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Demanding due respect from a system that only sees capital gains

Right now, US Senators are sifting through a budget bill proposal and deciding where to invest the country’s resources, essentially weighing the value of our diverse people and places. At the same time, in the hallowed halls and revered chambers of our government, representatives are debating the righteousness and legality of ICE raids, deportations, and the gold card visa fast-track to citizenship for the world’s uber wealthy.

At the root of these impassioned quandaries are fundamental questions of worthiness. Who has the capacity to be great, who deserves to be regarded as great, and what does it mean to be great? With Trump at the helm and his legitimacy at stake, the administration is pressing the idea that those who are financially wealthy are worth more than those who aren’t.

Their fundamental argument seems to be that those who acquire and maintain wealth are more deserving of it than others; that they make the world better by the ways in which they invest and spend their money; and that they are inherently knowledgeable and capable because of those positions in society and exceptional personal attributes.

With this outdated mindset, Trump demands that resources which would allow those with lesser incomes to be successful, be pulled back. Programs that feed people, protect their homes and environment, support their education, bolster their small businesses and start-ups, and allow them access to healthcare. He is fighting to disband programs that allow people who were not born into immense privilege to live.

Because like his congressional parrots say, “well, we’re all going to die”. This cavalier approach to our people’s lives is no surprise to me, because in capitalism, those in the workforce are dispensable commodities. Job creators are the valuable ones. Likewise, when wage suppression is combined with drastically uneven wealth distribution, the threat of a populist uprising is a check on financial gain. Curbing the power of the masses is an existential necessity for the obscenely wealthy capitalist.

And Trumpism is nothing but capitalism amped up with government restraints only acting on the systems and ideas that would hold it back. So, Trump and his ilk reallocate resources to the very wealthy, and they shove down everyone else. Tax breaks and citizenship are awarded to those who will make the country great in their terms. It’s privilege and propaganda rolled into one.

As Republican elected leaders and supporters validate the tax bill and immigration policy, they must simultaneously espouse the overtly gilded and inherently flawed wealthy-means-worthy mindset. For people who identify as supporters of the common man, rationalizing the MAGA movement must be somewhat of a mental backbend.

For any non-ridiculously rich person listening to what Trump policy proponents say, it’s blood boiling. They say, for instance, that the intense qualifications and interviews needed for someone to enter the US visa lottery are less effective at bringing in deserving people into the country than the proposed $5 million pay-to-enter Trump gold visa is.

John Lettieri, CEO of the Economic Innovation Group expressed the idea succinctly, saying that the current immigration system is, “totally random and blind to attracting and retaining the best and brightest people from around the world, and we need to be more conducive to that kind of talent if we want to maintain the edge that we have right now." So, the exceptionally great are found in the crowd of people who have millions to spare? Interesting take.

And in the midst of disagreement about the upcoming tax bill, Republicans spout out one line of infuriating agreement on cutting the one thing they see as waste: spending money on social support programs. A spokesperson for the influential Americans for Prosperity sums it up as well as anyone else, "The Senate will have their differences, but focusing on where Republicans are unified is what will drive this bill forward – permanent tax cuts, energy abundance, secure borders, and the elimination of waste, fraud, and abuse.”

Senator Rand Paul, an outspoken hold-out no vote, is clear that he is most concerned about the cost related to what remains of social spending. "Look, I want to vote for (the bill). I'm for the tax cuts. I voted for the tax cuts before. I want the tax cuts to be permanent…” Paul said. He proudly sent out a report describing and ridiculing the spending he’s opposed to, and I have to say, a lot of it sounds like pretty worthwhile, innovative stuff.

Among programs he contemptuously derides are an independent foundation that works to curtail disinformation, studies on how loneliness and community affect drug dependency, accessible arts and social programs in parks, and an international soccer diplomacy program for youth. Actually, Paul seems to spurn all kinds of diplomacy programs. He blasted international efforts to bolster young females pursuing climate science, to combat Russian misinformation with social influencers, and to support very young children with Sesame Street infused social, health and nutritional services in war-torn regions in and around Iraq.

But he really wants to support the tax cuts, and he doesn’t care to elaborate why. Trickle down economics or something. The wealthy are worthy of our investment; they know how to invest in our collective future. Not creative and inspired civil servants bending over backward to find effective and informed solutions. Not communities coming together to find grassroots solutions to their unique struggles. Not everyday individual citizens working to find a way to better their lives and look out for their neighbors. Only the wealthy.

As devastating as this concept is, when we talk about national policy, we lose some of the personal connection to it. So, as you’re picking up your pens to write letters to your representatives or to scrawl words on your protest signs, let me tell you about how this mentality crops up close to home. Let me tell you how I’ve seen this ethos work in the local system, specifically in parks.

City neighborhood parks and regional parks serve different populations and purposes, and affect our lives in vastly different ways. One is not inherently more worthy than another, and both need investment.

Residents and city park advocates often have to advocate for their neighborhood parks and greenway systems for years to see any change or investment. They conduct surveys, distribute petitions, hold meetings, and speak up in some kind of organized fashion to validate the need for community greenspace and resources to support it. In systems I’ve been a part of, it takes a massive effort to get any semblance of inclusive, accessible park systems instilled in a park system.

I remember one project that I worked with where I witnessed first-hand the passionate efforts of community members to push for small parks in areas of town that had little or no access to existing green spaces. They pushed for support with coalitions of local businesses, vocal neighborhood groups, nonprofits and civil servants. They were impressively innovative in how they imagined and collectively designed modest parks that would suit their natural and social environments. They were humble in their requests and brave in the way they put themselves out there for the common good. They were generous with their time despite being somewhat skeptical of results.

As residents were building these park proposals, I put together information about the city’s greenspace plans and how they worked with other city initiatives. Expecting to discuss some of the economic opportunities that came with ongoing and upcoming changes to the parks, I called up an administrator who was working toward bringing in businesses and commercial development. She cut me short and kind of laughed. “I doubt our CEO’s care about neighborhood parks!”

And that was that. They were one of the few stakeholders in the region who did not participate in building the plan, but they were very hands-on in cutting it down. They convinced their city administration to siphon money from the parks department to develop exclusive public parks in their downtown district as deals to attract businesses. One of their high-end pocket parks could have funded 3 innovative neighborhood parks and would have required less maintenance. In a silo, they planned out parks, housing, and entire communities that worked with their vision of economic development, ignoring years of knowledge and collective work from community and park advocates.

Leaders in this town invested in who matters in capitalist society: only the wealthy. They shoved down those who might compete with or threaten their success: the working class. In a case like this, not everyone could see the injustice behind changing environments. It was well hidden, and the decision-making process was convoluted enough that it would be hard to hold any one person accountable.

That was before. Now, we can collectively see a bit clearer. Now there is honest outrage at disparate treatment of citizens with different financial power.

We are at a point in our nation where these patterns of prioritizing the wealthy are blatant. They are on front-page headlines. They are top issues in town halls and press conferences. They are extensive themes of TikTok rabbit holes. We are at a point where we are ready to pay attention and primed to push back.

So, on top of speaking up through collective nation-wide protests, be ready to speak up where you are. Because this battle to determine who is worthy is all-but-certainly affecting you where you are.

If you work for your local or regional government or planning organizations, be a part of creating plans that value immediate relief and resources to the working class. Do the extra work to correct past disinvestment and embrace unique community culture. Involve diverse stakeholders, even if it is more time consuming and costly in the short term (it will pay off later).

If you are showing up for community meetings, ask questions about who is benefitting most directly from allocation of city dollars to green spaces. Ask how the city is creating accessibility to quality of life resources to marginalized community members. Demand to see the ways in which residents are meaningfully involved in planning processes, and if they are available show up to participate.

When you show up at parks and park events, give love to the little, local park. Pay attention to what is great about it and contribute to a caring, supportive community atmosphere there. And if it needs help and investment, be a part of improving it.

Right now, we are having a big, bold discussion on who is worthy and what is great, and we are all contributing to it with the choices we make and causes we show up for. Every word we speak in protest is an assertion that our work is just as valuable and deserving as a millionaire’s. Every seat we fill at a town hall or council is a reminder that our collective outrage is just as powerful as a billionaire’s backing. Every park we show up to with our dogs, kids, and picnic blankets, we demonstrate that we believe in the value of authentic community.

We can show the world that the caring, creative American people that fill the nooks and corners of our country are really what is big and beautiful, and, despite MAGA’s best efforts, well, we’re all going to live. And we demand to live well.

With love and hope for the future,

Stephanie