Staying Afloat: Election Year 2024

Yesterday the image of treading water came to me. This is America right now.

When wanting to survive in the open sea, you grab for what you can. Even a worn-out log that can still float will do. That’s Biden. Grasping for a piece of straw to stay afloat is Trump.

To vote for anyone but Biden is to essentially sink and give in to drowning.

Since we are all in this together, we have to collectively decide to sink or survive.

The stakes have never been higher. Yet, people say “the stakes have always high.” Well, that’s a black or white statement. Truth is, they have never been this high.

Our country has never been so close to losing democracy. And if you think we don’t have a democracy, well that’s another black or white fallacy. If 45 is elected, the democracy and freedoms you lost on the now quick descent into bedlam will come into sharp relief.

If you haven’t noticed, Biden is currently running our country and doing a decent job, some even say a very good job. If you are upset with him about Gaza, as I am, remember Palestinians and Palestine would likely be far worse off than they currently are if 45 were in place. Remember his words: “finish the job.”

My hunch is that the other far-right monster, Netanyahu, wants Trump in office for this very reason. So, the former will wage war against Hezbollah so he can have freer rein to maim, engage in protracted war, and delay his own reckoning, just like 45 has. Battle with Hez will also make Biden look worse and hurt him in November, making it seem that the latter was unable to prevent broader conflict.

And on perhaps the most important topic: we have zero time left on climate to save ourselves and the planet from its worst consequences. It’s game over if 45 wins. He will gut all the work Biden has done and strip broader environmental protections, among other idiocies, like abolishing the Dept. of Education — to cement a factless society. You can read more about what Trump wants to do here.

So, if you value a future for all children and value marginalized societies and people, you will not vote for 45 or anyone other than Biden, who has done the most on this front of any president.

Some say we need a major overhaul. We need to get rid of the two-party system. I agree, in ways. But refusing to vote, or voting for 45 or third party, is not the way to achieve that. It’s actually a sure way to prevent it.

I don’t love Biden. I detest some of what he has done. But I am not going to be childish and knock the glass of milk off the table in a temper tantrum, which is akin to not grabbing onto the log to stay afloat in shark-infested waters.

This is a time to use our heads, not just our upset hearts, to do what is best.