November 6th and Beyond: Why Neither Biden, Nor Trump, Can Save America

… How do you write like tomorrow won't arrive?

How do you write like you need it to survive?

How do you write every second you're alive?

- Lyrics from the song “Non-Stop,” from the musical Hamilton

I believe in the power of ideas. Like a lot of people, books saved my life at a time when I needed them the most. I write with the belief that I can be that for another person. When I take my last breath, I want to be at peace knowing that I didn’t leave anything on the table, that I wrote all the stories that I had in my head and exhausted all the ideas. Quitting would be a kind of death. Writing is like oxygen to me.

It’s patronizing when Biden and the Democrats campaign on the idea that democracy is at stake on November 5th and that Biden’s the man to save our country. If the race is so goddamn important and democracy is at stake, then why did the Democrats pick a desiccated corpse for a candidate? Nobody who watched the debates can be fooled into thinking that Biden’s problem was “preparation overload.”

While Biden is old, Trump is weak. That man’s head is poisoned with his victimization. Coming from someone with an anxiety disorder, it’s exhausting to fight intrusive thoughts. It’s a constant game of whack-a-mole. Then you have to put up with the ordinary everyday stresses, and one might say that Trump has more ordinary everyday stresses than the average person. A single court case is a lot for one person, let alone four, especially when you drag them out the way he does. If Biden’s body is failing him, then Trump’s mind will fail him.

Jon Stewart said it best when he said that while Tuesday, November 5th is an important day, it’s not the only day that matters:

"The work of making this world the one you would prefer to live in is a lunch pail, fucking job, day in and day out, where thousands of committed, anonymous, smart, and dedicated people bang on closed doors and pick up those that are fallen and grind away on issues until they get a positive result, and even then, have to stay on to make sure that result holds."

Fighting for a better country does not rest on the shoulders of any single individual. Abolishing slavery, women’s suffrage, civil rights, and marriage equality were achieved by the decades-long efforts of Americans who will go unnamed in history. They didn’t wait for someone to come and save them. They showed up and did the work. 

I’m not an activist, but I am an artist. I have no illusions about making America “great” or beating fascism through my work. My writing won’t single-handedly solve the immigration crisis, climate change, inflation, or the threat of AI to people’s livelihoods.

However, I hope to help another person find their voice, pick them up when they’re fallen, and to encourage them as they grind away on issues. I believe that that person will go into public service, run for public office, become a teacher, or volunteer in their community for a worthy cause. I can plant that seed in their head, and I don’t need to be President of the United States to make that happen.