Some say that the problem is Trump. He is to blame for our situation. Many, it seems, see him as the solution to the problem. That’s why they voted for him. What problem they had in mind is not that easy to discern, but we can assume they voted for Trump because they thought it was the right thing to do, considering the world they think they live in. The problem could be, from this perspective, the world that Trump voters think they live in.
Two worlds that we sometimes separate and other times unite are the worlds of the economy or capitalism and the world of white male supremacy or cultural patriarchy. The two together comprise significant parts of the larger social world in which we live.
These two worlds have been present since the founding of our nation, The two key aspects of capitalism—extraction of value and domination—plus greed, coupled with the European settler’s protection of their whiteness and their assumed status as a God-given superiority over others, created a climate of injustice that has never been corrected.
That has been my understanding of our situation since I began writing A Climate of Justice and this blog, The Climate of Justice Project.
The two worlds share the drive of domination: domination of the planet, of women, of “others.” Can you image a more perfect example of domination than Donald Trump?
Kamala Harris, in my view, exemplified a different social climate. It is a view of the world that is more caring, more nurturing, and yes, more just. It looked like we were going to take a step forward, and instead we slide backwards. Time will tell how far before we step forward again.
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