The COVID-19 pandemic has truly revealed the character of America, both past and present.
Our commitment to structural inequality has been in our DNA since the times of slavery. The efforts to change the value system to a more equitable economic model (The New Deal) saw a nation rise up from a depression and lead the world to defeating tyranny. The aftermath of this social reform resulted in the greatest rise of the middle class in the history of our nation.

But the powerful corporate lobbyists successfully undermined the social contract in the 1980s when the mantra became “Greed is good.” And so the “Raw Deal” went into effect. The strategy was simple, divide and conquer. Pin the middle class against each other and they will not see where the money is truly going.

Our willingness to prop up our economy by borrowing trillions of dollars each year from future generations only shows our character of generational greed. When your children and grandchildren ask you, “Why did you vote for people who would sell us out?”, I hope you tell them the truth. They will not have the resources to deal with the problems that we ignored while we are in a silly tug of war.

Tom Turner

Waterville