ESSAY: Welcome back to democracy
As chaos, tax hikes, layoffs, and benefit cuts are unleashed, the resistance grows
Welcome back to democracy.
Welcome, those of you who were not scared off by the authoritarian bluster but who don’t like your 401(k) and portfolio diving.
Welcome to all who wanted to shake things up, smash the system, and now realize that it’s your family getting smashed. We welcome you. We must. Democracy is a schadenfreude-free zone. Come on in.
Welcome to the veterans who thought Donald Trump would be strong on defense and now are seeing your benefits endangered. You earned those benefits. No one deserves this pain. We welcome you to the cause of defending democracy in this hour of peril.
Welcome to those who thought other countries needed to be more grateful for the privilege of trading with the United States but now will not be able to afford basic necessities of life. Sometimes these economic things grow clearer up close. Theory is hard. We welcome you with open arms.
Welcome to the people who wanted the tax cuts, in the hope that they might trickle down, down, down, all the way down to you, but who now face the largest tax increase in memory. Your pain is our pain — literally. This will hurt everyone. Welcome in.
Welcome to the people who thought change and what some call progress was going too far, who felt unfamiliar in their own country at times, who feared the turning of the tables, who didn’t like all the gender stuff. Welcome if you now realize that all of those fears, some based in reality but many not, were weaponized against you. Welcome back home to democracy, because the only way through those fears and those concerns is each other. Democracy is the choice to choose the future together.
Welcome to the people who thought America would come roaring back and now face the real prospect of the end of American leadership in the world — who do not like capitulating to Vladimir Putin’s Russia, who don’t like the idea of HIV/Aids making a comeback because American generosity ends. Welcome, and let’s get right to work.
Welcome to those who let hatred into their hearts, and now confront the prospect of real suffering as a penalty for it. Only you can take responsibility for what you let yourself become, but the tent of democracy will always be big enough for you. Come on in; the pluralism’s fine. On your way in, thank those who held the torch while you took your hiatus from the idea of democracy.
Welcome to the CEOs who projected swagger but were, deep down, so afraid of this president, so afraid that you lost your voice, forgot that fuck-you money is supposed to give you courage. But welcome in, because we know you hate uncertainty more than anything, and this is the most chaotic, unstable, gyrating policy atmosphere in years.
Welcome, one and all. The pro-democracy movement needs you. More importantly, perhaps, you need it. And you needed it here when you went away for a time. We had your back. We had America’s back. We were marching for you, too. Welcome home.
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Thank you, Anand, for reframing this moment -we on the side of democracy needed these words, since welcoming was not at the top of our list of feelings towards those you so graciously invited in.
Your essay is generous, that is true spirit of America, the core of our democracy, it is the ethos under which I was raised, that each of us contributes to and benefits from the well being of all. Thank you for sharing such uplifting words.