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Shifting guidelines, family dynamics, and global pandemics mean stress for the holidays for many.
By Riley Mulcahy Opinion Columnist Turkey, sharing what they are grateful for, and appreciation of time off from school and work. For most people, the idea of the Holidays and seeing relatives is a positive experience. However, holidays can bring pain and stress to people who do not have a family to share or have a family they are not close to. Given that we are still in a global pandemic, the stress is magnified when we are expected to gather in large groups, even with the prevalence of vaccines. According to Organizational Psychologist Adam Grant, most people who feel the stresses of the holidays are not necessarily depressed. Instead, we as a collective are “languishing.” Grant argues, “Languishing is a sense of stagnation and emptiness” in his viral New York Times article. “It feels as if you’re muddling through your days, looking at your life through a foggy windshield. And it might be the dominant emotion of 2021.” We are living in an unprecedented time where the social and the political are intertwined. Decisions to protect the wider community have been made by both major parties. When social and political unrest is running rampant, we must understand that languishing is an expected response. As we head into the holiday season, we also have to realize that people struggle to thrive, but that does not mean they are necessarily depressed. Even though many of us are languishing, there needs to be an acknowledgment of those who are struggling. From a personal perspective, I know that I have struggled with social interactions since socializing more because I have had to learn how to interact with people I had not seen in a year or longer. Although I consider myself an extrovert, there is still a sense of anxiety I feel when I see people I have not seen for a long time or am in a big group situation. This Holiday season, it is crucial to give us a little more grace regarding social interactions. For some college students, this might be the first time they have seen their parents since the summer, or they might not be able to go home at all due to travel restrictions. The political landscape has not helped people’s moods going into the Holidays. Kyle Rittenhouse was found not guilty last week for his part in killing two Black Lives Matter protesters. Writer Julie Lythcott Haims, who was previously the Dean of Freshmen at Stanford, summed up so many of the thoughts that a lot of people are feeling right now: “Because Rittenhouse had killed two white men, I'd thought that the chances of a guilty verdict were higher. Maybe they were. Even so, the chances weren't high enough.” Instead of the typical Holiday stressors of family drama or someone forgetting to take food out of the oven, we are now dealing with complex and difficult conversations about race and privilege, which are needed conversations but challenging to have in the midst of differing opinions and family dynamics. When we hear about a white man being acquitted for a crime in “self-defense,” the holiday spirit can be tainted, especially when there are others who might think that he was in the right. The Holidays will look different this year. Some may not have the chance to connect with family, or some may struggle to sit across from their family. The holidays can bring up feelings of loneliness and isolation. However, there is also an opportunity to reflect and try to help others who also may be struggling in the form of volunteering at a soup kitchen or seeing what the town/ city is doing to serve others and get involved in it. Author’s Note: Here are the articles referenced: “There’s a Name for the Blah You’re Feeling: It’s Called Languishing” by Adam Grant https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/19/well/mind/covid-mental-health-languishing.html Were You Holding Your Breath? By Julie Lythcott-Haims https://jlythcotthaims.bulletin.com/6429230760451982
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 This holiday season, let’s cut back on our Amazon shopping. Jeff Bezos is already rich enough. (Image Courtesy of Author)
By Kiera O’Hara-Heinz Visiting News Reporter With over 150 million subscribers worldwide, Amazon has become ubiquitous with online shopping. The coronavirus pandemic forced us all to social distance inside our homes, and many people turned to online shopping retailers like Amazon as their primary source of goods. Amazon is convenient, cheap, and has almost anything you could think of available with just the click of your mouse. Despite these obvious benefits, buying from Amazon means supporting unethical business practices and growing Jeff Bezos’s enormous wealth. So this holiday season, let’s cut back on our Amazon shopping. Amazon is very close to becoming a monopoly for internet sales. Amazon sales account for almost 50% of all online sales and five percent of all retail across the United States. Amazon’s business model prices out small companies, driving them into bankruptcy. In most states, Amazon is exempt from collecting sales tax. Though this sometimes benefits the consumer, it gives the corporation an advantage over competitors. The company is not just limited to the Amazon that we know but is constantly acquiring other companies. Jeff Bezos also owns Whole Foods, Ring, Twitch, and even The Washington Post. Amazon supports police surveillance. In 2018 Amazon bought the home security company Ring. The company has been criticized by many civil rights groups for organizing secretive deals with police departments all over the United States. Amazon executive Dave Limp has publicly hinted that in the future Ring security cameras could use Amazon’s facial recognition software. For the most part, this technology is unregulated and studies have shown that even some of the most advanced facial recognition software misidentify black people at rates much higher than they misidentify white people. Amazon Echo devices also have a universal back door which means that Amazon can use them as full-time listening devices at any time. Santa Claus is not the only one watching us when we are sleeping anymore (Bezos is that you?). Amazon exploits its workers. Warehouse workers have claimed that they do not have access to toilets when they are working and drivers have claimed that they feel pressured to drive recklessly in order to fulfill their deliveries. Not only this, but Amazon has pushed the deaths and injuries of warehouse workers under the rug. In 2017, Phillip Lee Terry, a warehouse worker in Indiana, was crushed by a forklift he was improperly trained to operate. In 2018, 24 Amazon workers were injured and hospitalized after a can of bear spray was punctured by a robotic arm and in 2019 a worker died on the job from a heart attack, laying on the floor for twenty whole minutes before they were given medical attention. Is this the sort of business you really want to support this holiday season? There is no ethical consumption under capitalism. But if you are able and have the time and resources this holiday season, spend your money somewhere more ethical. Shop second-hand or make a homemade gift. Regifting is both sustainable and free! Jeff Bezos is already worth 205.5 billion dollars. He does not need more money. No one likes an Ebenezer Scrooge. Or, How We Can Celebrate Christmas Without Pointless Consumerism By Joseph Amir Opinion Columnist Is there a way to celebrate Christmas while abstaining from Capitalism? I know that Christmas holds many fond memories of receiving presents and spending time with family for most of us. Still, American consumerist culture has distorted Christmas into a poor imitation of the original holiday, one that does not involve celebrating what Jesus stood for but instead stands for moving out holiday inventory as stores institute extended return policies and video game studios put the finishing touches on their blockbuster games so they can be purchased as Christmas gifts. Stores put up their “Sale” banners, ready to take advantage of shoppers who set aside “gift money” so they can take as much of it as possible to pay their CEOs and line the pockets of their shareholders in dividends. If you’re as tired of letting your wealth trickle up as I am, my mixed religion family can teach you the way to combat this. Raised in a split Jewish-Christian family, I didn’t really have much of an idea of Christmas because the only family in the United States was Jewish. As a result, I never looked forward to Christmas gifts because I already knew what I was getting, a $100 check from my grandparents, to spend however I liked. We celebrated Hanukkah very sedately, gathering at my grandparents house where the focus was not on gifts (not that I didn’t get any) but on social interaction. The value was in eating with your family, not making gift lists. This allowed me to free up mental energy that I would have focused on dreaming about the things I was going to get towards focusing on my family and spending this valuable time with my grandparents and parents. But when I did discover Christmas, it was in a different form than most—Swedish Christmas. My mother is Swedish, and as a result I have been traveling to and from Uppsala and Stockholm ever since I was 6 months old. I don’t remember my first Swedish Christmas exactly because I was very young, but I do know that I’m absolutely in love with the traditions surrounding it. The focus is not on gift lists, or what you can buy, it lies squarely on family and spending time with those whom you love. We start off the month with the Julkalender, a 24-part miniseries aired each year on SVT (the Swedish equivalent of PBS), from December 1st until Christmas Eve. It is a miniseries centering around children, usually 10-14 years old, and deals with the spirit of Christmas. It is different every year, but always revolves around saving Christmas from some sort of threat. After we watch the Julkalender together, we will spend some more time together and look forward to Christmas Eve (when the Swedes celebrate) where we will get together and eat and drink traditional Swedish fare. Gifts are commonplace, yes, but the focus is not on what we will get and I can’t recall seeing sales anywhere nearly as heavily promoted as here in the US. We spend time with our family, whom we love, and we talk, eat, drink, and are merry. But then again, maybe that’s only something you can do in a culture where wealth inequality is extremely low, taxes are high, and social services are available for all who need them. Either way, be the first step towards change and spend your money on your family in a better, more mindful way, and remember that no matter who buys something for you or not, you are all family and you all love each other the best way you know how.
By Benjamin Noel
Visiting Opinion Writer Next to the turkey and mashed potatoes, the Thanksgiving debate is another entree at the table of the holiday zeitgeist. By Thanksgiving debate, I’m not referring to political conversations with your uncle, pre-dinner walk philosophizing, or the argument over the worst Thanksgiving food (sweet potato casserole). No, the Thanksgiving debate is the argument that the holiday itself should not be celebrated. For some insight, let's look at the history of the holiday. The first Thanksgiving in 1621 signified the alliance between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Native Americans. As the story goes, the two parties got together for a feast of deer, fish, game birds, and corn. The holiday has been celebrated since 1789 and starting in 1863 (the same year SMC was founded), Thanksgiving has been an annual holiday in the US. Thanksgiving served as a harvest festival, a day of thanks for battles won, and a day of prayer for the blessings received throughout the year. This night of harmony, prayer, and thanks has changed with the times. When most people’s livelihoods were more tied into the land they lived off of, prayers for good weather and a good harvest were the highlight of the holiday. Now, the thanks given during this time refer more to the unity of a family, as everyone gets time off from work or school, and can come together for a night of bonding. Back to the debate. Thanksgiving, a time for bonding and reflectiveness, has, due to pushes for retroactive political correctness, been far overshadowed by the torments Native Americans faced at the hands of Europeans in the following 300 years. People find the concept of celebrating this brief unity between the settlers and the Native Americans as brash and insensitive in light of the following centuries of conflict. Some advocate for removing Thanksgiving from our calendars or turning the holiday into a day of mourning for Native Americans. While the case against Thanksgiving comes from a meaningful, powerful place, I make the case in support of the holiday. The Thanksgiving of today doesn’t solely represent the first feast, and it barely resembles the harvest festival it once was. Thanksgiving has come to represent family. It is a time of the year in which kids come back home from school, parents get time off of work, and the family is whole for the break. Everyone can work together to cook the meal or feel the wrath of mom when you step foot in the kitchen, whatever tradition is in your household. This holiday is celebrated across racial and religious lines. Everyone can celebrate this feast, many, putting their own cultural twists on the traditional feast. And besides taxes, it is one of the only things that unites every single American. Much has remained the same since the first Thanksgiving of 400 years ago to the Thanksgiving of today. But so much more has changed. While we understand the history of the night and respect those who have been disenfranchised, the holiday has transformed into something beautiful and worth celebrating for 400 more years. Students are required to mask up indoors, but who enforces it?
By Riley Mulcahy Opinion Columnist It is hard to imagine that more than two years ago there was a time where a mask was not needed to participate in everyday life. The COVID-19 pandemic has made it so to protect other people from the virus, and we have to cover our mouth and nose. This fall, following county guidelines, Saint Mary’s has required masks indoors regardless of vaccination status. However, requiring and enforcing the mask mandate are two different things. One question that remains unclear is whose job is it to enforce mask requirements around campus. There have been times in my classes where I have seen students without masks indoors, and only twice has a professor asked them to put their masks back on. In one class that I am in, any chance students get, the mask falls below their mouth to try and have a conversation with friends while the professor is not looking. The role of the professor is not to police mask-wearing in classrooms; however, there are not a lot of other options when there is one professor with a class of 24 students. Although everyone is supposed to be vaccinated to live on campus, there are flaws to the system that allow religious exemptions, and therefore not everyone on campus is vaccinated. Given this problem, it is hard to tell who is vaccinated and who isn’t, making masking indoors more critical. The groans of students who have to wear a mask indoors are a lot smaller than the more than 700,000 lives lost from this horrible disease. In a recent email in preparation for Halloween weekend, the administration of Saint Mary’s reminded the SMC community of the mask mandate due to the changing guidance of Contra Costa COVID-19 guidelines. The email states in part “to prioritize the health and wellness of our campus community, and out of an abundance of caution, Saint Mary’s will continue to require that masks be worn indoors for the duration of the fall term.” Additionally, the email states that although the mask mandate indoors in Contra Costa is officially lifted, and that “while we are encouraged by the declining case rate, regardless of the county’s decision, Saint Mary’s requires that you continue to wear your mask indoors on campus in public spaces throughout the term.” Wearing a mask is a simple way to protect immunocompromised people and those who cannot get the vaccination. In close settings inside, the likelihood of a COVID-19 exposure is a lot more than outside. At the recent performance of Everybody at the Redwood Grove put on by the SMC theatre program, masks were required and not enforced. I must admit that I am more relaxed about wearing masks outside because there is less of a risk of COVID-19 spreading. However, it is crucial to be mindful of others in understanding when or when not to wear a mask. The enforcement of masks is a complex topic because it requires students to look at the collective rather than themselves. However, if the community refuses to wear masks, there must be enforcement inside the classroom. When we do not abide by health orders, we risk the safety of the 24 people in the class and anyone they come into contact with. Recently, a cold was going around campus, and there was concern that it might be COVID-19. However, those with symptoms got tested for COVID-19, and luckily, it was just the common cold. It is an important reminder not to be too comfortable and that we are still in a global pandemic, regardless of how people feel about wearing masks. Going alone to a bar is one thing, but it is a completely different ballgame to go alone as a woman. Some may call it social suicide. Others may call it risky. But, it doesn’t have to be either. It can be quite fun.
Brooke Haggarty Opinion Columnist About a couple of weeks ago, I decided to get a bit ballsy. I went to a bar alone. My bar of choice was one of the top places in Berkeley called Tupper and Reed located on Shattuck Avenue. If you haven’t gone there yet and are looking for a sophisticated outlet to get drinks at, this is the place to go! Older, mature college students, Ph.D. students, young professionals, and older adult casuals are the people present at this bar. In other words, there is a whole buffet of people to socialize with, whether you are looking for a new friend or significant other. So, why would I go alone, especially as a woman? Well, everyone, it was about time that I just said screw it. I got lucky; I admit that nothing happened to me. But that’s not why I am sharing this experience with you. As a woman, I knew that going to the bar that there was going to be a lot of assumptions made about me: “Is she with someone?” “Is she waiting for someone?” “Why is she alone?” “Is she a prostitute?” “She must be lonely.” “She must be depressed.” All these questions one way or another I am sure popped up in people’s minds as a lone woman goes to a bar. But, I did not care because there was no way in Hell that I was going to let being a woman alone stop me from enjoying myself. So when I entered Tupper and Reed, I was pleased when I saw that the place was populated yet mellow. The atmosphere bred an air of opportunity as I surveyed the types of groups present. They were all different, but it was clear as day to me that this was the place to go to meet up with friends after a long day of work or to just catch up. In other words, I found all kinds of people who were friendly yet mature. Overall, I was pleased with what I saw and decided to get a drink, so I went to the bartender and asked for a shot of Maker’s Mark. Sadly, they did not serve Maker’s Mark so I had to settle for Four Roses Yellow Label instead. Needless to say, I love whiskey, and I love to see the alarm on people’s faces when I order it. This is because I know that there is a stereotype about whiskey being a men’s drink. Well, hah, I am a whiskey girl by choice despite knowing all too well that a girl drinking whiskey can very much be a conversation starter, which actually came in handy later. Yet, before that I decided to explore the bar by going upstairs, much to my surprise, there was another bar. So I decided to test the waters up here by ordering a cocktail, and this time I sat down, and then almost immediately, a girl joined me on my left where, I kid you not, she was recording a Twitch Livestream. Me, being an avid gamer, I was all for it so we hit it off pretty quickly and ended up having a blast. She was a UC Berkeley student studying sociology (I think) and came to Tupper and Reed upon request of her followers. After getting to know her for quite some time, I decided to venture downstairs where I would then have an older casual person who happened to be a man spark up a conversation with me. This may just as well be the moment that some of you all have been waiting for. So, let’s just get to it. I was greeted by this guy who said that he liked my baby-blue peacoat and thought that I was from the east coast or England because no one from the west coast wears peacoats. I mean I see his point, but I wore it out of sophistication and the fact that it was freezing outside. Anyhow, our conversation started about being in the Bay Area, which I have come to learn that there are a lot of people in the Bay Area who are either visiting or not locals. I happen to be the latter. He ends being a native who went to college for American History. Huh, interesting, I thought. So, we talked and talked. The conversation was really going nowhere until he asked me about my favorite drink. I said whiskey, particularly bourbon. He then proceeded to ask if I had ever tried scotch, and I said no. So, he ordered us both a glass of Maccalan. Now let me tell you that was some serious strong liquor, wow. But, it was really, really good. Feel free to do some side research, but let’s just say that it was an expensive glass of scotch. Needless to say, I was amused by this man’s efforts to wine and dine me. This is where I get interested in him; I glance at his hands and don’t see a ring. But, I swear as soon as I saw no ring; he mentions his wife. Okay, I know what you’re thinking; it’s actually not that. This man happens to be in an open marriage with his wife. Congratulations. Honestly, I wasn’t really bothered by it. I am taking Jose Feito’s Human Sexualities class, and we heavily talked about non-monogamy. Despite not being fazed, I was not interested in the guy; he could probably be my dad if he had a child young. But, he treated me well and made me reconsider my expectations about how someone ought to treat me at a bar. So, this is my takeaway. One, it is okay to go alone to a bar. Two, it may be scary socially or seen as risky, but you only live once so don’t let fear control you. Three, it is okay to have high standards for a stranger at a bar; in fact, keep them. At the end of the day, safety is what matters most. Thus, my word of advice to you, my reader, is to let someone know where you are going so if anything happens that you are safe. Best of luck to you, and cheers. Is Joe Manchin going to be the one that declines to save society as we know it?
By Joseph Amir Opinion Columnist Joe Manchin is a name that burns hot on the lips of many progressives, thanks to his refusal to back Democratic spending bills and Joe Biden’s agenda during a legislative opportunity for the party of social welfare. With the New Yorker’s Andy Borowitz satirizing him as “employee of the month” for the Republican Party, Joe Manchin clearly has a long way to go to redeem himself to many progressives. But does he care? Courtesy of his increased public profile as a stodgy, obstinate man with a penchant for throwing gum in the works of the legislative process, people have begun dredging up his campaign contribution records and have found that he has deep corporate ties that create a potential conflict of interest regarding his sabotage of Joe Biden’s Build Back Better plan. Because of the budget reconciliation process and the ways the Democrats are trying to pass their plan, they need every single vote in the Senate for a plan to be passed, which includes Manchin. His being the only one withholding his vote (along with Sinema) means that he can effectively dictate terms, and he is extremely excited to do so. He is demanding cuts to paid family leave, the clean electricity program, as well as Medicare expansions. But an interesting thing about this is, as reported by the New Yorker, he is the senator that has received the most donations from the coal, gas, and oil industries that currently sit in the Senate. Additionally, he was an early member of the organization ALEC, which some of you may remember from old Jon Stewart pieces. ALEC is an organization that brings the industry together with lawmakers to craft policy, or as some late-night hosts put it, essentially lets industry draft a bill most amenable to them and then lets lawmakers put their signature on it. This practice became so egregious that some bills submitted didn't even have the ALEC markings taken off of them. Manchin eventually sat on ALEC’s board of directors prior to being elected the governor of West Virginia but remained in the pocket of corporate interests. This proves his unreliability to progressive causes, and with not much time left on the clock and storms getting more intense every year, our generation really does not have time to wait for Manchin, an old, rich white man, to become “comfortable” with the amount of money that Congress earmarks for saving our society from future collapse. The answer to my previous rhetorical question is “no.” No, he does not appear to care about this. With a net worth in the tens of millions of dollars, a boat that he resides in, and only a few decades left of life (Manchin is 74), there is not much reason for him to care. As is the case with people that don’t care, he has what he wants in life and there is not much reason for him to be concerned with anything but retirement on his savings. This man, Joe Manchin, is now in the unique position of being able to dictate terms to Joe Biden on what would have been the cornerstone of his first term as President. Opposing a $15 minimum wage even as he collects millions from donations and favors corporate interests, he is clearly not interested in the welfare of the American People, and it is a shame that the Democrats are now fully at his mercy to create a plan that would help citizens instead of corporations. https://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/republicans-name-joe-manchin-employee-of-the-month https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/joe-manchins-deep-corporate-ties Windy roads, hills, and trees for miles are perfect fun, especially if one enjoys driving at great speeds. This sums up Moraga, the town which our college is located in. But, the speed limit of 35 mph is there for a reason, and here’s why.
Brooke Haggarty Opinion Columnist Recently, I have seen so many dead deer in Moraga that it cannot be ignored, thus, something needs to be said in order to advise how to stop them from being hit. Before COVID-19 (and I am talking 2019 here), I saw fewer deers dead on the side of the road. Speeding up to now, I am seeing a dead deer at least once every two weeks. Now I am not entirely sure why there is a difference in the past two years, but I can assume that it has to do with something about the excitement and the stress that everyday life has brought upon its return. So, I see people go faster in Moraga above the 35 mph speed limit. Sometimes I think people disregard the speed limit as it can be pretty dull going through Moraga if they are looking to go out. Even so, when going to school especially because they live off-campus, the speed limit can be a nuisance as they bypass it to get to class on time. Now, before I start going off about where this has gotten us and how we are endangering the lives of deer like it is nothing, I want to say that I am guilty of driving quickly through Moraga. Have I hit a deer as a result of it? No, but I have crossed a deer before, especially in the middle of the night when Moraga is pitch black. In this moment, I was happy that I was respecting the speed limit; in fact, I was going slower because I couldn’t see for the life of me. If I had been going above the speed limit, I am sure that I would have killed that deer, and as a result, I would have totaled my car. Hitting a deer based on that anecdote seems to be a major possibility. So, this is where I give you advice based around what an expert of not-hitting-deers-when-driving says. I started by looking up “How to Not Hit Deer When Driving,” and the most recent source that popped up is “How to Avoid Collisions With Deer This Fall” written by Jeff S. Bartlett from Consumer Reports. Bartlett provides us with seven tips to avoid hitting deer. Here they are: 1) Slow down, 2) Be aware, 3) Be alert, 4) Brake, don’t swerve, 5) Assume they have friends, 6) Don’t rely on deer whistles, and 7) Buckle up. For Bartlett, these tips are important due to alarming statistics about collisions with wildlife, especially deer. He references The State Farm insurance company where they say that they estimate “over 2 million animal collision industry claims for the past year” (Bartlett). This means that there has been an increase of 7.2 percent over the previous 12 months, a truly, shocking, eye-opening, and disheartening statistic. He goes on to add that deer are not the only ones on the road to look out for, but he stresses that the Fall is one of the most active seasons for deer, making it more important to be wary of what lies ahead in the road. His final suggestion that he leaves us is to make sure that we use our high beams when deer are most active, which is “at dawn between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m.,” and by doing this, we can see deer before it is too late because about 20 percent of motor vehicle deaths were a result of leaving a lane or losing control due to trying to avoid an animal according to The Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (Bartlett). My final takeaways are that we can save a deer’s life by driving safely and with more caution. However, I do realize that accidents happen, and sometimes these tragic circumstances are inevitable. Yet, all I ask anyone to do the next time that they are out on the road is to mind the speed limit and to think about the deers. Keep calm, drive safely, and save the deers. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) has blocked efforts to support his constituents, and now he is blocking paid family leave.
By Riley Mulcahy Opinion Columnist Joe Manchin is the most influential person in the United States right now, but there is no reason for him to be. The moderate Democrat has rejected proposals that otherwise have widespread support, including paid family leave. In a slim majority-held Senate, Democrats do not need more obstructionists adding to their struggle to pass a progressive agenda that will help Americans survive a global pandemic. Paid family leave is a small part that supports the people Manchin is supposedly serving. Although the filibuster still is in effect (due to Senator Manchin and Arizona's Krysten Sinenmea), Democrats have a chance to go through the budget reconciliation process to pass paid family leave as part of Biden's bold agenda. Moreover, Manchin refuses to do his duty as a senator and serve the West Virginians that elected him in the first place. Manchin declined to support the infrastructure bill while he took money from the coal industry. In a polarized society, it is a shame that the one "moderate" is complicit in supporting Republicans who refused to acknowledge Biden as the president of the United States of America. Democrats are not letting Manchin off easy, according to reporting by The Hill. The news organization reports that "Senate Health Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D), a leading proponent of paid family leave, cornered Manchin on the Senate floor to get him to change his mind—and they refused to take no for an answer." Furthermore, Senator Murray refutes claims that the paid family leave is off the table for the reconciliation bill. Instead, she claims that Manchin is "not out," signaling that he might change his mind eventually. In a senate that cannot pass voting rights legislation, the notion that one or two senators can change their mind "eventually" is unacceptable. Why Democrats have not announced a primary opponent for Manchin's run in 2024 is mind boggling. He knows that he will not face the consequences for his actions, and therefore he will be a puppet master dangling Democracy right in front of Democrats. Given his cozy relationship with the coal industry, Democrats should figure out how to create a deal that would make Manchin act like a Democrat. Democrats won the 2020 election. We cannot act like Republicans and Manchin are in control. However, I am starting to believe that this is the case. Manchin is just one person, but his power is immense. If Democrats do not pass meaningful legislation that will support the American people, they will lose the Senate and the House, which would negate all of the hard work that activists like Stacey Abrams do. Biden promised a bold agenda that would fix the last administration's mistakes (and more importantly, the criminality); however, we are not seeing much change being enacted, primarily thanks to Manchin's lack of respect to the office he serves. Paid family leave is just one part of the problem that Manchin is a part of; however, it is necessary for many Americans. It is a cop-out to say that Manchin does not understand the gravity of the situation because of his actions; instead, he relishes in being the talk of the town. Manchin's actions are a rejection of poverty and those who cannot speak for themselves because affluent families will always be able to afford the necessary childcare or have the privilege of taking time off to support their children while also being paid. Elections are supposed to hold much importance, and the actions of one senator should not be representative of the United States of America. |
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May 2024
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