A Tale Of Two Lemons

One thought dominates the political “thoughtscape” of the quiet Americans that represent the majority vote in America. “Neither of these candidates should be running for President.” It has nothing to do with sex, the color of a person’s skin or political affiliation. It has everything to do with what each American possesses in his or her DNA. It is what binds Americans together as one people and which neither candidate truly represents.

Capitalism, Communism, and Americanism

We are taught from childhood that America is capitalist and that we are the epicenter of capitalism and yet our biggest foreign creditor continues to be the poster boy for communism, namely China who we owe 1185.1 billion dollars. (1) Clearly, America may look upon Adam Smith and Milton Friedman with admiration and give Mao short thrift, but America was founded on fusion.

America is a young country. It is a genius MIT student in diapers. It has risen to a position of leadership in the world in an unprecedented period of time because it thrives on possibilities rather than the acceptance of limitations. It is apt that the United States of America is abbreviated to U.S.A. because three letters lie within the heart of each American be they native born or a recent immigrant. It is a one-word pledge of allegiance that is the cornerstone of all past, present and future achievements.

Why?

1. Why do we have to be a colony of Great Britain? 1776

2. Why can’t we design a machine to keep food cold? 1805 Oliver Evans and the refrigerator. (2)

3. Why can’t we derive power from Nuclear material? 1948 in Oak Ridge Tennessee. (2)

4. Why can’t we send a man to the moon? President Kennedy May 25, 1961. (3)

5. Why can’t we build a supercomputer? Seymour Cray’s CDC 6600 in 1964. (2)

6. Why can’t we link two computers together to communicate? (The birth of the internet, October 29th, 1969) (4)

All economic and societal progress is based upon Americans as individuals and as a nation asking and answering better questions than any other nation has dared to ask of itself. The immigrants of the present echo those of the past. They come to this country for the freedom to ask and answer the “Why” questions that will determine their lives and shape the communities they live in.

Some questions have been asked by Lincoln to Martin Luther King Jnr, to President Obama and have still not reached a conclusive satisfactory solution but answers are still sought, initiatives enacted and progress made. The heart of America will stop beating, and institutions will become stagnant or corrupt if the citizenry does not ask “Why” and insist upon an answer.

The Past Meets The Present

According to the U.S. Census, the current population of America is 324,829, 529 people with a new child born every 8 seconds, a death every 13 seconds and a new international migrant every 29 seconds. (5) For the first time in history, the number of registered voters is 200 million people. (6)

In 2004, the Democratic Party had 72 million registered voters; the Republicans had 55 million voters, and 42 million people were registered as undecided. (7) After voting by 4,767 delegates which include 712 votes from 716 candidates that the party selects for itself, Hillary Clinton and her campaign expenditure of $212,433,823 secured the votes of 2,842 delegates. (8)

1,441 votes from the 2,472 Republican delegates and $76,407,397 spent on campaigning gave Donald Trump the Republican nomination. (9) In 2014, 35.9% of registered voters cast a ballot. (10) Apathy is neither a friend of democracy or innovation and America needs both of these enterprise engines if it is to fulfill its potential. From 1989 to 2009 Presidents have been either a Bush or a Clinton. Election 2016 also had a Bush and still has a Clinton. It is strange that in a country of such diverse brilliance only two families seemingly have the DNA to be president.

I’ll wager neither of these candidates knows the price of a quart of milk or a dozen eggs. They don’t have children in overcrowded classrooms or lose sleep worrying about how they are going to pay their bills. Their televised debates which reinforced every American stereotype and elicited laughter around the world did not address the building blocks of the 21st century. No mention of science, technology, education for the next generation and retraining for the currently disenfranchised workforce.

Indeed, one candidate seemingly has trouble with e-mail 101 and the other candidate lives a lavish lifestyle while declaring bankruptcy which is the ruin of many a small business creditor when it suits him. One candidate has no experience of governance, and one candidate has an Al Capone quality of attracting the wrong attention wherever she goes but not having been charged with any wrongdoing. Everything good about America is derived from not settling for second best. At the start of the technology and science revolution which will dwarf in size, scale and speed any preceding period of human history a hold your nose and vote candidate is neither a vote for stability or progress. It is a vote for regression.

An Un-American Election

If you accept a future dictated upon the precedents of the past, you will vote for what’s on offer, or if you are in the majority you will not even vote at all. You will sacrifice your freedom of choice to a dogma derived from self-limitation because “that’s the way we’ve always done it.” That’s not how American’s who have fulfilled their potential and contributed to a greater good operate and it has no place in the twenty-first century.

So let’s go back to our roots 21st-century style. Let’s truly be “We the People of the United States” and build the foundations for mutual prosperity and accountable governance upon the question that has always propelled America to greatness.

Why can’t we vote for none of the above on any ballot? Why can’t we demand new candidates because neither of the current nominees represents the present or the future of what this great country is or can be? If you agree, then stand with me and put your name on the petition. We may not change the outcome of this election, but we will work the problem the “American way” and make lemonade from lemons. We step forward and redefine ourselves as an agile country, capable of adjusting to better serve our needs and values.

Technology is impacting all areas of our life, and it is time that “We the people” use it to reform a broken political process so that the institutions we entrust with governance become efficient units capable of fulfilling the promise of our founding fathers. It is a matter not only of domestic importance but also international importance as other country’s China in particular forge ahead with initiatives such as CELAP in Shanghai. (11) Democracy like any other living entity needs the nurturing of its custodians if it is to flourish.

Petition: We need 100,000 signatures in 30 days, so share, share, share. https://wh.gov/ieaYB

References:

1. America’s creditors http://ticdata.treasury.gov/Publish/mfh.txt

2. Greatest Inventions http://www.appslick.com/american-inventions/

3. Why can’t we send a man to the moon? http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/25/newsid_4369000/4369187.stm

4. The foundation of the Internet. http://inventors.about.com/od/famousinventions/fl/ARPAnet-The-Worlds-First-Internet.htm

5. U.S. population: http://www.census.gov/popclock/

6. Registered voters in the U.S. fascinating data on this site. https://www.census.gov/topics/public-sector/voting/data/tables.All.html

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/how-many-registered-voters-are-in-america-2016-229993

7. http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/opinion/columnist/neuharth/2004-01-22-neuharth_x.htm

http://www.people-press.org/2015/04/07/a-deep-dive-into-party-affiliation/

8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Party_presidential_primaries,_2016

9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party_presidential_primaries,_2016

10. Voter turnout: http://www.electproject.org/national-1789-present

11. CELAP stands for the China Executive Leadership Academy in Pudong. CELAP along with its sister academies in Jinggangshan (CELAJ) and (CELAY) in Yan’an is where China’s future government and private sector leaders are trained. The focus is on how to bring out the best in government and private enterprise with attendees expected to work and flourish in both arenas.

• * If you get a chance take a look at this Princeton University article from 2014. https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S1537592714001595

Photography References:

Two lemons: Concept by yours truly and the artist brave enough to pick up some Sharpie’s and Elmer’s glue is Eva Mar Pamintuan.

Baby in carriage: Courtesy of Sam Hood [Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

Woman with a flag: I know who did it, the lady in the photo knows who did it and we’re not telling. But it’s good to have friends :-)

Mr Trump and Mrs Clinton: By Donald Trump August 19, 2015 (cropped).jpg: BU Rob13 Hillary Clinton by Gage Skidmore 2.jpg: Gage [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

“We the people” courtesy of Navyatha123 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Greenbelt Community Center Preamble to the Constitution of the US by WPA Sculptress Leonore Thomas Strauss by ArtistsInResidence (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

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