is no choice in the Democratic Party other than President Biden. In addition, we have Cornell West forming his party as well as the unlabeled, and the independent voters all of which are unknowns as to how many of those groups will vote Democratic or Republican. That makes for risky business in the next election.
There have been several different reasons why President Biden wants to run including his desire to “finish the job.” But there are many people in the party who forgot a key issue that may be the reason that he is neck and neck with Trump. Biden feels entitled. Certainly, Trump feels entitled as well. We have to remember that one of the issues that kept Hillary from the White House was that she believed the reviews that she was the “most qualified person to ever run for the Presidency.” People didn’t like her. Why? Because she communicated that she was entitled to get the job.
Entitled people think that they are owed something which makes people angry in a conscious and an unconscious way. The issue of reparations for black people who contributed a great deal to the success of our nation, but didn’t receive what they deserved because of slavery is a hot topic. I don’t believe that the resistance is solely about race. It is also about entitlement. “I deserve something from what my forefathers contributed to the success of our nation.”
Few could disagree with that fact, but it touches on a basic ethical issue that is part of the fabric of America. “You didn’t directly earn it.” Recall the most basic ethical issue that rests in human nature is the first ethical declaration of a child. “That’s not fair.”
Fairness lurks in our hearts in so many ways as entitlement does. We see this clearly in the Autoworkers Union who are set to strike because they want a 40% raise in their salary. Their reasoning is that the captains of that industry just gave themselves a 40% raise. The Actors and Screen Writers Guild want their proper wage as well and are on strike. Several heads of movie studios stated that their writers’ demands are unrealistic while they live their lives in mansions.
I believe that entitlement is the central ethical issue undermining our nation. It manifests itself as the haves and have nots which is the basic dis – ease that is expressed in problems such as racism and the rise of white supremacy.
It is the same with overturning affirmative action. The logical next step will be to rule out legacies and development people who will give a lot of money to the school. Currently 10% of Yale admissions and 25% of Harvard admissions are legacies. Watch the response to those categories. The significant amounts of endowment dollars in the Ivy League Schools are not derived from tuition payments. That largesse is based on alumni giving.
A few Hollywood stars attempted to get their children into universities through an inside track, and this got more coverage that supported America’s response to entitlement.
Reaction to Biden’s forgiveness of student loans received backlash from those who sacrificed and paid their loans. The latter group didn’t think it was fair. Entitlement and fairness are America’s hot button. Press it and you are going to get a strong reaction.
I always said to others if you bring me a problem, bring me some thoughtful solutions. Here is my solution. Run such younger people as Gavin Newsom or Gretchen Whitmer for President. Keep Kamala Harris as vice president as that office never shows the true ability of those who served as such. Make Biden Secretary of State and special advisor to the President. That solution is not an ordinary solution but we are living in extraordinary times filled with political risk. Recall Toni Morrisons’s brilliant observation that “when people show you who they are, believe them.” The percentage of Americans who don’t think that Trump’s crimes are no big deal is growing.
Back to the issue of entitlement and our primordial (part of us since the dawn of time) first emotion of “it’s not fair.” The people who think that Trump’s crimes are no big deal have that feeling because they don’t feel that he is being treated fairly. Republicans drive that false statement home as well as Trump every chance that he and they get to keep that mantra of a lie going.
A sense of entitlement and a lack of fairness are the pillars that are now supporting our table of political ethics. If it is a primordial feeling, it means that it is important for our survival like our fight/flight reaction. In this case in particular, it is the survival of our Democracy.
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