Dear Mr. President

President Biden signed a historic $1.9 trillion economic relief package into law Thursday afternoon, a day earlier than the White House had planned, ushering in new federal aid across the country amidst the coronavirus pandemic.CreditCredit...Doug Mills/The New York Times

Dear Mr. President,

Well, ...one bill passed in the Congress, several of your nominees promoted to their new government positions, and it looks like the Republican party is doing its best to implode.  Two of those seem pretty good to me.  The last seems a worrying sign that there are still people in the world willing to believe anything if it means they're seen and heard.  I wish I knew a way to change that last, but I feel like they need to want to change first.  And here in America we're a pretty stubborn bunch--not always a bad thing, but not always a great thing, either.

I was happy to see that you were continuing to reach out to NASA, and I'm excited to see where our work in space exploration will take us; but I am worried about China and Russia's newfound friendship and enthusiasm about the Moon.  It feels like there's this new (not so new, really, but very, very old) war brewing between authoritarian regimes and proponents of democracy.  I find myself wondering why there are governments that want to halt criticism and promote a culture of fear.  Is it just that they want to hold on to power?  Do they only care about themselves?  Does the power they have attained make them less interested in the welfare of other people, or does it make them foolishly believe that their way is the only right way?  I worry that those who serve in such regimes are hurting people--likely many of them minorities and women, and I am afraid of the growing power they are having in the world.  Unfortunately, I'm also not certain how useful sanctions have been of late.  I feel like we need to try something new, because the old way of doing things (sanctions) aren't cutting it any more--like the bad guys have figured us out and have made plans and ways around those pesky monetary stops we've imposed.  I can't say I'm an advocate for war, but how else do you fight against such governments?  And more importantly, how do you un-brainwash generations of people who have grown up believing in a world without personal freedoms and liberties?  I often ask myself this about my own biases having grown up here in the United States.  Is it really all about those who want freedom and accountability and allowing people to have a say in how things are done versus those who do not?  I want to believe that our way is a good and right way to do things in the world, but the pandemic has taught me that capitalism can often be an evil in the world--where profits matter more than people.

I know you have some great people on your team--diplomats who are interested in promoting America while acknowledging the good things about the people and countries with whom they're working.  And I feel like it's important to have that dialogue open.  I'm just not sure what to do about the countries that don't want that.  Without communication, (and I mean actual communication, not the song and dance that mimics it that is sometimes offered in its stead,) we can't really resolve these differences in a way that benefits people.  And since we have a global economy now, without that communication we are just waiting for the shoe to drop when someone eventually decides they no longer want to care about the conventions and norms that have been agreed upon.  Hell, we don't even abide by many international agreements; so, why should anyone else be expected to?  We can't continue to pretend that having a world cake is meant for us if we're not willing to contribute to the making of it.  And I get it; governments are flawed--ours included.  But we can't work at fixing that if we refuse to even be a part of the discussion.

Sir, I think it's time we started looking at our international obligations and doing more than just offering contributions.  I feel like we need to be a part of them.  Let's join with our allies; let's be a part of something bigger than ourselves.  We've returned to giving aid and money to the WHO, and your administration has rejoined the Paris Accords, but we need more than momentary commitments.  Because if we aren't willing to sign on to international agreements and our enemies are--guess who is setting the agendas there?  Not us.  And to me, that's not great.

Okay...what else?  Oh!  During the pandemic, a lot of mutual aid societies cropped up all over the country.  I think it would do your administration and the country good to actually acknowledge their work and their efforts.  I also think maybe it's time we considered listening to what their leaders have to say in order to see if they can't help us make our own government agencies better and work more "for the people" than against.  They've been thinking about these things for a while, I'd bet, and if they can help keep the people of this country fed and safe during a pandemic, maybe they have some ideas to offer on how our government can be doing that better so that those groups aren't needed as much as they were.  Just something to consider.

I love how much you're trying to reach people via the internet, though I do think your own White House page could offer more of that instead of just your Facebook page.  And, well...if you want to wean people away from big companies that are using their platforms and our information in ways that are harmful to us, moving away from Facebook and Twitter, or making your Facebook and Twitter posts available from the government's own pages might be one way to do that.  I'd much rather be directed to the White House page from those places to get the latest videos and press conferences than watching them there--especially considering the comments sections.  I get that people should be allowed to have their say, but the amount of vitriol and outright meanness I've read there is just...awful.

I gotta tell you--a lot of times I don't have the time to sit and watch those videos and conferences and such.  It's troubling to me that there's so much business of the government going on, but that is why we have a press in this country.  Nine times out of ten, I'm getting news from them, and it's important to me that they have access to the workings of our government in more ways than just press conferences and the like.  I hope you'll do more to ensure the freedom of the press, Mr. President.  I hope you'll do what you can to ensure that our news--the good and the bad, are equally kept safe.  But I also hope you'll do what you can to keep Americans safe from foreign propaganda--because it's out there; it's prevalent, and it is creating some real problems.

A short aside, and then I'll end for today.  Talking to my step-dad this weekend, and then John's dad in Russia, I got some similar vibes.  For instance, both of them seemed to feel that COVID wasn't as big of a deal as we here in America have made it out to be--as in, the loss of life was just something to take in stride--something normal and natural and not something we should have been alarmist about.  It made me think a lot about our health care culture that we have here in America that maybe the rest of the world doesn't understand.  Let me see if I can put this into words: while we have great health care here in America, there are a lot of places that don't have that.  Likewise, most of the people in this country can't afford the benefits of the great health care we have in this country.  So the idea that we can and should prevent such deadly viruses, for them, isn't something that seems important.  After all, if we're saying that only some people are important and worthy of care (because they have money or because they hold office or positions of power,) why should we suddenly start caring about everyone's health and welfare when a pandemic happens?  I hated seeing that Russian-mindset in John's dad and his wife, and I hated hearing my own dad's reluctance to believe that COVID was a big deal.

I guess what I'm trying to get at is: are we lying to ourselves when we say that life is important if we're not actually making laws that assert those things?  And I understand there's a religious component to this that is going to skew a lot of Christians when it comes to abortion for instance (though I think abortions are something only a woman and her doctor should get to have a say in and pretty much no one else should get to make decisions for them--) but when we see stuff like George Floyd or the unequal treatment of protestors, there's a message being sent there about who and what matters.  And maybe it's time we started looking at that more.  Maybe it would help to change the way people act about things like COVID and global pandemics.

All right.  I've said my peace for today, Sir.  Time to get going so that I can actually get some things done before the day is over.  Oh!  One last thing--please get rid of the time change!  Help make that legislation happen.  While the reasoning behind it was good in its day, those reasons are no longer really viable.  And the problems caused by Daylight Savings Time are real and apparent.  It's time to be done with it.  So please help get that done.

Until next week, then!  Stay safe!

~~ Jenni