I am, admittedly and unashamedly, a conservative. That, however, has nothing to do with why I am writing this. I am writing this because I am concerned with the rate of change our nation is currently experiencing. I am not saying that we do not need change. I'm not even protesting the kind of change our president is implementing (though, yes, I do disagree). But when you change everything at once, something is going to break.
We are in the middle of a world-changing pandemic. People are already filled with dread and anxiety. Many have lost family, friends, jobs, and financial peace of mind in the last year alone. Is this really the best time to invoke all of the change you possibly can at once, Mr. President?
I think not. I realize that he and his party believe he is doing the work of God by undoing all of the Trump-era changes. But undoing four years of work in your first hundred days is going to cost the American people more than it is worth. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction, right? (Science yo!) What will be the natural reaction to such actions on an already strained nation?
In a word - disaster. I predict one of two things will happen: 1. We will slip unwittingly into an autocracy or 2. We will see a revolt akin to the Civil War. I realize that is a dramatic conclusion, but the truth has already become stranger than fiction.
To those who will undoubtedly misconstrue my point, let me reiterate - I am not criticizing the president's policies here (though I may later). I am criticizing his methodology. Bringing so much change at such a quick pace and at such a difficult time will not only not lead to unity, it will drive the opposition further away. If Mr. Biden was to change his rhetoric of "unity" I wouldn't be writing this, but the hypocrisy is glaring.
Some will say that the changes he is making are to fix these pre-existing conditions. But faster is not always better.
I would challenge you (the reader) to consider what our nation will be like four years from now if we continue on this current trajectory. If our president keeps making executive orders like they're going out of style, will we even have a free nation anymore?
Most of this was written almost immediately after the inauguration, but I decided not to publish until some time had passed so I would have more substantive references. Last night there was a town hall meeting. Regardless of my feelings toward the policies themselves, I must say I was pleasantly surprised by the cautious approach used in answering questions.
While it is too early to call whether or not this will be the new method of the Biden administration, I am hopeful that change will continue to slow down in the future. In your own words concerning the minimum wage increase, Mr. President, “it’s about doing it gradually.” That would be a good policy on everything moving forward.
I understand that progressivism is about moving forward toward a better future. That is admirable. We conservatives, on the other hand, believe that by changing too much, too fast, we will lose some essential qualities that make us the land of the free and the home of the brave. This is also admirable.
So, perhaps the way forward is somewhere in the middle - gradually changing the things that need changing while cautiously maintaining those things that make our nation worth having a future.