Dear Mr. President,
Do your weeks feel like they're far longer than they are? This week felt like a month to me. It wasn't a bad week either, really--just a full one. I imagine most of your weeks feel like that. I do hope they feel good and productive though, too--like you're moving forward and getting somewhere.
I guess the infrastructure bill is starting to rankle, but I don't know that you and your team have continued to make a strong case for it. Maybe it's time to rethink your strategies and take more time with the people rather than Congress--especially since it seems like the GOP has some internal stuff to figure out right now. They don't seem to have the ability to compromise, and I really think that's hurting your chances to move forward with other legislation. It's time to stop looking for ways to compromise; those who oppose you aren't interested in doing any negotiating in good faith at this point. They're too busy gearing up for election season. So give up the idea of trying to get lawmakers to change and just talk to the people. Many of us out here are interested in investing in more resilient, climate-forward projects that are going to set us up for the next one hundred years. And we need to expand our broadband and internet capabilities while also shoring up their weaknesses. We need to be building charging stations for all those new EV's that are coming online, and we need to get on with the business of reforming the tax code.
This past week I've been reading about how large companies and corporations--especially in the oil and gas industry, have been looking (and found) ways to bypass regulations in order to continue to line their and their investors' pockets with wealth. But that wealth is a stolen thing--traded on the backs of our future health and well-being. Instead of investing in ways to make things cleaner and better, they're paying lip-service to the idea while continuing with the old standard of business as usual. Something else I read about dealt with the UN body that regulates maritime trade. It's being run by people who stand to benefit from the decisions being made rather than by people who can take a more objective view. They argue that having industry insiders in places of power helps to ensure that whatever decisions are made are feasible, but what I saw when I read that article was that they are creating roadblocks to change and progress because oftentimes those better choices are difficult and costly to implement. We have a system whereby those who prosper from inaction are controlling the levers of change, and it just seems counter to everything the UN was meant to be.
Perhaps when governments and nations stop trying to placate businesses and start thinking about how industries are both benefitting and hurting their people--when they stop accepting donations to look the other way, and when they stop being beholden to lobbyists and making deals that only benefit their friends--maybe then people will start believing in government again. But right now, it's kind of hard to see a brighter future, Mr. President. I do keep trying, though; it's part of the reason I keep writing these letters--hoping that maybe these words will reach the eyes and ears of people who can and will make changes possible.
We said during the pandemic that coming back to doing things as we'd been doing them before wouldn't be acceptable. You ran on the promise that we couldn't go back to business as usual. And yet, here we are--business as usual. Remind us of how you've changed things, Mr. President. Remind us of why that change is necessary, and please reassure us that change is important if we ever intend to grow. It's important for us all to feel like there's some hope moving forward--left, right, and otherwise alike.
Lately I've been seeing a lot of articles that involve opinions that are vastly different from my own. I don't know if the media is trying to help us find some common ground among our divides or if they're merely making the differences more apparent. What I do know is that it's important to know and understand the communities we serve; it's important to listen to even the voices that the majority of people don't care about or want to hear from. I'm not always good at that, Sir. I can't imagine a lot of people are. But if we only serve our friends, what good are we really doing in the world?
I went to a macro social work conference this week, and on that first day there was a keynote speaker whom I wish I had heard about and known more about. Her name is Fania Davis, and she's endured, lived through, and is recovering from a lot of personal trauma. But something that she did at the beginning of the talk really registered with me. She invited us to say in the chat where we were from, and also to acknowledge the people who lived here before us--Native Americans. I didn't know who held this land before it became California and part of the United States, and so I googled it, because suddenly I was curious.
This was a way to invite the ancestors and the people of the land to be a part of the work we were doing that day--to become a part of the conversation. It was a way to remember them and to honor them--to honor those who came before us in this world. It was also an invitation to find peace with the wrongs that were done by our own ancestors, by theirs to other tribes, and by us now to their ancestors still living here who have to live with the knowledge that their land was taken from them. In a way, I think it was meant to remind us of our vulnerabilities, to acknowledge them, and to seek help in overcoming them with those around us. It was a really powerful moment, too--to remember those links to the past so that we could become better grounded in the present, ready to do the healing work that is foundational to all social work.
I mention this because at the beginning of the week, I noticed that you and the White House did something that created a bit of peace in the hearts of many native tribes--you suspended oil drilling leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. One of the tribe chiefs said that it made him feel as though the voices of his people were being heard. Do you know how important that is, Mr. President? For people to be seen--to be heard--to be made to feel as though they have a voice, that they matter in this world--that is a very powerful thing to be able to do for a person--for a people. Please keep doing that, Sir. It's important work.
As for your meetings coming up, don't bother with the ones where leaders aren't actually committed to change and moving forward. I mean that you shouldn't try to negotiate with them in good faith if they aren't willing to do the same. Listen, try to understand their perspective, and see if there are ways to heal the rifts that exist between all nations; but let's not pretend we're friends when we're not. Let's not let them be the only voice speaking out about wrong-doings. And sure--let's acknowledge where they're right about our own crap, but let's also tell the stories of how we're working to make things right. Are they doing the same? Far too often, and for propogandist reasons, other countries want to point out the deficiencies in others to hide their own. And while I wish we didn't have to point out deficiencies, how else are we expected to know when we're doing wrong? How else can we seek change if we don't know what needs changing? In either case, I know you've been at this for a good long while, but considered where your own blind spots exist, Mr. President, and maybe get some of our allies to help you look at things from other perspectives, too. Most of all, though, make sure your own community of supporters is helping you to forge a better path forward.
I love this line from a recent opera I saw from White Snake Productions: allies talk AT you; communities support you. The opera was about people we have incarcerated for life--or most of their lives. That particular line came during a scene from a mother who was now out of jail talking to her daughter who was still in jail. She was trying to put her life back together now that she was out on her own, and she was talking about how she missed the communities that she had built inside her incarceration--how difficult it was to find those now that she was out. Granted that whole opera of Death by Life was incredible. And I really hope more people get to see it--that opera companies will choose to make it a part of their repertoire. It's a heart and soul wrenching look at what our prison systems have done and are doing to people.
And I guess that's everything for today, Mr. President. Though I should add that I hope you consider giving more social workers the medal of honor. A lot of the work they do is thankless, difficult, and at the same time important, affirming, and healing for the people that they serve. It's not something I've seen a lot of--the media choosing to acknowledge war heroes and statesmen, but rarely just common folks who work tirelessly to raise all the boats in our United States of America.
Anyway, good luck in the coming week; I hope I get to see more good things come from the White House again , and please make sure your people are doing okay--not too overworked or overburdened, especially your Vice President. You've put a lot on her plate. Which reminds me--I know there are reasons for her not going to visit the border camps and such, but I do think it would be good for the public to see it--and even for those who are at the border to see it. I know its a logistical nightmare, and it will stall some of the work going on there, but I also believe that you can't truly understand something through stories alone. So,...ask her to consider it, please.
And with that, I will leave you to get back to work; I know you've got a lot to do, and I hope I gave you some encouragement and a little nudge here and there where it was needed. Enjoy your Sunday, Sir.
~~ Jenni
