The Proof is in the Pudding

Once more we are told to believe, to put our faith in the people running for office. Slinging mud right and left, the worse you can say about Biden is that he is old and losing his marbles and the worse that you can say about Trump is that he is a bully and a liar. (Actually I think you could say much worse but just let keep it civil for the sake of getting to the core of this small predicate).

Now if you let the dogs loose on Kamala Harris it can be twice as vitriolic and much more frightening.

According to those who oppose the Biden-Harris ticket Kamala is a commie, a red-flag-waving Bolshevik who given the opportunity will turn the US into a Soviet Gulag with commissars patrolling every floor of every Manhattan deluxe high-rise, going after your property, your company and your crop.

Before we all die of fright it would be wise to examine the past as there are always lessons to be mined from history if you search for context.

Two Presidents, both Democrats, were instrumental in shaping the huge prosperity and unquestionable moral leadership that drove the American Dream, at least until some time ago. The US still wields enormous economic power -even with the Chinese Dragon breathing down its neck; the moral principles still hang in there albeit fading rapidly.

The changes brought upon the social contract that holds together the national fabric were introduced, both times by Democrats, against the strong opposition of the Republicans in the House.

And the Republicans were proved wrong, both times.

After the Great Crash of 1929, Franklin Delano Roosevelt presented The New Deal in 1934 a package designed to put Americans back to work. Not only did The New Deal put a stop on the bleeding of American resources, it herald in an era of unprecedented growth that led to the most advanced and powerful economy in modern times.

The Deal promised pensions, intervention in financial markets, public health, union rights, public investment, guarantees on deposits and fair competition. How do you think it sat with Wall Street and the industry barons? Not well, that’s how.They fought it tooth and nail.

FDR fought back, won and created wealth that went into everyone’s pockets, including the members of the G.O.P who had opposed the Bill. It also created a better balanced society with at its core a powerful working middle class.

Thirty years later, in 1964, along comes Lyndon Baines Johnson, a rambunctious foul-mouthed Texan who twisted the Republican’s arms and then some more to get his Civil Rights Act passed through Congress.

Did the conservative South like the idea of blacks sharing bus seats, going to the same restaurants and studying at the same universities, not to mention interracial couples? No way.

They hated the idea; a few still do, you will find most of them among the incumbent’s base.

LBJ argued, menaced and cajoled, not letting up even when famously sitting on the toilet, according to the Oliver Stone movie, and got his Bill passed. Was he a saint, a Mother Theresa?

No, not really.

He was a very pragmatic politician who knew that if he did not get this done the South would go up in flames and he’d be staring not at a fight with Congress but at a Second Civil War. He also knew that giving millions of black men and women a chance at higher education and better jobs, bringing them into the economy would benefit the whole country; and high time too.

We get to November 3rd 2020. And the same people who did not believe that pensions and fair competition were good for the country, who could not stand the idea of sharing a bus seat with a person of a different color, now want us to believe that given the chance –not too remote because of the apparent frailty of Joe Biden or the idea that he may not seek a second mandate- Kamala Harris will turn the US into a Bolshevik state.

They fail to see that in a world where waves of immigrants are changing the demographics, where women have a strong new voice, where bi racial women have a stronger voice, where social media rules the life of anybody born in this century, where #LBGT, #Me Too, and # BLM are here to stay someone like Kamala is a terrific asset and not a liability.

Given the opportunity -if and when- she could be instrumental in bringing upon the renewal of values and the shot in the arm the economy sorely needs if the US aspires to continue to lead not only by innovation but also by example.