Death of a Nation

So here we are, America.

I feel like a person standing on a high-dive platform, toes just touching the end of the board, staring down into a very deep pool of water nearly 33 feet (10 meters) below, knowing I can't swim.

This is the position millions of Americans, and much of the free world, find ourselves facing today, just hours before a fascist-leaning, lying, mentally unstable, greedy, racist, misogynist takes the oath of office. That he can place a tiny hand on a Bible, a book he doesn't follow and has never read, and sweat to uphold the US Constitution, a document he wants to destroy, is reprehensible.

Already we are hearing about the myriad of executive orders he plans to sign after being sworn into office: raids on immigrants in Chicago, leading to mass deportations, end birthright citizenship, end Biden-era border policies, pardon January 6 defendants (he has started to walk this back), end the war in Ukraine (and it won't be good for Ukraine), slap 25 percent tariffs on goods imported from Canada and Mexico, roll back environmental protections, limit participation in women's sports by transgender females, and other repressive and dangerous measures. Expect further attacks on our LGBTQ citizens, lessening of women's rights to bodily autonomy.

Will January 20, 2025, be the day the United States of America dies? It doesn't seem out of the realm of possibility that today could well mark the end of our great experiment. in representative democracy. 

We now live in a world where traditional alliances mean nothing, where only the super wealthy will benefit, where the government and its so-called Christian nationalists will dictate what teachers must (and must not) teach, what books librarians can put in libraries, which medical procedures are allowed, and where the government no longer actively works to remove the safety nets that have historically helped the poor. 

Environmental measures that have historically protected our clean air and water, safeguarded our food supply, and protected our wildlands and wildlife from destruction.

I agree that our immigration system needs a total overhaul, but rounding up some 12 million people in the country illegally, putting them in camps and then deporting them, is not the way to go about it. Most of the people who harvest our fruits and vegetables, as well as working as housekeepers, construction workers and in other low-paying jobs, are immigrants, many of them here illegally. Already the harvest in California's Central Velley is being impacted because the people who harvest the crops are not showing up to work, out of fear of deportation. 

If you enjoy a glass of orange juice with breakfast, or fresh produce with your lunch or dinner, be prepared for massive shortages and much higher prices. California is the world's fifth largest economy. The state supplies 1/3 of the country's vegetables, and 3/4 of its fruits and nuts. Taxes from blue states such as California also provide the funding on which red states such as Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and others rely.

I lived in northern California for 28 years, and I am still a Californian at heart. I think it's time for the states, and individuals, who are not part of the cult that is set on destroying this country, to fight back.

America is worth fighting for. So show up. Stand up. Speak up.