Anthony Liccione serves in the Army and he is a poet of some repute.
My favorite quote is “They say timing is everything. But then they say, there is never a perfect time for everything.”
This conundrum confronts a weekly columnist who ponders their subject matter with a deadline looming and not all the relevant events finished.
This weekend is a perfect example, with Joe Biden handily winning the South Carolina primary and Bernie Sanders coming in a distant second. Michael Bloomberg wasn’t on the ballot and Tom Steyer dropped out, after spending millions for a dismal showing. So did Pete Buttigieg, after making history as the first openly-gay candidate to win a primary.
Yet Super Tuesday’s results will be very helpful in predicting who will be the Democratic opponent to President Trump. The results will not be available by deadline, so my subject this week is about what we want as a people and why so many voters think we aren’t getting it.
Let us remember that wants and needs are two different things.
In 1943, psychologist Abraham Maslow said there were five needs – arrayed from basic survival to a lofty level – that is not achievable by most people as they struggle up the ladder.
These include basic needs like shelter and food. Safety needs like protection from crime and foreign enemies comes next. Love and belonging are important. Esteem includes respect and status. At the top of the list is self-actualization, which means that your choices in life are inner-directed and not forced on you by some external events or people. Perhaps our dissatisfaction comes from loving a challenge but hating to be challenged.
When my parents were emerging from the Great Depression and World War II, they believed hard work and
leading a moral life would let you move up the ranks economically. They believed in the melting-pot theory of immigrant assimilation. They sacrificed to send me to college and were very proud of my educational and career achievements.
They trusted in our leaders – until Watergate – and thought America was already great and did not need to be made great again.
Fast-forward to the current electoral cycle. Voters are unhappy and frightened. You might say we are challenged constantly. This makes demagoguery and hateful imagery really easy.
We all want someone to blame for our problems, other than ourselves. So immigrants are demonized as a group. Religions are singled out with words like “fornicators,” to appeal to a few readers of similar mind. The super-rich are often cited as greedy.
The excuse for frustration is these people or groups. The outlet for frustration becomes the ballot box.
So as Super Tuesday will have passed before this column is published, I am holding off on trying to define what a “Democratic Socialist” means. I am holding off on raising the really important question about what qualifications and attributes a Presidential candidate needs to earn our vote.
Let me leave you with this question. Will the timing of the inevitable economic disruption caused by the coronavirus change the outcome of the election?
After all, people vote their pocketbook and the boom might go bust.
Roger Carlton is a columnist for The Graham Star.