2020 has been a strange year. For some, if not many, it has been a tremendously difficult and heart-breaking year. The year has also revealed the inadequacy of our government to take care of its people.

During the contentious 2016 presidential election, I saw Dick Van Dyke being interviewed on MSNBC. The interviewer and guest commentators were obviously starstruck even though they seemed uncomfortable that he was there to promote Bernie for President. During the interview, Mr. Van Dyke talked about a memo, known as the Powell memo, written in 1971 to the director of the US Chamber of Commerce by Lewis Powell who later served as a Supreme Court Justice. No one in the program seemed familiar with the memo. Mr. Van Dyke pointed out that the memo greatly influenced the direction of the government, a direction which we continue to head towards today. The message of the memo was that the government can play a key role in empowering corporations. Thereafter, corporate lobbyists flooded the DC area. This undertaking has brought about today’s wealth inequality and the tendency towards an autocratic government. Grab for money and power is an old story that has repeated in human history and will, unfortunately, always be part of our nature. As history has revealed, when the balance is tipped too much to one side, as it has in the US and many parts of the world, it creates tremendous hardship for those that are not in the privileged class.

Working for the public good should be the priority of Congress. This is a no brainer. The government working with large corporations at the expense of small businesses and safety/wellbeing of its people is corruption. The government should protect the basic needs of the people (utilities, healthcare, education, housing, etc.) and such is not welfare as many would want us to believe. The government allowing large corporations to profit from these basic needs is, frankly, wrong. Taking profits out of healthcare, for example, will bring healthcare costs down and will result in saving many lives! “Socialism” is a dirty word in the US, but currently we have “socialism” for large corporations and the wealthy. There is nothing wrong for someone to work towards riches, but why does anyone need to be “super” rich by taking from others (i.e., our tax money)?

When I was growing up in Japan (ages ago), I always thought the United States was a country with many independent thinkers. Japanese education, at that time, was heavily focused on memorization and practice of conformity. On the other hand, the US education system seemed to prepare the children to form their own opinions and thoughts. With the introduction of the Powell memo, it encouraged educational institutions and thinking tanks to promote certain ideas which discouraged independent thinking. It is disheartening to see that the focus on power and money has encouraged many gifted people to seek careers in Wall Street and the Silicon Valley. If society valued a person’s contribution to society more than wealth, perhaps more brilliant minds would be encouraged to work on solving problems that would improve the lives of all not just a few. We all need tangible rewards, but today anything mentally satisfying seems to go unnoticed.

I am not religious, but I will quote from a wise, historical figure appropriate for this time of the year; “it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God.” I thought it helpful if some Congress and executive branch members would contemplate this passage as they go home for the holidays.

On a solemn note, I wish you all a peaceful and safe holiday season especially to the essential workers who are the true heroes of today!