[Xmca-l] Re: Fwd: Re: Why I Won't Vote for Sanders

[Helena Worthen]

Hello….

There are at least two ways to talk about where one stands when looking at the upcoming US election. There’s the “Why I will or won’t vote for X” which is a lot like “Ways in which I disagree or agree with X.”  Then there’s the “Which candidate is more likely to be able to do something needed by my community?” 

There are quite a few people in the US who are going to be fine no matter who gets elected. There are people whose resources are deep and diverse enough so that even if we get a Trump for president, they will be OK. There are also people — a lot more of these - who will be fine under Hillary. Not a whole lot will change for them if business as usual proceeds. They’ve got their real estate, their pensions, their investments, their education already. They don’t have much at risk. They don’t want Trump, but they don’t want a lot of changes either. This includes a lot of the African American community, which is not monolithic at all, any more than white voters are all of one mind. 

There are also a lot of people who are hanging in there from day to day, not really making it, and business as usual is going to be deadly for them. 

The “voices from the field” that I’m looking for is not really so much about who you personally agree with or not, but how your community is doing. 

Remember “the personal is political”? A feminist axiom. Opening up our monologue here on XMCA to more reports of how our communities are doing, and noting our own places in those communities, would allow us to hash out some issues over time, not waiting until you walk into the voting booth and look for the box of the person who agrees with you. 

Here in San Francisco the teachers at City College is about to go on strike. For the last 3 years there has been a real battle going on with the regional accreditation commission, which has been trying to shrink the college into a workforce development/transfer operation.  Community colleges are about low-cost, open admission public higher education.This is something worth striking over. When Bernie talks about “free public higher education,” this community knows what he’s talking about. It’s not a utopian dream; it’s the recent past, something I personally remember. 

What’s going on where you are?

Helena