Via Times’ 2020 Vision

By: Joe Mauricio

 

The ball has dropped, and the Roaring 2020’s has arrived. The top Chicago area news of the past decade are already out of sight and out of mind, brushed up on all the new laws now in effect across Illinois, a return to respect and comity, not just in politics, but in how we handle all our disagreements. We hope as well that all of us recognize that there are such things as facts, and they should be indisputable.

– We are faced with a realization by the various generations of Americans that are not rival-interest groups but with little in common? Boomers or Millennials?

– A recognition that our support of “diversity” should include not just diversity of race, gender, social class and sexual orientation, but diversity of viewpoints as well as access to affordable healthcare in the U.S. as human rights. Once we embrace that idea as a society, the solutions will flow from there.

– Corporate C-suiters and board of directors that reflect the gender and ethnic diversity of the U.S. itself.

– An end to federal and state policies that enable, or, in some cases, promote the concentration of wealth. Once the land of the upwardly mobile, the United States has become a land of near-stagnant median income and inter-generational poverty, despite a steadily-going economy.

– As a senior, I see a long-term fix for the looming shortfall in funding for Social Security benefits. Longer life span and an aging population are combining to threaten Social Security benefits for future generations, and the longer the policymakers wait to fix the problem, the harder it will be to solve.

– Comprehensive immigration reforms that secure the country’s borders providing a path to legal residency for people who have been living in the shadows for decades or more. – Sensible and workable approaches to gun control, including banning combat-style control, including banning combat-style firearms for civilian use.

– A reversal of the habitat destruction and other forces that threaten the existence of endangered species.

– The new determination to lift more people out of poverty in the land of plenty. That means finding and funding programs that work, rather than cutting holes in the safety net and expecting those who fall out to land on their feet.

– An end to the politically expedient attacks on American public servants. There is no ”deep state” nor any vast conspiracy of government employees to make their elected leaders fail. Recognize what is “fake news” and real or factual news.