Current Affairs Essay

Would every America have affordable health care today? Absolutely. Would the U.S. have a national renewable energy program in place that would have made us independent of foreign oil? Of course. Would our environment be cleaner and less polluted? Naturally. Would our economic policies and tax system be fairer to average Americans and less tilted in favor of the rich? No doubt. Would our mass media be more in than hands of the people and less under the control of large corporations? Certainly. Would marijuana be decriminalized? Let's hope so. And would we be held in higher esteem by the rest of the world? Sure, even the French would love us.

And now for two tricky questions: Would the Soviet Union have collapsed without Ronald Reagan? By all reasonable accounts-- even Nixon said as much-- the Soviet Union would have eventually collapsed of its own weight. Not because it was a socialist state (like the countries in Europe), but because it was a totalitarian state where the corrupt and incompetent power elite ruled with an iron fist and did not respond to the needs of their people.

Second question: Would the U.S. have been attacked on 9/11? The answer is probably not, for two reasons. 1) As previously stated, under progressive leadership, we would have developed a national renewable energy program decades ago and would have no need for Middle Eastern oil. This means it would have been unnecessary to partner with the likes of the Saudi royal family to satisfy our energy needs and unnecessary to station our troops in Saudi Arabia, offending millions of Muslims in the process. As a result, we would have removed a primary reason for terrorist attacks against the West.

2) We would have resolved the Israeli- Palestinian issue years ago by aligning ourselves with the progressive wing in Israel and not supporting right wing ideologues like Sharon. With this issue resolved, Muslims would no longer hate us for siding with Israel nor blame us for killing their brethren, thus removing the second cause of terrorist attacks against the West.

And so, with the coming presidential election, we Americans once again have to choose sides. Are we going to vote for the "nouveau straight" candidate, George W. Bush, who represents the Moral Majority and the military/industrial complex? Or John Kerry, the "nouveau hip" candidate who represents progressive thinkers and average citizens?

To be fair, I'm oversimplifying the choice and giving Kerry a little more than his due, since most progressives would have preferred Dean or Kucinich, or Nader, if they thought he could win. But Kerry is the next best thing. And progressives can't afford to be purists this year.

Of course, even if Kerry wins, progressives will still have a difficult time promoting their agenda, especially if Congress continues to be controlled by Republicans. But at least they will have an ally in office to listen to their views.

If Bush wins, however, the progressives will have lost again, and America will be one step closer to corporate fascism and the end of democracy, as we know it.