If you read or watch the news, you'll notice that many amazing leaders are speaking up for a better United States. They are coming forward to outline the abuses of the current backwards, greedy, and seemingly corrupt Republican Administration.
You'll also notice that the major news agencies are taking a shallow approach to these emerging leaders with their continual efforts to treat government like a horse race or football game rather than as a leadership and governing effort. To treat government like sports is wrong.
As these leaders emerge, it's natural for us to imagine who will be our next President and who will truly have the strength, affiliations, courage, collaboration, and intelligence to take us forward rather than leave us lost with a corrupt, dehumanizing administration team.
I suggest that you approach Presidency 2029 in the following ways:
- Don't look for a winner too soon. Instead support a process that will allow the best candidates to rise.
- Advocate for national laws and policies to counter propaganda, lies, abuse of campaign finances, obstruction and denial of voters' rights, and undue influence on campaigns by foreign entities, big business, and a small percentage of ultra wealthy individuals. Clearly the dehumanizing current Republican Administration use a lot of tactics that sway voters from the truth. For example they appear to target minorities who people know little about, minorities that make people afraid and then they create dehumanizing, dishonest ads/sound bites/images about those people to drum up the hate in favor of their candidates--it's a gross, dehumanizing, hateful strategy that works with so many voters that don't look deeper, think harder, and choose hate over understanding, imagination, inclusion, and intelligent decision making. They've monopolized on people's base instinct to hate and blame what they don't understand or what doesn't look or act like them in unfamiliar ways.
- Get involved in local government and promote good leaders at the local, state, and national levels for every election.
- Advocate for the Democrats to put some kind of shadow government in place where there are leaders we can look to for specific information - right now the Democratic Party represents so many diverse causes that their information is confusing and hard to navigate whereas the Republicans have one cause and that's hate of all but Trump's seemingly hateful White Supremacist followers--that's frightening.
- Advocate for news agencies to change their style from sports reporting to a different style of reporting for government issues and elections.
- Talk to friends and family members about the emerging leaders and specifically what they are doing. Right now we see Buttigieg, Booker, Pritzker, AOC, Whitmer, Harris, Walz, Beshear getting a lot of press. The current media channels will look for their flaws, post any sensational news related to them, but they will rarely go deep to talk about what really matters including these questions:
- Does the candidate want to promote good living for ALL, not just people that look or act like them or people that will prop up their personal profit and ego?
- Does the candidate work well with others? No leader can lead every good endeavor, instead you need a leader who can choose intelligent, collaborative, forward-thinking, experienced individuals to do the good work possible.
- Is the candidate intelligent? Smarts matter, and clearly intelligent leaders have had top-notch educations. They read, speak well, understand our vast country and world. To choose a leader who has a sketchy intellectual profile is to put all of us at risk.
- Does the candidate appeal to the American people? That's a tough one since the American people represent great diversity, but it's important that the candidate is a likable person who has broad appeal.
- Does the candidate understand the United States Constitution? Perhaps the major media should invite candidates to compete in a contest of Constitutional/Government/Geographical knowledge--who would come up on top?
- Does the candidate understand the world situation?
- Have public debates often--don't just wait until the election years. Make debates a regular part of the major news and include good questions and moderators in those debates. Let the American people get to know these candidates on a personal basis in an ongoing way. Why not have a debate about imprisoning people in foreign jails soon and include anyone interested in Presidency 2029 to join in. Debate the major issues regularly--it could be a new show called, What do you think?
In this Information Age, we have to think differently about leadership, elections, information share, honesty, and more. The current Republican Administration has utilized their knowledge of the current info age to manipulate our government and leadership in destructive, inhumane, hateful, hurtful ways--we can do better, and we have to do better. Our imagination and desire for a just, humane society will lead us in that direction.
These are rough thoughts. I will think more on the topic--please share your ideas.
