Listening to the Kucinich interview below, I began to think about the issues in the upcoming presidential elections. There are, of course, a great many. But it seems to me that a few stand out as essential.
In no special order, they are:
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Climate Change
If something isn't done about this, and quickly, any other issues may be moot. Think of New Orleans. The potential devastation due to a large-scale change of the earth's climate is staggering. If this threat isn't addressed successfully, threats such as nuclear warfare, terrorism, economic collapse, war, and health care may well become side issues. -
Nuclear Weapons
We need a president who will take nuclear weapons off the table, and work with other nations to eliminate them altogether. Short of a world of devastation caused by climate change, a world after a nuclear war (even a small one) is the next greatest threat. A single nuclear explosion will have world-wide effects. We've been lucky so far, but it's time to stop testing our luck. -
Diplomacy vs. Force
We need to stop trying to create an American Empire based on our military might, and begin to forge cooperation between nations. The U.S. can no longer afford to be a rogue nation, just because we have the guns. It's time we grew up, and started acting like adults in the international community.
We need to find a way out of the situation in Iraq as quickly as possible, and we don't need to solve the whole problem first.
We need to make terrorism what it is—a criminal matter. We need to stop using it as an excuse to invade other countries, and we need to stop giving terrorists the dignity of calling it war. They are not the other side in a war; they are international criminals and should be treated as such. But at the same time, we need to address the underlying problems that create the kind of desperation that fuels terrorism.
We need to establish a forthright and honest foreign policy, which lets the world know exactly where we stand, and doesn't play games. -
The Economy, and Fiscal Responsibility
We need to put the United States back on solid financial ground. We need to recover from the reckless spending and tax cuts of the Bush presidency—remember the surplus? We need to not just lower the federal deficit, but reverse it. We need to put Social Security on a sound footing, rebuild the infrastructure, make health care available to all, rebuild the military, attack global warming, protect the country against terrorists, and make the dollar sound again. That all takes money—money that the Bush administration gave away to the wealthy.
While we're at it, we need to redistribute—that's right: the R-word—redistribute the wealth. The gap between the rich and the poor does not exist because the poor are lazy (they often work much harder than the rich), but because the wealthy have influence, and use it to establish policies, private and public, which distribute the wealth unequally. We need to find a way to tackle inflation that isn't based on joblessness. We need to change the incentive system, so that it's to a company's advantage to pay workers what they're worth. And we need to make sure that our trade treaties are fair to our workers, as well as our employers. -
The Safety Net
We need to put a basic safety net in place—a combination of Social Security, Welfare, and Health Care. The country is weakened by every destitute senior citizen, every starving child, every sick or injured worker who can't afford a doctor. No matter how much military might we may have, we will still be weak if we don't take care of our own. -
Restore Democracy
We need a president who will cooperate in re-limiting the power of the executive branch, and doing it through law, not executive order. Citizens of this country need to know that they will not be spied upon without a warrant by their own government. The world needs to know that no matter who is president the U.S. doesn't do torture, doesn't imprison people without a trial, doesn't prosecute undeclared wars.
We need to be certain that elections are secure and fair. Every electronic device should have a paper backup, and there should be a standard audit procedure to make sure that the results agree. Every vote should count.
What about the other issues—stem cell research, gay marriage, capital punishment, etc., etc.?
They're all important, but not one of them is worth unnecessary climate change, nuclear war, an increasingly dangerous foreign policy, a bankrupt economy or nation, sickness, starvation, or dictatorship.
We just can't afford to make any of them a litmus test in the next election.
At least, that's what I think today.
