Inauguration 2021
It’s only been a few days since the new President and Vice President were sworn in, but things already feel different. It’s like a collective sigh was exhaled on January 20th. The words of a young poet laureate, Amanda Gorman, were able to embody the wistfulness and wonder of forging a new path. It was also the celebration of a new hope in an administration who has already taken a pledge to rectify the tense relationship between the former White House and the Press. A call to face eradication of white supremacy head on. It was a momentous day commemorating the close of an administration who quite literally broke this nation with the help of a heartless propaganda machine and mindless minions. And finally, this inauguration gave us a meme we can all enjoy in Bernie Sanders. Obviously, I must share the best one I’ve seen thanks to a lively group chat:
All the (Non)Feels
This week- geez, this year has been filled with a flurry of different emotions, and I think it’s safe to say we are all allowed to go through the gamut of them and shouldn’t feel shame in that. I was seeing a lot of criticism going around this week for people who are feeling hopeful, for people who are still feeling hopeless, for people who are indifferent, for people who don’t believe change is coming in the ways we need, for people who are skeptical, and for people who aren’t. You name it, there’s someone out there with an opinion on how everyone should feel during this distinctive shift in power. There are understandably so many complicated emotions circulating around what’s next. This post-Trump phase we’re stepping into is akin to coming out of an awful relationship. We’ve been gaslit, lied to, and verbally abused for years. It’s okay to feel every single emotion and/or nothing at all.
As for me, I’m skeptical but hopeful. It’s amazing we have someone in the presidency who seems to be a real live decent human. He is not without his faults, but we’ve seen him confront his shortcomings and vow to do better, which in and of itself is leaps and bounds better than that former tantrum-throwing sociopathic commander in chief. However, what I’m the most hesitant about is the type of change I think this country needs and how willing the government is to actually follow through with it. We are currently working in broken systems. So, it gives me pause to think we can change them without rethinking them completely. Justice, healthcare, and economic systems are the big ones I think about that are steeped in systemic racism, bias, and prejudice. White supremacy is unmistakably a large issue in government policies, but so is economic inequality. Class is a huge driving force for the failure of so many programs and the crux of so many problems. What people are fighting over now is minimum wage, which make it higher, but we still haven’t had that larger conversation about capitalism and its harrowing effects. Whew, that’s a whole thing for a different day, but I did want to squeeze in Dan Price’s, comment to someone about wages that really struck me. He’s a CEO who gave up a piece of his salary so everyone at his company could make at least $70k annually (yeah he’s pretty cool):
the thing is, paying people a living wage doesn't make their life better. It's the *removal* of money as a stress point that allows people to live their lives to their full potential. At least, that's what we've seen.
— Dan Price (@DanPriceSeattle) January 22, 2021
New Administration, Same Ol’ Systems
I have hope that President Biden and Vice President Harris do want to modify current processes, but I imagine this being slow and incremental. Maybe I’m wrong, but in the history of this country reformation has never been quick and entirely revamping age-old processes has never been a serious priority. I wouldn’t mind if this reconstruction of systems was slow and incremental if it was sustainable, but, from what I’ve seen, short attention spans of the public and lack of direction from leaders consistently results in failure. There’s a ton of lip service and handwringing and then maybe a revision or two in the right direction, but that’s it. The system as a whole still intact and the changes so minuscule they can be overlooked. Just look at affirmative action. Something that was to benefit minorities in the country that is constantly being ignored, refused to be implemented, often forgotten, but overall mostly contested as an unfair policy. It specifically addresses the lack of equity based on history and is still a controversial approach.
I do believe there are more eyes on making improvements to systemically racist governmental policies/practices than ever before, but realistically unless more people, citizens, non-citizens, humans make an effort to be apart of the dismantling and accountability of this country’s history we’ll be back to square one very soon. Just look at the Republicans!
Republicans already want to dismiss the impeachment and move on from the insurrection as if nothing happened. They’re supporting the prosecution of individuals breaching the Capitol but not condemning the lie that brought them there. We were *pinches fingers* this close to the halt of the democratic process. There were military and police present within those crowds who had heinous intentions, but wanting the politicians directly involved with inciting crowds to riot by upholding this voter fraud lie is suddenly divisive. This is what I mean by facing history. Those cops, military members, and congressional leaders are byproducts of white supremacy. This is what happens when the reality of white privilege is disregarded and white people pretend racism doesn’t exist. It manifests into a movement that takes advantage of an ugly societal weakness people want to pretend is no longer an issue. Now we have a whole sect of Republicans who truly believe this country is lost and depraved based on religious dogma and plain racism. I still very much want the impeachment of former orange in chief to happen, but I think if I’m honest, I want the removal of the current congresspeople involved slightly more. But of course-
The only way this country can even dream to reach the ultimate goal of equality and move forward is to hold everyone who was involved with the insurrection accountable, including the media and technology that fueled the fire. I honestly don’t know how we can stand to heal if not. There are 70+ million people who need to be brought into the same reality at the very least. With their tyrannical leader gone, who or what will fill that gap is a terrifying mystery. Time will tell and it’s already looking grim. Looking atchu Ted Cruz.
It’s been a cluster of a month and it’s not over yet. We’re still battling this pandemic, which has such significant challenges this new administration will have to traverse. It does feel slightly less daunting though. Everything does. Ultimately, I’m looking forward to what’s next not dreading it. Finally.