Last week I lamented the two choices we have for president. Neither Biden nor Trump represent the best America has to offer and we’re stuck because wealthy old white men are using their checkbooks to dictate the viable choices. I said they were fighting a proxy war over their vision for the future of the nation. I laid out how Trump represents an agenda that covets the simplicity and efficiency of authoritarianism, enshrining wealthy white “Christian” men in leadership. This week, I lay out the agenda that Biden represents.
It is no secret that I don’t want Biden to run again because of his advanced age. I think he and the wealthy old white men supporting him are driven by their egos. They are the “establishment” and their collective egos, arrogance, and need for continued relevance is behind their financial support for their longtime friend and political ally, Biden. It drives me crazy to see how they have essentially locked out any other potential democratic nominees.
That said, Biden represents a continuation of our progress towards the ideals upon which our nation was founded wherein all men are created equal and endowed by the Creator with the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is a continued progress toward relying on the Constitution and it’s guarantees for individual freedoms and equal protection under the law. It is the continuation of the constitutionally established role of government to provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity. And it is the continuation of the ideals found in our Pledge of Allegiance and on the welcoming words engraved on the Statue of Liberty.
It is true that America has never fully lived up to it ideals. However, the backers of Biden embrace the ever-increasing diversity of the United States that are the result of evolving social morays, scientific discovery, and immigration. Biden represents a move toward equity which simply acknowledges the history wherein many were born with fewer advantages and less access to the tools of success, particularly education, capital, job opportunities, and healthcare. Equity means that it is only “fair” and moral to level the playing field so that the circumstances of someone’s birth no longer determine the limits of anyone’s progress. Biden also represents a movement to make the country more inclusive. This simply means that no one is excluded from participating in the nation’s success. I hear folks complain about our nation’s continued shortcomings as though no progress has been made. Some mistakenly think that Trump will actually make things better for them in the area of diversity, equity and inclusion. But his record and the record of those who support him, says otherwise. Examine their policies on education, science, immigration, and healthcare and their rhetoric around job opportunities. Remember the birther movement to discredit Obama. Remember the Muslim ban, the separation of children from their parents at the southern border, the support for white suprematists marching in Charlottesville, and the encouragement of police brutality.
Education and healthcare have always been key factors for upward mobility in this country. They are the great equalizers. Biden supporters recognize and support education and access to healthcare as a means to drive economic and social progress. Even the loan forgiveness effort was a response to a disadvantage that specifically plagued low-income young adults. The right, however, sees education and universal healthcare as a threat to authoritarianism. Trump admits that he “loves the uneducated”. Educated and healthy people ask questions and demand answers, a true inconvenience to any authoritarian.
Education is also a key component to maintaining a democracy. Only an educated electorate who are able to read and understand the Constitution and analyze the issues using history and reliable data can contribute to wise decision making. Although the process is slower, it is a good thing because the outcomes are always much better. Our right to vote and to petition our government are based on the assumption that people are adequately educated. Our founders recognized the strength of many good minds working together versus the arrogance of a flawed single mind making all the decisions.
So, if the Republicans successfully destroy public education, once again access to education will be limited to the wealthy. Eventually only sons of the middle class will be sufficiently capable of exercising any decision-making power in the country and the uneducated, particularly women and the poor will be again become their servants. Remember that the first universities in this country were privately established for the wealthy sons of the ruling class to raise up the next generation of religious and political leaders to take their place. The backers of the Biden vision for America democratized education so that it is possible for people of color, immigrants, the physically challenged, and even the poorest among us to obtain an education. Republicans want to roll that back. They openly call for the elimination of the Department of Education and the funding deprivation of public schools by channeling public funds to private schools through school vouchers.
These are the choices we are being offered in the 2025 election. The names Trump and Biden may appear on the ballot, but we are actually voting for the kind of nation we want our children and grandchildren to live in. In the future, will there be opportunity and access to wealth and power for the capable and ambitious or only for the well-connected few who are white males?