Little fish, big pond

It’s the economy stupid.

Sure, we’re all excited to have a pair of rational, normal, hope and joy candidates running for president. Kamala and Tim are as everyman as one could hope for, civil, smart, relatable, full of empathy. And I’m sure I don’t need to talk about Gus whose display at the DNC made even the most cynical melt (more about that later).

But America is a complex place and good people sometimes ignore the bad and vote with their pocketbooks because, well, capitalism, balance, feed your family and all that.

Two things, if you have a business you currently pay a federal corporate tax rate of 21% (courtesy of Trump’s cut in 2017 from 35%-21%) Now when one candidate promises to decrease that 21% to 15% and the other promises to increase it to 28%, that 13% difference hits your bottom line hard. Like being able to afford your ski cabin hard.

Let’s say your business has 6 employees and makes a million a year, that 13% difference is 130K which I’m sure all of us would rather have in our pockets than not. Can you ignore all the bully-baby-misogyny for 130K? Apparently, many can, including the tech industry who are hoping to establish the 1% board of directors who can control Donald easier than they can control Kamala.

The second issue is fossil fuels. This one is easy too as we all hate paying $4.50 for a gallon of gas (increasing the cost of all products because products need gas to move around). So, when someone promises to lower that gas price through “drilling baby drilling” it’s appealing (but short-sighted as if we don’t curtail our use of fossil fuels we’re destined for, well, you know).

Energy use is up worldwide which increases CO2 levels which increases ocean temperatures which increases storm severity which puts us on a path to very bad things. Some know this scientific fact and some deny this scientific fact and some just want cheaper gas. So, I get it, it’s hard to sacrifice for the future but maybe a leader who understands science and makes long term plans is a good thing.

Did you watch the best summer Olympics ever? I loved it, not just for the world unity and the fact that sports competition is just awesome, but I also noticed a few other things.

The French spending 9 years cleaning up the Seine, even though the opening ceremony rainstorm washed new muck into the river making it unswimmable, it set a tone of environmentalism for waterways around the world.

Complete gender parity in sports. men and women getting equal pay, equal time and equal coverage for the first time ever. Who would have thought women’s rugby is so cool?

And finally, Riley, the 8-year old’s reaction in the commercial where she makes the team. That one still kills me as anyone who’s played competitive sports knows the feeling of accomplishing a sports goal for the first time. It changed my philosophy on my girl’s golf team to parallel my philosophy of 25 years in the classroom, everyone deserves a chance, and sometimes the little things can lead to bigger things.

Which brings me to Gus Walz and the greatest emotional reaction ever. I bring this up to point out that sometimes there are more important things than money. Yes, we need to make ends meet and feed our families and all that but can’t we do it by not hurting others? Can’t we prioritize equity, micro and macro, so that the Rileys and Guses of the world grow up inspired and hopeful?

This election doesn’t matter to a lot of people. People who are disgusted by politics, don’t care or don’t think that government matters, I understand that but I don’t agree. Leaders matter not only in how they lead but in the tone they set.

This election is also about two candidates who are about as different as two candidates have ever been. By now, we know the details and opinions and theatrics won’t make much of a difference (just the Arlington cemetery would have completely shut down campaigns in the past, now it was just a Tuesday).

When you live under a dome of hate it’s hard to see past that hate, no matter how hard Hope and Joy are trying to get in.  And when a candidate promises to help you afford your ski cabin, it’s also hard to see past that.