When the sirens start

Everything will not be okay

Vasyatka1, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

This morning, the day after my fellow Americans elected Trump as President a second time, I went out for a run. About two minutes into it, sirens started to go off throughout my city. Oh, right. It’s the first Wednesday, I remembered. That’s the day they do the monthly test of our emergency siren systems.

But it made me think about my friend Dennis in Ukraine. For almost three years now, he has been living under the threat of Russian missiles. “It’s so fucking loud here,” he told me once. Even when they have a break from sirens and bombs, there is the constant noise of generators, because Russia continuously targets Ukraine’s energy grid, causing frequent power outages.

I care about my friend Dennis. He’s always been one of the strongest people I know, but I worry about his mental health, enduring years of constant threat, constant noise, so much uncertainty. I remember visiting him in 2019, how proud he was to show us the beauty and history of Ukraine. I think of that often when I see reports of destruction caused by Putin’s invasion.

Dennis has told me many times how thankful Ukrainians are for American support, how they would not be able to hold off Russian aggression without our weapons and our money. They also know that this support will most likely end under a Trump presidency, especially if Republicans control congress.

Closer to home, I think about my friend Elise. She has a daughter around the same age as mine who has a chronic illness. It’s only because of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), which prevents insurance companies from denying coverage based on preexisting conditions, that Elise has been able to afford the medicines which have kept her daughter alive.

Trump tried hard during his first term to repeal the Affordable Care Act. A few key Republican Senators joined Democrats to stop it that time. The way Senate races are looking, I don’t think we’ll be so lucky this time. Millions will probably lose their health coverage. All Americans will pay even more money for even worse coverage. And people will die because of it.

But what about that economy?

I don’t know how many ignorant, short-sighted posts and quotes I saw last week by people who said something like, “The price of gas and groceries is a lot more under Biden than it was under Trump. I know he says some offensive things, but what I care about is the economy.”

Stupid. Most people don’t understand the economy. They don’t understand public policy and how it impacts the economy. When they say they are voting because of the economy, they don’t know what they’re talking about. Actual seasoned economists consistently say that it is complex, uncertain, and definitely not entirely dependent upon who is sitting in the White House. Does the President have some influence? Yes, of course. But so do a lot of other factors completely outside that person’s control. Think of what COVID and global shut downs did to the economy. Part of both Presidents’ (Trump’s and Biden’s) economic response was to put free money into our bank accounts. We all wanted that at the time, remember? Well, that free money (and a whole lot of other factors—like supply chain shortages, for example—outside both Presidents’ control) helped create the inflation we’re dealing with today.

What I do know is that a man who has spent his entire life focused on his own power and wealth is not going to suddenly give a shit about the average American. A man whose primary economic policy achievement was to cut taxes for the super rich (because he is super rich) is not going to shape future economic policy with our best interests in mind.

Anyone who makes less than $500K/year who voted for Trump thinking they were helping themselves because Trump is somehow better for the economy is a fool. They got played by one of the biggest shysters this country has ever seen.

You think this won’t hurt you?

I was talking to a friend the other day who said something like, “I don’t think it even matters much which one of them gets elected. It’s probably not going to change my situation much.” Maybe he was right. He’s a middle-aged man in Iowa, which is a fairly insulated position.

I could say the same thing. I’m going to be fine. My whole life, I’ve lived by the belief that most likely, everything will be okay. And it’s been true. As a well-educated, White, middle-class hetero cis man living in the middle of the United States, I’ve had plenty of advantages. I also had a relatively stable, loving family, no major physical or mental health issues, adequate food and shelter my entire life. I am capable, smart, mostly steady, and I’m married to a woman who is even more capable, smart, and steady than I am. I’m an incredibly lucky guy in a very solid position who has the resources to come out okay no matter what the rest of the world might be facing.

So, does that mean I shouldn’t care about anyone else? As long as I’m okay, nothing else matters? Forget all the immigrants and refugees I have known (who are part of my family) trying to come here for a better life? Forget the millions of Americans who aren’t perfectly healthy and won’t be able to afford health care? Forget my friend Denis and all of Ukraine? Forget the countless species that will go extinct, the cities destroyed, and the lives lost in disasters as climate change ramps up under a government that opens the throttle once again for fossil fuels? Forget all the young women who have lost reproductive care rights? Forget workers who will continue to see their wages, power, respect, and rights decline under Republican economic policies? Forget children who will go hungry, parents who will lose housing? Forget the entire LGBTQ community? Forget everyone who is not as lucky as me?

Can we really say that the consequences of this election might hurt everyone and everything else on this planet, but it won’t have any impact on us?

No, that’s a lie, and as comforting as we might want it to be, the lie won’t protect us.

Everything will not be okay. Just wait and see.

P.S. Perhaps a better last sentence would have been: Things haven't been okay for quite some time now.