“I will be a president for all Americans,” a near-closing line from most of Vice President Kamala Harris campaign speeches. As I contemplated how Kamala could have lost the presidency to Donald J. Trump, that phrase jumped up in my brain.
The phrase is derived from Thomas Jefferson’s 1776 preamble to our Declaration of Independence, marking the beginning of our bloody struggle to establish a democratic nation, free of tyrants. It bears repeating in every American family once each year because it tells us to learn from others, get to know them, and above all, to value them.
Sometimes you never know who will help you—sometimes even when they do.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
A majority of Americans have never believed this, and thus, our best hope once again lies in ruins. Only this time, Americans have elected an autocrat. A majority will have forfeited their lives, their liberties, and perhaps a pursuit of happiness except in an amusement park controlled by the president alone.
Many families fail to treat other families as equals. Harris’s promise to nurture this ”self evident” treatment of others has been met with a loud “No!” American culture, epitomized by individualism, rather than cooperation, inhibited fortuitous partnering. I once knew a teacher whose bell-weather dictum to her brighter students was “step over them,” meaning you are superior. Most advantages we enjoy were accomplished with work done by others, sometimes never acknowledged.
When I became very interested in taking pictures, our next door neighbor, Joe, told my parents to buy me a Brownie Darkroom Kit. I descended into the basement and began processing roll film and making contact prints. As I progressed in my interest, another neighbor, Bill, offered me the use of his fully equipped darkroom (with a Simmons Omega condenser enlarger and his Anniversary Speed Graphic camera, a bonus). When my dad helped me make a darkroom in our cellar, we scrounged used sinks along a highway. I had a photography business at age 12. Our next door neighbor told me of his Saturdays in Manhattan with the famous printmaker Ghislain Lootens and insisted I study his book on salon printmaking. Finally, he praised me for a highly detailed portrait of a classmate.
I have never heard Kamala Harris claim ownership of any idea. Throughout her campaign she appeared grateful for a legion of helpers, pace-setters, and just plain good folks. She always appeared with a big smile, ready to learn and help others. She lives to bring people together in work and celebration. How could so many voters miss this? She inspirits others with her ethic.
So, along comes this bully who claims he alone can fix anything that deserves fixing. He praises others who support him, until they don’t. Then he scorns them, verbally abuses them, and refuses to pay for the services they have rendered. To the city of Albuquerque, New Mexico, he has refused a $444,086 bill for a rally five years ago. Earlier he signed a contract to purchase 100 pianos for his casinos. After they were delivered, he refused to pay for more than 75. He has a mob boss’s talent for making people afraid of him. And he surrounds himself with people who will defend him—until they won’t any longer.
And Americans made him president. Do you think so many voters are afraid of him or approve of his morality?
Bob Brodsky lives in Rowley.