Kamala Harris V Donald Trump: What’s At Stake in the Most Consequential Election of Our Lifetime
- Would you really like a convicted felon, convicted by his own peers through the judicial system, to be President?
The 2024 election may well be the most consequential and important election of our life. Events in the last few years and those leading up to January 6, 2021, are a stark reminder of how perilously close we came to that dreadful moment of a complete breakdown of law and order and the justice system in this country.
The very institutions that stood to protect the individual’s constitutional rights from the threats of authoritarianism have been taken over by a polarized group that continues to strike at the very roots of the rights they have been appointed to protect. Through the flimsiest of arguments, the SCOTUS has all but legalized bribery of its own justices, wrested the authority of agencies of experts such as the EPA, overturned women’s rights to choose, upheld gerrymandered voting maps, and, in the most blatant ruling of them all, granted the President immunity from criminal acts performed during his term. Even lower courts have played to the whims of a criminal ex-president who has been indicted on multiple serious counts, and even ignoring the mountain of evidence of wrongdoing in the strongest of cases, the theft of government secrets and classified documents with the intent of using it for leverage. The rule of law is perilously close to a transformation into rule by the lawless.
But what really is at stake? Our freedom, our rights, healthcare, climate change, the freedom to exercise our right to vote, the right for women to make choices with their bodies, the right for LGBTQ individuals to live their lives the way they would like, the right to a high-quality public education that does not deny the books that prepare our children to live and compete in the AI-powered, global economic revolution that is upon us, the right to an education based on science that continues the American global leadership that brought us first to fly, first to the moon, and many other firsts, the right to go to quality public schools without fear of getting shot, the freedom to read the books they want, the right to affordable healthcare that protects you from being bankrupted by illness, the right to a comfortable retirement, with social security and healthcare, but above all, the right to liberty, equality, and justice for all.
Democracy itself is at stake. Democracy allows us the freedom, the right, the duty, to vote and preserve the free and fair society that America has long stood for, and to live under a world order that America has led to make the world a better place. As was clear from the events leading up to January 6, democracy cannot be taken for granted. The events that led to January 6, with the clear intent to interfere in the peaceful transfer of power, are a frightening testament to the frailty of the institutions that serve to protect those same rights. Make no mistake, this time, the choice is between democracy and fascism.
Have you ever wondered what brought us to this stage? The Tea Party Revolution post-Iraq War turned abortion, classism, racism, lies, and nationalism into a political movement. Restructuring the tax system to benefit the rich, dismantling the American national government, and using lies to rally the ignorant all became normal. Religious zealots took over the political agenda and they found in Trump, a flawed man who would do their bidding to hold on to power. Trumpism is the result of millions of people feeling OK about leaving democracy and the rule of law behind, in favor of racism, oligarchs, religiosity, and a cult of personality.
Donald Trump keeps threatening to employ the expansive powers of his presidency should he get elected, to go after his political opponents and enemies, real and perceived. His defense against all the crimes he has been indicted or convicted for has been to cast the investigations into his actions as politically motivated by the Department of Justice. Would you really like a convicted felon, convicted by his own peers through the judicial system, to be President? Would you vote into office a Commander-in-Chief who deliberately stole government documents and hid them in his home, refusing to return them despite multiple requests, and shared them with people who had no right to their contents? Would you vote back the President who added the greatest deficit ever through tax policies favoring his coterie while taking away benefits from those who needed them the most?
Or would you prefer the current Vice President who was part of an administration that revitalized the American economy, passed historic legislation with lasting intergenerational benefits, and is known for empathy and civility?
Kamala Harris, the daughter of immigrants from Jamaica and India, has had a career with many firsts: She became the country’s first Indian American Senator when she was inaugurated in 2017. She is California’s first female and South Asian attorney general. In 2021, she became the first woman to become vice president, in addition to being the first Black and South Asian American person in that position. And, if she were to win the general election, she would become the first Madam President of the United States. With Kamala Harris becoming the Democratic nominee we are witnessing a level of enthusiasm and excitement in American politics that we haven’t seen in a long time. Volunteers are signing up in droves which was previously inconceivable, and campaign donations are pouring in from grassroots donors that have broken all historical records.
Haris’s running mate Tim Walz is a breath of fresh air, a caring person, and America’s Dad. His upbeat demeanor has been infectious on the campaign trail, On the other hand, J.D. Vance, Trump’s running mate who was a never-Trumper before he became Trump’s running mate, has been saying one ridiculous thing after another and getting into trouble.
Have you wondered what the impact of our choices is on our near future? In fact, there is no need to wonder anymore. One only needs to look at Project 2025 to get a glimpse of the dystopian future that awaits us if we make the wrong choice. It is a manifesto that Trump will implement in the first 180 days in office if he is elected. Project 2025 has been put together by Heritage Foundation with inputs from billionaire rightwing Christian nationalists. It is a 920-page document, a blueprint for systematically taking apart the federal government; all the things we rely on the federal government like social security, Medicare, worker protections, veteran benefits, and EPA can be dismantled. It has plans to extend the powers of the executive branch to give the President, the powers of an autocrat. The President can then use those powers to reverse civil rights like restricting LGBTQ rights, banning abortion, reversing racial equality, attacking diversity, reversing environmental gains, rollback climate investments, redirecting the military to support domestic law enforcement that will make use of the insurrection act to stop any protests in U.S. soil, abolish the Department of Education and replace secular education with Christian theocracy. There is a plan to abolish the Department of Education completely and use something called Schedule F to fire 50,000 civil servants on Day 1 and replace them with 20,000 conservatives who will be trained and recruited. The only requirement will be to pledge loyalty and show fealty to the President.
People all over the world are attracted to the United States of America due to their belief in the Bill of Rights, and to have a shot at the American dream. As a community, one of the largest shares of legal immigrants coming to the United States in the last 2 decades has been from the Indian subcontinent. People in the South Asian community are freedom-loving folks who enjoy their family, cultural, religious, and recreational activities, celebrating their ethnicity, as well as integrating into the great American melting pot. What’s at stake is the freedom to pursue this very dichotomous happiness that many from the subcontinent came to America for.
We are in tumultuous times, and as citizens of this country, we have a civic duty in front of us to be informed voters before we go out and vote, and with force. Low information and low-propensity voters are what brought us to this point. As an example, most Americans and most people in the South Asian community are not aware of the monumental legislation signed into law by the Biden administration, nor have they heard of Project 2025. Disruptive power in politics is gained through people’s ignorance. The South Asian community should take an interest and engage in the political discourse. It has the strength in numbers to influence political outcomes. Let us acknowledge that our American dream cannot stand if democracy falls. Unless we mobilize, organize and course correct, the fall of democracy threatens the very freedom and civil liberties we have come to enjoy in this country.
Trump said in one of his rallies, “If you vote now, you may never have to vote again”.
If you don’t vote now, you may never get the chance to vote again. And we are never going back there.
Subhojit Roy is an Atlanta-based software consultant in mission-critical applications. Before that, he worked as an SME and Solutions Architect in the Supply Chain domain for big consulting companies. He is committed to Democratic causes and has worked in campaigns for Georgia Congressional and Senatorial candidates. Avid reader, traveler, and sports enthusiast.
Subra Ganesh Viswanathan is a technology executive and a longtime resident of Atlanta. He is also a foodie, a runner, a musician, a music teacher, and an avid reader. He loves the Atlanta sports teams and Georgia Tech Jackets.