The United States is about to choose its 47th President of at a time when the world is roiled with war and genocide and the threat of a wider conflagration looms large. One would think that a candidate running to be the self-proclaimed “leader of the free world” would offer a plausible solution to deal with this danger.
But the top 2 contenders, Donald Trump of the Republican Party and Kamala Harris of the Democratic Party are singing the same tune by standing rock solid behind Israel, signaling that whatever happens on November 5, the genocide will continue.
No matter who walks away with the crown, Israel will continue its frontal attack not only on Gaza but also on the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and perhaps Iran. With more than 41,000 people already dead including 17,000 children and counting in the past year, the Israeli offensive shows no signs of waning. This is perhaps the most inconsequential “consequential” election of our times.
Trump, Harris competing to show off their loyalty to Israel
Trump and Harris are vying with each other to show off their loyalty to Israel, let alone standing up to the genocide being perpetrated. Trump holds the distinction of moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in 2018 blatantly disregarding international consensus and willfully acknowledging Jerusalem as Israel’s capital although Palestinians stake equal claim to the city.
Biden-Harris administration never reversed that move and, in fact, sped up the process of building a permanent embassy in Jerusalem on stolen Palestinian land. Harris is an active part of the current administration that has sent a whopping 22 Billion USD in military aid to Israel just since October 2023.
As Israel banned the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres from visiting the country, US leaders stayed mum virtually undermining the world body’s role. Even Israeli killings of journalists that are US citizens go unnoticed by US politicians that boast of “America First” in their campaign speeches.
In the light of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar’s assassination, Kamala Harris spoke of the time for “the day after” to begin in Gaza while continuing to promise ironclad support to the Israeli state, a paradox beyond comprehension. It is virtually a message to Palestinian resistance to “shut up and take it”.
Both candidate silent on universal healthcare
Even when it comes to certain domestic policy issues, there is no daylight between the two top contenders. For instance, there is a longstanding resentment among the people in USA that it happens to be the only developed country where there is no universal healthcare.
Americans pay several fold higher insurance premiums than any of their Western counterparts and also shell out astronomical prices for prescription medicines more than almost any other country in the world. While Trump chastises Harris as a communist, she avowedly expressed her opposition to universal healthcare reversing her once stated support for “Medicare for All” while running as a candidate in 2020.
Both candidates and their parties’ down-ballot contenders receive significant donations from the powerful insurance and pharmaceutical giants that thrive on the broken American healthcare system. It is no surprise then that the two major parties have shied away from bringing in any substantial healthcare reform that is an ardent ask of millions of Americans.
Gun violence
About 11,600 Americans were killed due to gun violence in just the first 8 months of 2024. With campus shootings in the USA not only limited to college campuses and slowly engulfing even elementary schools and pre-school daycare centers, there is no American parent that is not directly or indirectly affected by the gun violence scourge.
It is a sad testament to the state of affairs that the gun control needle does not move even when the victims are innocent children. Republicans have traditionally been gun fanatics with their hardcore opposition to any miniscule gun control reform. While they are all for mandating ID proof for voters, they rabidly oppose requiring ID proof for purchase of guns and ammunition.
The NRA (National Rifle Association) has endorsed Donald Trump’s candidature for presidency. But that doesn’t mean Kamala Harris has any anti-gun agenda. In fact, she has time and again stated that she herself is a gun owner like her husband and went overboard to assure gun owners that she has no plans to curb the gun epidemic. It is also noteworthy that Trump has been a direct victim of gun violence with 2 failed assassination attempts on his life in the past 2 months with one during a rally in Pennsylvania that claimed the lives of 2 of his supporters. Assault rifles were used in at least one of the attempts.
Paradoxically Trump and his NRA-backed Republican colleagues oppose any ban on assault rifles, a move that might have logically been lifesaving for him and his supporters. In the years that Democrats controlled the white house and Congress, they certainly talked a lot of game but accomplished nothing in terms of curbing the rampant gun menace that plagues America.
These issues prove beyond doubt that the US political system has been reduced to a two-party “monopoly” with no major policy difference when it comes to paradigm-changing issues. The interests of the military-industrial complex and the big pharmaceutical-health insurance nexus over-ride any party positions and rule the roost.
Two-party ‘monopoly’
It is no wonder then that an estimated 49% of Americans today identify as independents with no affiliation to either Democratic or Republican party, a record number in American political history. That begs the question as to why there is no viable third party alternative in the Presidential elections? Robert Kennedy Jr, at one point, seemed to present a refreshing platform in the 2024 election and posed a challenge to President Biden’s re-election effort.
People reminiscent of his late father and uncle’s progressive politics and their sacrifices rallied behind his agenda. However, as soon as the Gaza genocide started unfolding, Kennedy’s campaign imploded as all his support among independent voters eroded due to his naïve and hollow statements on Palestine and steadfast support to Israel that was no different from the mainstream contenders.
He called the Palestine people “the most pampered in the world” as Israel kept pummeling them with missile strikes and chemical weapons. Dr Jill Stein and her running mate Butch Ware are actively running on Green party ticket with a clear anti-war message and progressive agenda but their reach is limited compared with the major party giants. At best, they are expected to garner around 5% of the vote which in itself may be a feat although it might not change the duopoly anytime soon.
In essence, with no foreseeable change in the US political landscape, 2024 will end up as an inconsequential election at a time of insurmountable misery for the world.
G. Naveen is a physician who writes on politics and social justice.
