I vote for the Green New Deal*.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., wants to get every senator on the record — presumably for the 2020 elections —on whether they support what is called the Green New Deal. The theory, I suppose, is that a large part of the country will recoil at the cost of the program and the speed with which some of its proponents wish to act, meaning that those who vote “yes” will be punished at the polls.
He may be right. But it would be wrong for any American to oppose the aspirational goals of the Green New Deal, because at its core are the building blocks of what made America great in the first place. It is, to be sure, assailable around the edges, but that’s the reason for the little asterisk next to my vote.
Very few Americans today would be able to remember what compelled President Franklin D. Roosevelt to launch his New Deal in the 1930s. He was facing a global depression that put 30 percent of U.S. citizens in bread lines. And those were the lucky ones.
Banks disappeared along with America’s savings accounts, and the federal government’s ability to respond to the crisis was constrained by a political climate that opposed involvement and couldn’t afford to do so even if the political will existed. It took a person with FDR’s leadership skills, smarts and ability to communicate to the country to force his plan through a reluctant Congress.
Eighty-plus years later, the surviving components of the New Deal that saved America back then are still going strong and have become a bedrock part of the social fabric of our country. Think Social Security, for example, and consider the furor among those who opposed it back when FDR got it done. Then consider the furor today that would result if anyone seriously tried to undo it.
The New Deal created much-needed jobs, public works programs and infrastructure upon which we are still relying, and it started this country on a path toward growing the strongest middle class on the planet. It didn’t happen all at once. It started with a concept and created a framework in which there were flaws to be fixed and unexpected solutions to be found. It took a few years to make it all work — just like it is supposed to happen in a democracy.
Now, fast-forward almost a century and the country, once again, needs a reset.
The worst recession since the Great Depression has taken its toll. An America whose infrastructure was once the envy of the world now has crumbling roads, bridges and tunnels in desperate need of repair or replacement.
A planet that knew nothing about climate change a century ago is in the throes of nearly irreversible global warming, rising seas, crop-crippling droughts and melting polar ice caps. And leadership of the U.S., the worst contributor per capita to this looming crisis, refuses to accept the incontrovertible science behind it.
A country which once had a strong, proud and growing middle class — the hallmark of a democratic and capitalistic society — is now home to a shrinking middle class where the difference between wealthy and poor continues to grow wider. Most other countries with such an income disparity have succumbed to revolution and autocratic endgames.
In the face of this bleak future comes our younger generations with a passion to fix what ails us and a desire to get it done now. Hence the Green New Deal.
For our political leadership, the right thing to do would be to bring the beneficiaries of tomorrow into a room and try to find the answers. Instead, egged on by the forces of the status quo who always like things just the way they are, leaders have decided to use the aspirations of our youth as a political bludgeon against those who favor steady, sane and smart change.
OK, I get it. Those who hold the power, money and ability to clean up our planet want things to stay the same because, well, frankly, that is where the power and money are.
I choose, however, to side with the young people in this country, because that is where our future is. Maybe you have to be a grandparent to understand that what happens today is no longer about our generation but about the generations just getting started.
Maybe you have to be thinking about the adult lives of today’s children to grasp what it means to continue to pollute the planet, horde the wealth and ignore the very human desire to live a fulfilling, peaceful and prosperous life in the latter part of the 21st century.
Maybe.
Or maybe you just have to admit to yourself that being selfish is your God-given right and no amount of scientific evidence or human degradation is going to change your mind.
Fair enough.
Now, back to that asterisk. What it means is that it really doesn’t matter what I want or how I vote anymore because today’s young people are pretty clear-headed about what they want. And they aren’t going to stand by for much longer and allow those of us who are heading toward the end of our run adversely affect their lives.
They envision the beginning of an important new period in American life, where 21st-century infrastructure is the norm, the middle class is resurgent and good, green and gratifying jobs abound. And, oh yes, in the process we help save the planet!
They may be too hopeful in their timelines for getting this all done, and they may not be focused clearly enough about how to pay for what they want. But they will figure out that part.
What is certain to me is that this country needs a bit of a reset, and the young people in America are proving up to the task. If those of us with “experience” were smart, we would open our minds to the prospect of change and help younger generations make our country so great that we will get even closer to making it a more perfect union.
That’s what the Green New Deal is really about, and getting it done should be no big deal. All it takes is some American grit, ingenuity and determination.
Rather than ask who is for it, shouldn’t we be wondering why anyone is against it?
Brian Greenspun is editor, publisher and owner of the Sun.