Cultura y noticias hispanas del Valle del Hudson
The Fight Continues
Por Mariel Fiori
November 2020 The fight continues, no matter what. We can’t fall asleep at the wheel again.
In case you didn’t know, in the United States there’s two dominant parties, Democrats and Republicans, the good ones and bad ones, or vice versa, depending on the point of view. But this polarity isn’t so. And it’s this vicious circle within the bipartisan system that has brought us to the situation we find ourselves in today: sick and with no way out from a preventable pandemic, stressed with online learning, worried for our daily bread, fed up with inequity, social injustice, racism, environmental and economical degradation in a country of great wealth, for some, that unravels like a constant pendulum. Yes, a slightly crooked pendulum that sways from Republican to Democrat, and from Democrat to Republican, with a lot of precision.
If you do a brief online search regarding the party affiliation of American presidents since 1853 to the present, you’ll see how in that list, for the past 167 years, elephants and donkeys have been passing the ball back and forth, these Republicans and Democrats, two four legged mammals with a lot of similarity, both metaphorically and literally.
Both parties have been in power for so long, at a federal, state, and local level, and are so entrenched within their own interests that they’re capable of saying anything in order to win the elections. It’s up to us to make them responsible for those promises. Like for example, the promise of immigration reform, which has not had the spotlight in congress since the Bush administration. The massive deportation policies from Obama’s first term and the cruel separation of children and families at Trump’s border weren’t invented by them. No, in reality, they were already present in the IRIRA law which had been approved by president Clinton at the time. Who are the good guys and the bad guys? I’m confused. But perhaps not.
We, immigrants, have been used as yet another chess piece in their political game, to use as scapegoats, cannon fodder, or to promise us the moon and stars if we vote for them. I say it straight right here: the end doesn’t justify the means, and does so even less when it concerns the suffering of others. But of course, capitalism works like this: extract as much benefit as possible, (without looking who it’s being extracted from).
So my list (shared by many) of how this democracy would have to change in order to truly be a government that represents and works for the people, and not only the top 2 percent, included the following: eradicate the ancient electoral college; take money out of politics through campaigns that are publicly funded; invite all candidates to debates (instead of only the ones from leading parties) in order to hear all voices and perhaps make better decisions; that independent specialists arrange the map of the electoral vote; establish limits regarding the amount of serving time congress-members and senators, as well as supreme court justices can serve in these positions; among other important points. And of course, first on the list: close the immigrant detention centers and pass the integral immigration reform as soon as possible, not only because millions of families deserve it, but because it would also help reactivate the economy faster.
Nelson Mandela used to say something like, what’s impossible only takes time to come. The fight goes on, my friends, no matter what.
Mariel Fiori
Managing Editor COPYRIGHT 2020
La Voz, Cultura y noticias hispanas del Valle de Hudson
If you do a brief online search regarding the party affiliation of American presidents since 1853 to the present, you’ll see how in that list, for the past 167 years, elephants and donkeys have been passing the ball back and forth, these Republicans and Democrats, two four legged mammals with a lot of similarity, both metaphorically and literally.
Both parties have been in power for so long, at a federal, state, and local level, and are so entrenched within their own interests that they’re capable of saying anything in order to win the elections. It’s up to us to make them responsible for those promises. Like for example, the promise of immigration reform, which has not had the spotlight in congress since the Bush administration. The massive deportation policies from Obama’s first term and the cruel separation of children and families at Trump’s border weren’t invented by them. No, in reality, they were already present in the IRIRA law which had been approved by president Clinton at the time. Who are the good guys and the bad guys? I’m confused. But perhaps not.
We, immigrants, have been used as yet another chess piece in their political game, to use as scapegoats, cannon fodder, or to promise us the moon and stars if we vote for them. I say it straight right here: the end doesn’t justify the means, and does so even less when it concerns the suffering of others. But of course, capitalism works like this: extract as much benefit as possible, (without looking who it’s being extracted from).
So my list (shared by many) of how this democracy would have to change in order to truly be a government that represents and works for the people, and not only the top 2 percent, included the following: eradicate the ancient electoral college; take money out of politics through campaigns that are publicly funded; invite all candidates to debates (instead of only the ones from leading parties) in order to hear all voices and perhaps make better decisions; that independent specialists arrange the map of the electoral vote; establish limits regarding the amount of serving time congress-members and senators, as well as supreme court justices can serve in these positions; among other important points. And of course, first on the list: close the immigrant detention centers and pass the integral immigration reform as soon as possible, not only because millions of families deserve it, but because it would also help reactivate the economy faster.
Nelson Mandela used to say something like, what’s impossible only takes time to come. The fight goes on, my friends, no matter what.
Mariel Fiori
Managing Editor COPYRIGHT 2020
La Voz, Cultura y noticias hispanas del Valle de Hudson
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