{"id":133,"date":"2021-03-20T12:50:01","date_gmt":"2021-03-20T19:50:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oregoncommentary.com\/?p=133"},"modified":"2021-11-19T22:30:12","modified_gmt":"2021-11-19T22:30:12","slug":"we-can-restore-opportunity-to-all-americans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oregoncommentary.com\/index.php\/2021\/03\/20\/we-can-restore-opportunity-to-all-americans\/","title":{"rendered":"We can restore opportunity to all Americans"},"content":{"rendered":"

I recently re-read a piece I wrote in early 2017<\/a> describing the journey of us Baby Boomers up to the point at which we arrived with the election of Donald Trump.<\/p>\n

Until November 2016, I was a traditional Democrat. I voted for Hillary Clinton but had much sympathy for the nascent progressive wing of the party. Sympathy, yes, but up to that point I did not think America would accept ideas like those of Bernie Sanders.<\/p>\n

The 2016 election was an incredible shock to me, and on election day, I became a full-on progressive. Up to then, I had no idea how much rage the working class had pent up after 50 years of policies under both Democrats and Republicans which economically destroyed many millions of them. Somehow the scope of the destruction had escaped not only me but virtually all of the traditional Democratic party. I knew this had to change, to be corrected. This was not the America I grew up in.<\/p>\n

During these 50 years, we saw a rapid rise in economic inequality, destruction of labor unions, millions of family-wage jobs exported overseas, free trade without thought to those hurt by it, and a rise in the influence of the wealthiest Americans. The Democrats became the party of the coastal elites, and the Republicans became the party representing the wealthy. That left the working class with no party to counteract these trends. So, they got angry. Really angry.<\/p>\n

I hated every moment of Donald Trump\u2019s presidency. But it did accomplish something far faster than if another traditional Democrat had been elected: it flipped control of the Democratic party to progressives. But that by itself would not have defeated Donald Trump. Democrats, and America, needed exactly the candidate they got in Joe Biden: progressive enough to make real change, but not scary enough to lose.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t know what our future held after November 2016. But now I am optimistic that America is on the cusp of real change, where we return to the ideal that all Americans have a chance at a life of dignity and decency, where they can afford a home, education, and health care. This is what America was 50 years ago when I entered the work force. And it can be that way again. We know now it\u2019s not too much to ask.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t