A Letter to the Washington Post

I canceled my subscription because of Mr. Bezos' hypocrisy. He would have us believe that this election is about normal candidates disagreeing on normal issues in a normal time. He's wrong.

This election is about what kind of future we seek and what we're willing to do to get there. It's about microplastics in dolphin breath and PFAS in every umbilical cord of every newborn on the planet. 

This election is about multiple, simultaneous wars, any of which could become all-out conflagrations. No one is even talking about peace. Instead, we're selling weapons and preparing for nuclear war. If our leaders want to fight, let them. No more innocent children need die in their place. 

This election is about what system of governance we choose. The U.S. is not a democracy. Money, lobbyists and appointees determine our leaders and our laws. We won't have a real democracy until money is out of the game. How about a box we can check on our tax returns to direct our dollars toward healing and restoration instead of war? 

This election is about insisting that compassion, mercy and grace become the fundamental values that shape our lives. Do we have the courage not to kill? The courage to love Earth and each other? There isn't a single leader on the face of the Earth articulating a vision for a viable future for all Life.

This election is about the fact that Mr. Bezos doesn't seem to realize or care that he could dramatically transform the lives of Amazon's approximately 1.5 million employees, for example. He could make Amazon the world's safest, greenest, most beautiful, respectful, loving place to work anywhere in the world. He could raise wages. He could share profits. Each thriving employee means a thriving family in a thriving community. He wouldn't feel a thing, except perhaps the immense joy of making an incalculable difference for the better. 

Mr. Bezos seems to feel that being a selfish billionaire is normal. That it's normal for a presidential candidate to tell lies and joke about violence, misogyny, hate and revenge. That, at the close of 2024, with humans and Earth at the breaking point, we're having a minor disagreement about free speech. He seems to believe that, as the most powerful nation on Earth, we've reached the pinnacle of human achievement. Really? This is the best we can do? I don't subscribe to that.