I'll make this one as brief as I can on the biggest reasons why I'm not able to trust either Hillary Clinton or the GOP with the Presidency. The reasons are actually fairly simple for both.One is foreign policy (aka the nuclear football). Hillary, as many know too well, is a militarist and is actually too dangerous in my eyes to leave in charge of the football. In this respect she's the same as the Republicans, basically doubling down on the policies that got us into Iraq. Example: the no-fly zone in Syria. That's guaranteed to start a war with Russia (the nation with the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons), which happens to be one of Syria's major allies (the other being Iran). How smart is it to place a no-fly zone, when there's literally a Russian naval station in Tartus?
Secondly, Hillary and the Republicans would most likely work together to get rid of the rest of the social safety net. This runs contrary to what most people want here at home. In fact, there have been several instances where some loud voices have called for their expansion. For example, we have enough money in the Social Security Trust Fund to keep it solvent until about 2037, which is when we'll run into trouble. We can make it totally solvent if we just scrap the cap on how much income is taxed for it (currently the cap is $118,500). As for making people survive on less while prices climb ever higher is asking to put people out on the street again.
On another note, both Hillary and the Republicans would work tirelessly to retain the neoliberal status quo at all costs, which goes against what people are calling for.They're tired of neoliberalism, and how it's absolutely corrupted our politics and economy. We need a new direction for America, one that takes on the corporate excess. Not one that continues these pay-to-play politics, and where corporate board-rooms decide public policy. That's all neoliberalism has given us. Corruption to the worst degree since the 1920s.
Additionally, think about the fact that Hillary and the Republicans will make sure that we don't have a livable minimum wage. The federal minimum wage at the moment is $7.25/hr, which is a starvation wage. What's to say that Hillary won't just accept scrapping the minimum wage altogether? That's the point, with Hillary, you just don't know. She has a habit of saying one thing and then doing the exact opposite.
Now for me personally, along with the reasons listed above, it's about making sure I have something to work with, not to fight against. For example, because I'm Autistic, I need to go through behavioral training and changes. I don't know if my insurance will even cover it next year (or next month), given some of the changes implemented under the Affordable Care Act (which needs a lot of tweeking to work properly). Anyone who votes to uphold or to repeal it, better have a good idea in place for how to make it work or have a better replacement. I'm not getting either of those from either Hillary or the Republicans. Because of that I don't feel that I can trust them. Additionally, if there's a draft, who's to know if my friends or members of my family get called in for military service, or worse, get killed in action? I can't support anyone who's even thinking of going to war as the first resort. That's all I hear from Hillary and the Republicans, the glorification of war.
This is why I often unsurprised to hear musings of comparing America to Nazi Germany at times, especially by Russia's Vladimir Putin. This isn't to say that Putin's entirely right or wrong, but it shows the ill effects our country's militarism has and how corrosive it can be. Even China's getting worried about it, just like Russia. Even our own allies, like Great Britain and France, will end up worrying about us, too. We need a new look at how to connect to the rest of the world, one that emphasizes soft, rather than hard power.
I can say very clearly that our approach to Russia is not working. Hillary and the Republicans may think that reseting relations with Russia means that the Russians will become submissive to our dominance and fall in line. That won't happen, since they're only going to cooperate with us if we treat them as an equal. I think it's time to move past all the bluster that both Hillary and the Republicans have been serving us, the Russians, and the rest of the world, and create a new environment that includes, not excludes, everyone's voices.
Secondly, Hillary and the Republicans would most likely work together to get rid of the rest of the social safety net. This runs contrary to what most people want here at home. In fact, there have been several instances where some loud voices have called for their expansion. For example, we have enough money in the Social Security Trust Fund to keep it solvent until about 2037, which is when we'll run into trouble. We can make it totally solvent if we just scrap the cap on how much income is taxed for it (currently the cap is $118,500). As for making people survive on less while prices climb ever higher is asking to put people out on the street again.
On another note, both Hillary and the Republicans would work tirelessly to retain the neoliberal status quo at all costs, which goes against what people are calling for.They're tired of neoliberalism, and how it's absolutely corrupted our politics and economy. We need a new direction for America, one that takes on the corporate excess. Not one that continues these pay-to-play politics, and where corporate board-rooms decide public policy. That's all neoliberalism has given us. Corruption to the worst degree since the 1920s.
Additionally, think about the fact that Hillary and the Republicans will make sure that we don't have a livable minimum wage. The federal minimum wage at the moment is $7.25/hr, which is a starvation wage. What's to say that Hillary won't just accept scrapping the minimum wage altogether? That's the point, with Hillary, you just don't know. She has a habit of saying one thing and then doing the exact opposite.
Now for me personally, along with the reasons listed above, it's about making sure I have something to work with, not to fight against. For example, because I'm Autistic, I need to go through behavioral training and changes. I don't know if my insurance will even cover it next year (or next month), given some of the changes implemented under the Affordable Care Act (which needs a lot of tweeking to work properly). Anyone who votes to uphold or to repeal it, better have a good idea in place for how to make it work or have a better replacement. I'm not getting either of those from either Hillary or the Republicans. Because of that I don't feel that I can trust them. Additionally, if there's a draft, who's to know if my friends or members of my family get called in for military service, or worse, get killed in action? I can't support anyone who's even thinking of going to war as the first resort. That's all I hear from Hillary and the Republicans, the glorification of war.
This is why I often unsurprised to hear musings of comparing America to Nazi Germany at times, especially by Russia's Vladimir Putin. This isn't to say that Putin's entirely right or wrong, but it shows the ill effects our country's militarism has and how corrosive it can be. Even China's getting worried about it, just like Russia. Even our own allies, like Great Britain and France, will end up worrying about us, too. We need a new look at how to connect to the rest of the world, one that emphasizes soft, rather than hard power.
I can say very clearly that our approach to Russia is not working. Hillary and the Republicans may think that reseting relations with Russia means that the Russians will become submissive to our dominance and fall in line. That won't happen, since they're only going to cooperate with us if we treat them as an equal. I think it's time to move past all the bluster that both Hillary and the Republicans have been serving us, the Russians, and the rest of the world, and create a new environment that includes, not excludes, everyone's voices.
Posts
