I've been watching the DNC this week and I for one feel quite optimistic about the upcoming election. I am sure many felt the way I did before Kamala Harris was nominated by President Joe Biden. The election process seemed like it had ran out of steam, only Trump and his shenanigans dominated the airwaves. Quite frankly, I was also quite disillusioned by the fact that America is giving arms to Israel to commit genocide. It is a blatant double standard to chastise other countries for human rights violations, and to arm Netanyahu's rogue regime to commit genocide on Palestinians. It goes against what America stands for and it gives a signal to other countries that even The International Court of Justice in the Hague can be ignored and that its mandate is tantamount to a big joke.
The assault on Gaza continues, and the Palestinians are still under siege, being starved and persecuted with a concerted effort to wipe them out as a nation. Against this international backdrop we have the upcoming election in America where democracy is under threat. As I watched the speakers and heard the impassioned speeches, I could not help but be swept by the euphoria and get infected by the electric high spirit and joy that the convention carried. Still, I wondered how We The People can use our voting rights to also make sure that we live up to the creed that all people are created equal, that until the most powerful nation leads by example on how it treats other nations, we cannot be true to our democracy. America has forces around the world, supports dictators, and installs them in government, and all for the purpose of using the resources of other nations to better our economy, to prosper our people and to advance our interests.
Since the choice in the upcoming election is no choice at all, I must vote democrat as I always have, and I must vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, both of whom I truly love as individuals and as candidates. Regarding policy, Kamala Harris will continue the Biden legacy that means giving arms to Israel to continue the genocide. Regarding foreign economic policy, intervention through IMF and the World Bank to suppress other countries rights to their own resources and their own development, the next government will be the same as all the previous ones. The shift is minimal yet the risk to losing whatever form of democracy we now enjoy in the US or in many parts of the world is also monumental if Trump gets elected and if Project 2025 goes into effect.
We The People need to make government accountable and the way to do it is through our lifestyle changes and our daily decisions in living the truth of our convictions.
This I wrote to friends yesterday:
“ I was in the presence of about 25 people yesterday at a birthday party, all « American » Americans, needless to mention the color or ethnicity; inevitably, and naturally, the conversation very quickly turned to the presidential candidates and the fast-approaching elections: let me tell you, they were all on the same page, euphoric, pleased, and excited about Kamala; did I hear « Palestine » or « Israel » mentioned? No, sirree: Genocide? Where? When? Who? Who cares? what is going on somewhere out there, across the seas, the plight of the Palestinians, what Israel is doing, what their government is doing is the least of their concerns: they are home-owners, employed, safe; their children are safe, and they…