It’s easy to find a jealous neighbor, one who is upset at your success. Perhaps it is a new job, a new car, that dream vacation you were finally able to take. They aren’t happy for you; they are jealous and angry. Jealous you have it, and they don’t.
It’s harder to imagine nations being jealous of a neighboring nation. It’s on display though, isn’t it? Canada doesn’t like our politics. Fine, don’t move here and become an American. Stay in Canada, if that is being managed to your satisfaction. If not, work to change it.
It’s easier to understand why Mexico might be jealous. Yet how does America’s success in the world harm Mexico? And why does that jealousy give Mexico a pass for dumping their citizens who have ignored our legal immigration pathway onto our doorstep?
I’ve often found that those around me who have “more” are quite willing to share how they got it. A lot of us, though, don’t care about the pathway to riches – we just want the goodie bag at the end of the road. Sometimes that works out. But most of the time it leads to a life spent in jealousy, resentment and anger. The end result: No chance of repeating our friends’ successes.
It’s harder to understand when members of your own household turn against you for the very success that helps them, too. That’s where America is right now. The Democrats, Republicans and independents all live in this nation we call America. We’re all part of the same big (and at this time not very happy) family. What benefits the nation benefits all of us.
It’s not like the Trump tax cut benefited only Republicans. Everyone in similar circumstances got the same benefit of a bigger paycheck, regardless of political affiliation; even socialists and communists.
Tariffs and trade barriers are a fact of life. Every nation has some industry they wish to protect by making imports more expensive. Everyone in America benefits from Trump’s negotiating skills when he lowers trade barriers with our trading partners. Once again, everyone benefits; your political affiliation has no effect on the price you pay.
Looking to the future, what if America begins a long-term infrastructure improvement program? Aren’t Democrats, Republicans and even independents all able to drive the improved roads, land at better, safer airports and benefit from new highway bridges? Won’t the commute times of people of all political affiliations be improved? Can anyone with the necessary skills become part of the construction workforce? Does anybody at the job site know or care how you voted, so long as the work gets done?
Yet the Democrats today seem to oppose everything Trump does, tries to do, or even thinks about. But his efforts benefit them as much as the rest of us. Why is being the loud, angry opposition more important than success that benefits the entire nation?
Maybe Democrats are just angry that Obama didn’t do any of these things during the eight years he was in office. He could have, you know. He just chose not to. That was his choice. Surely that can’t be Trump’s fault?
In fact, some of the very things Democrats are so worried about now, abortion, gun-control, open borders, all of these could have been protected during the Obama era.
Democrats had it all when Obama was first elected. They could have pushed for a constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right to abortion, rather than relying on the makeup of the Supreme Court. They could have begun efforts to modify or even remove the Second Amendment. Democrats even could have enshrined “open borders” into the Constitution, couldn’t they?
Instead, Democrats are now trying to regain power by giving illegal aliens voting rights and attacking the Electoral College, when they could have begun the process to change it constitutionally during Obama’s first term.
All these things, however, depend upon broad-based public support. Maybe the reason the Democrats didn’t enshrine new “rights” into the Constitution is that the public support isn’t there. Maybe, just maybe, the Democrats need to stop looking for fresh faces, and begin asking themselves just what they have become and who they represent.
Somehow, I just don’t believe that MAVA, Make America Venezuela Anyway, is a winning campaign slogan for the midterms and beyond.
Absolution: The Singularity … and beyond.
