Looks like we’re back to the beginning with blog posts! I think this is going to be a good semester with great content and discussions on civic issues. In this post, I will be talking about the current state of civic life in the U.S. This will include a discussion of the 2021 Presidential Inauguration, my thoughts and personal take on political discourse, and the proposal of some civic ideas and issues.

I want to start off with a disclaimer that I am not a very political person. I know that sometimes, civic issues can be equated and compared with political occurrences, and that is where I start to struggle. I generally do not keep up with politics or civic issues because they don’t interest me very much. However, I am trying to be educated on these topics so I can be more well-versed on current events and take place in discussions about the state of the country. Recently I have been more immersed in politics than I was before, as a result of the election and other events like the Capitol riots, the beginning of the impeachment process, and Covid-19 in general. Just bear with me.

First I would like to talk about my thoughts on Biden’s inaugural speech (and Amanda Gorman’s poem “The Hill We Climb”. I feel like these both offer very modern takes on the state of the United States at the moment, especially in regards to Covid-19. I will address points that stuck out to me in both literary pieces. In Biden’s Inaugural address, I noticed he focused a great deal on unifying the nation and equating all Americans to each other through their citizenship in this nation. There have not been many inaugural addresses that focused so strongly on that concept of unity. Yes, it is often a large part, but in this speech, it was pretty much the primary focus in all of his points. With the emergence of Covid-19 as a significant issue last year and this year, and also the hostility of the election proceedings, it was essential for him to make this a focal point.

Another thing I found interesting about Biden’s address is that in the midst of a breakdown of democracy—the Capitol riots—and many other tragic events, Biden celebrated how democracy will never fall and celebrated the transition of power from Trump to himself. Don’t get me wrong, this is not a criticism of Biden for having confidence in the country and for taking pride in the position he earned. This is merely an observation of how backwards and confusing the state of the country is right now.

In addition, in Amanda Gorman’s poem “The Hill We Climb” for the inauguration, one thing I noticed is that she stated “While democracy can be periodically delayed, it can never be permanently defeated”. This is closely related to Biden’s statements on the durability of democracy, but it gives more of a hopeful point of view on the nation’s potential. This poem is an optimistic take on the abilities of the nation’s people to overcome the adversities they have faced recently. The quote above is presumably addressing the Capitol riots, which threatened the nation’s democracy in a form of domestic terrorism. She also wrote this speech with other significant national matters in mind, such as Covid-19 (obviously), the disunion of the nation as a result of the election, and the emphasis on the Black Lives Matter Movement.

Next, I want to address the state of American public discourse. One definition of political discourse is “the formal exchange of reasoned views as to which of several alternative courses of action should be taken to solve a societal problem”. However, I sort of consider public discourse to be simply political discussion. Divisions between political parties seem to be at a significant peak recently and in the last four years, partially as a result of the election of Donald Trump in 2016. It appears that Trump’s political and often controversial tweets and statements have been a driver for a great deal of political disagreement and argument, as well as one of the sources of the political extremism of Trump’s far-right followers.

Just to briefly return to Biden’s Inaugural address, he stated, “politics doesn’t have to be a raging fire”. I agree with him that it would be ideal for politics to not be a raging fire, but I do not believe that is feasible considering the extreme division the country faces today, specifically between the two primary political parties. Admittedly, there has always been a severe amount of competition and disagreement between the two parties, but the bad blood has increased in recent years. For example, the emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement as a result of police shootings of black people prompted a counter movement—the Blue Lives Matter movement. This development caused further division between the political parties, because far-left people supporting Black Lives Matter clash a great deal with far-right people who support Blue Lives Matter.

Additionally, another example of political division is the varying opinions on the Presidential Election results. Many far-right individuals have, upon prompting from Donald Trump, resisted and denied the results of the election, claiming that fraud occurred. Therefore, not only was the election itself a large source of debate and disagreement, but the results were also a source of conflict. These dividing issues serve to exemplify the fact that it is difficult to talk about any political issues without risking disagreement and conflict. There are many controversial problems, such as gun control, marijuana legalization, abortion, marriage equality, and social justice movements, which can rarely be discussed without people getting up in arms.

Finally, I will just discuss some civic issues and ideas emergent in the United States today. The essence of a civic issue is that it is an important problem faced by common people in the U.S. One example is the minimum wage. Ideally, the minimum wage should be high enough to guarantee that working 40 hours a week produces sufficient revenue for a single person. However, this is not the case. Another example is healthcare, which people argue should be covered by the government since it is essential. Some other issues are poverty/starvation, lack of support for mental health, and rise of college costs.

Ultimately, the political atmosphere and civic life could use a lot of work, and the issues discussed here are merely an outline of the potential topics we can discuss this semester.