(I know this is a foodies blog, so please consider this food for the soul.)
New day, new President, new expectations . . . here are some needed changes I hope to see:
1. Tax payers should no longer have to subsidize racist, misogynist or seditionist government employees. People have a right to their opinions, but not the right to ask the public to support them while they spew their hatred. If the job description says to serve, represent and/or protect citizens, that does not mean only privileged white males – it means EVERYBODY. If they can’t do that, they are not fit for the job. They should be fired.
2. I don’t have any student loans, but I don’t think having a generation so indebted with them that they can’t afford to buy cars, houses, or even start a family, helps our country at all. We need a way to forgive the loans – through volunteering, public service jobs, or excellent grades . . . something – so that we all will benefit and the economy will get a boost.
3. I’m old enough to have Medicare, but the people who are not are dealing with a Health Care in crisis. Many are one medical emergency away from being homeless. Every major country in the world – except the United States – offers some form of universal health care. It is time we stepped up and offered at least basic health care to everyone.
4. We are a nation of immigrants, built by immigrants and attractive to immigrants of every nationality. Their diversity will make us the innovators in technology, medicine, and education we have been in the past and can be again. Let them come. They’ll fill the jobs we’re aging out of. And if we want them to be good citizens, we have to treat them better. And not just here, but everywhere in the world!
5. We have the best government money can buy. It is time to take the big, dark, and corporate money out of politics. Our tax dollars already pay for free and fair elections on local, state, and federal levels. We should also finance campaigns. We can demand more of the candidates, hold them to higher standards, and legislate term limits when we control the purse strings of our elected employees.
6. There should be a minimum established for the money each state contributes to the federal government equal to the amount they get back from the federal government. Right now some states pay far less to the federal government then they get back (Mitch in Kentucky – I’m talking about you here) and some pay much more, such as New York State. Then New York gets assailed for being a high tax state, often by the people in states we’re subsidizing. If the third most important person in federal government can’t fix the economy in his own state, I don’t want to have to pay for it.
7. When it comes down to the end of the day, our environment – healthy family, clean air, clean water – is all we have. We’ll know we’ve done enough to protect them when scientists stop issuing dire warnings about climate change, flooding coastlines, forest fires, severe weather, and drought. Until then, we need to do more for our own good, and the good of future generations. Support climate change legislation!
There. I’m done ranting (some would say pontificating). But I’m not done working to make things better. I hope you aren’t either. Stay safe and healthy everyone – Here’s to a Grand New Day!
Richard Frisbie 
Richard: I agree with your comments and understand that, while we might not concur with the way some citizens chose to vote, many Americans do have legitimate worries: a shrinking middle class, an inability to support a family even if working one or more jobs on the current minimum wage, a lack of equality in many areas. I wrote my own commentary about these issues, which I invite you to read: https://bayoucitypress.com/on-moral-courage/. Anyway, I applaud you for your post. My own resolution for 2021 is to speak out more, and I am glad to see you doing the same.