BUILD BACK BETTER BEGINS NOW, NOT JANUARY 20, 2021

I've heard so many say, “When Biden is elected, I'll be so happy. This nightmare will be over.” True. The nightmare will be over, but the work begins now, whether he wins or not. Today is yesterday's future. We plan and execute the future every morning when we open our eyes to begin the day.

It's true we won't have an administration that hinders and even destroys reasonable, common-sense things like respecting medical advice to wear masks to stop a pandemic, and enacting controls to stop climate change because you respect the scientists. Well, maybe we will still have that administration, but we see the common sense, and we still have hands and voices. We can still take along a trash bag and clean up a beach or trail as we enjoy it. We can wear masks and demand others do the same. (It's time to stop being polite about it.) We can vote with our wallets and buy American. We can shop at the small businesses we choose to support. We can stop mowing useless lawns on Sunday and grow gardens to feed the hungry. We can volunteer in hospitals to take the burden off trained medical personnel, or work in a soup kitchen or animal shelter. Those of us who sewed masks can now make chemo caps for chemo patients, knit socks for shelters, or sew teddy bears for those kids who ended up in cages. (They're going to need clothes and a shitload of comfort once they're freed.)

Right now –today!-- we need to create and display our wish list of what we expect to happen and what we intend to see happen, starting today. We don't have to wait to Build Back Better. We make it happen now, whether or not we have a government that helps or hinders. I'd prefer helps, but I've already voted on what I feel is right.

Everyone will have their own agenda and wish list, from Joe Biden on down, and we don't have to agree on priorities. There are literally millions of us, and some will be working on the same priorities as you. The point is to go do it. Start with a list. What's your priorities? There are so many choices, you could cover a wall with sticky notes of choices and arrange them to suit what you think is important.

My wish list starts with climate change, because if we don't have a planet that's habitable, then it kind of negates the other things on my list. That's my thought. I'm not even going to mark down what I intend to do about it yet. That's a huge one, and there are so many tasks to help even for one uneducated old woman that my mind boggles and shuts down. I'll have to break that one down. Anyway, that's my top priority.

Next on my list is to put back everything the previous administration screwed up, like revoking the tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations. If that means that Jeff Bezos and Amazon have to pay 10% of their profits every year, I think they can afford it. That should help fund a few projects like the EPA, and maybe a few scientists could use some grants to discover cures for cancer, find ways to use alternative fuel sources like solar/wind/waves, and how to destroy/use microplastics from the ocean. Things like that. Respecting and funding science and medicine are high on my “put it back” list. No more government contracts for fracking. Take away the rights to use resources in our national parks and wild places. Let's work on the tax system that gives too many breaks to wealthy individuals and corporations. I'm not saying don't let them enjoy the fruits of capitalism, but they still have to pay their fair share. The burden of taxes should not be on the backs of those who can least afford it.

Can we legislate a few rewards instead to companies and individuals who invest in the poor? Let's end food deserts in poor neighborhoods. Let's give incentives to build call centers and places to work in poor neighborhoods instead of concentrating everything in crowded (and expensive) downtown where there's no parking. Let's invest in education for all age groups to end illiteracy and make it so there are ways out without creating more poverty. Let's legislate away the practice of red-lining in the mortgage industry, insurance, and real estate and make it so folks can afford to own a home and take care of it. It really helps when you can afford a lawn mower and the maintenance of home ownership.

Want to really help the poor? How about free access to medical and child care so they can work? If you have access to birth control, you don't have a pile of kids unless you want them. If you have kids and can afford child care, you can go to work to feed them. I've been there, where the cost of child care made it so there was nothing left of my paycheck to feed them. How about free/low cost access to medical preventative care like vaccinations, annual dental/eye exams, and routine exams/tests? If the workers don't have to call in sick for a toothache, they are available to work. An annual mammogram can prevent the insane cost of breast cancer treatment. Vaccinations can prevent needless illness, hospitalizations, and deaths from preventable illnesses like the flu and shingles. Some cancers can be prevented by one simple vaccine for teens. Do the vaccinations at child care centers and schools, and you solve so much. Then those places are less likely to be standing petri dishes for every illness a child can pick up and share.

Oh hey, let's go all in and fix the water and sewer issues. I'm not talking just clean water for Flint, Michigan. That's an example of a problem that got way out of hand due to neglect and prejudice. It should have never happened in the first place, and once discovered, the EPA and government resources should have been on that problem so fast that the residents got whiplash from the speed of assistance. No, I'm talking about more. The poor areas in my town are prone to flooding, for example. Why? Because the local government would rather loan millions to the owner of the Jaguars rather than fix the drainage issues of the flood zones. I guess one professional football player's contract for five years would pay for a seawall, but who am I to know math (and inequity when I see it.)

I could go on and on. The inequities and needs pile up like the sand dunes that no longer protect the Florida coasts from hurricanes. The point is, that's what I see. I have a long list of things I want and expect. I don't give a damn about professional football players earning more money than I'll ever see in my lifetime. I would rather see them get a good salary, pay taxes, and see those taxes (and mine) go into projects I consider important, just, and equitable.