Replace Stress with a Future of Optimism

The traditional good will of the holidays was challenged by the yearlong angst and turmoil felt locally and nationally. The year 2017 saw state and national attacks on worker #wages, committed attempts to sabotage health care, foreign influence on U.S. elections, a tax overhaul geared toward the rich, civil unrest, racial and ethnic hostility, dismissal of #climatechange leadership, mass shootings, and social media insults and provocations–often in 140 characters –that served to stir a sweltering societal pot and drive a wedge of division in this country. And let’s not forget this administration’s nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the #SupremeCourt and 60 additional federal judiciary nominations with more to come who will likely have a partisan conservative bent. Traditional holiday season good will stood in dramatic juxtaposition to the recklessness, greed and civil unrest that reached such a threshold that 59 percent of all Americans believe that this is “the lowest point in our nation’s history,” including 56 percent of adults 72 or older who have lived through Pearl Harbor and World War II.1

At the state level, Gov. Bruce Rauner of Illinois who from day one has touted big business devotion at the expense of working-class families has an approval rating of 30 percent and disapproval rating of 55 percent according to the Morning Consult Poll ending Sept. 30, 2017. That is even worse than the guy in the White House. You have probably seen the commercial from Rauner’s campaign in which he calls on #Republican governors from Missouri, Wisconsin and Indiana to slam Illinois dysfunction. The obvious goal is to build support for the Illinois governor’s agenda with the greater goal of championing wage-killing #RightToWork, a Rauner pursuit from day one. The three governors in the TV spot all lead Right to Work states, something Rauner has always envisioned for Illinois. It’s important to note the median household income of those Right to Work states in the ad according to the Joint Economic Committee’s October 2017 Economic Snapshot: Missouri, $55,000; Indiana, $56,100; Wisconsin, $59,800. The median household income for Illinois: $61,400. Minnesota, which notably is not represented in the ad, has a median household income of $70,200, added twice as many private sector jobs as any of the other four states, passed approximately $2 billion in new taxes—more than half of which targeted the top 1 percent of earners— advanced a nearly half-billion-dollar jobs bill, raised the #minimumwage and indexed it to inflation, expanded all-day kindergarten and added funding for both early childhood and higher education. The state’s unemployment rate of 3.7 percent is the lowest of the group. Unlike Illinois under Rauner, Minnesota has no anti-union motive and it has shown in remarkable fashion what can be done when committing to working men and women and middle-class families.

As we gear up to vote in the March 20 Illinois primary election and look ahead to the November 6, 2018, general election, there is optimism to be found even amidst the pervasive stress-inducing doom and gloom. In November, #Democrats won governorships in Virginia and New Jersey with a solid turnout and came away victorious in other down-the-ticket races. It had to be a wakeup call for Rauner and for those behind the blatant efforts to devastate democracy and strain middle-class Americans in order to foster the rich.

According to the American Psychological Association “Stress in America” survey, approximately three out of five #Millennial (aged 18-38) respondents believe that we are experiencing the lowest point in our nation’s history. This group of younger Americans is seeing a future that is worrisome: will they have a job; can they support a family; will they have health care; will Social Security remain intact; will there be #environmental devastation; will there be a cataclysmic war. We are seeing young people—outraged and outspoken—marching in the streets and being vocal in social media forums; it is these same engaged individuals who are needed to not only to vote but to consider their own candidacies for local elections.

The time is now for citizens to make their futures, not have their futures dictated to them by those with diverging agendas! Turn anger, worry, confusion and stress into action. Encourage others who may feel indifferent or despondent that inaction is a victory for the oppressors, but action is a victory for #equality, civility, security, and #democracy.

1 Stress in America™: The State of Our Nation™ – American Psychological Assn., Nov. 1, 2017

(Written by Don Scott while employed as Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters' Communications Director)