That We All May Be One

Letter to the Editor in today’s Quad City Times which they headlined: “Democrats Have Solutions”

Now that Labor Day is behind us, the election cycle is gearing up for the home stretch. In case anyone out there is still undecided and would actually like to do some work instead of relying on the slander and innuendo perpetrated by particularly the cable news outlets, let me suggest some homework.

First, watch the film “Inequality for All” (available through Amazon, Netflix and elsewhere). This is a 2013 documentary directed by Jacob Kornbluth and narrated by Robert Reich which won an award at the Sundance Film Festival that year. It describes in clear and compelling terms the reasons we have the worst income inequality this country has ever seen. Two words: globalization and technology.

While not sanguine about solutions, there are some suggested which make good economic sense. If you are persuaded, or at least encouraged, by these approaches, next take a look at the Republican and Democratic platforms on their respective websites. My guess is, you will see that the Democratic platform, at least in broad brush, provides the most effective means to get us out of the economic mess we’re in.

Finally, for specifics on how Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine propose actually to begin solving the problems, order (online or hard copy) “Stronger Together: A Blueprint for America’s Future.” This is a highly readable presentation of actual proposals the Democratic ticket offers. A few chapter headings:

The boldest investment in good-paying jobs since World War II, debt free college for all Americans, rewrite the rules so companies share profits with employees instead of shipping jobs and profits overseas, and ensure that Wall Street, corporations, and the super-wealthy pay their fair share. This is just the beginning. There are sections on defeating ISIS, strengthening NATO and relationships in the Middle East, fixing our broken immigration system, keeping our military strong, etc.

These are not sound bites, my friends. They are specific proposals. Why not at least read them before you go into the booth on November 8?

Christopher Epting

Bettendorf, Iowa

This entry was posted on September 9, 2016 at 12:50 pm and is filed under Blogroll, Ecumenical, Emergent Church, Interfaith, Justice and Peace, Politics, Politics, The Episcopal Church, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.