Opinion: What Now? Real Political and Economic Change or More of the Same?

Great news that the Democratic Party won the election. For the moment at least, Americans have turned away from fascism.

The real question is what happens next. Will there be real political and economic change or more of the same with different window dressing from what Mark Twain called “the best Congress money can buy? If not, the political pendulum may swing back just as dramatically as it has done in the past two years.

Bernie Sanders’ post-election video addresses these questions. He asks whether the Democratic Party now will address what he calls “grotesque inequality” and whether Congress will enact a wealth tax on billionaires. Bernie explains with the money from such a tax we can build millions of units of affordable housing, make education affordable and provide free child care.

Congress must overturn the Supreme Court decision in the Citizens United case to get private money out of our elections. Public campaign financing will require elected officials to focus on grassroots organizing instead of “dialing for dollars” to solicit private campaign contributions.

Finally, “Health care must be considered a human right, not a privilege,” affordable only for those who can afford to pay . That means Medicare for all with universal health care coverage.

One indicator will be if the Progressives in Congress can elect someone other than Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries to Democratic Party leadership positions. Those two, among many others in Congress, are bought-and-paid-for politicians who will, at most, deliver only minor reforms that ignore the fundamental issues identified by Senator Sanders. 

Finally, will those who now control Congress recognize that the declining American empire can no longer enforce its will on the rest of the world? We must accept that after five centuries, European-followed-by-American world domination has ended as economic and military power shifts to the global south and east. 

Michael Pill is a former resident of Amherst, and a current resident of Shutesbury. His law practice is based in Northampton.