Bright lights, uplifting music, and a smorgasbord of temptation. It’s that oh-so-special time of the year. No, not Christmas, the Mid-term elections. Yes, it’s the most wonderful time of the year. Once again, we can run around as broody Chicken Little’s screeching “what will Georgia do?!” Nevada and Arizona may rock the proverbial ballot boats, but really, when crowing at the moon, it’s always all about Georgia.

No worries, inflation isn’t real and Black Friday is just around the corner. Only in America are we blessed with such perfect timing for “shopping therapy”. For those surfing the Red Wave, do try to leave your AK47’s at home. They take up extra space in the cashier lines and may be construed as supporting Russia and- God Save Us, Communism!

For those trawling in the blue seas, please don’t park in the Two electric car spaces all day. Put your Crocs to the metal and move on. Let’s be good Americans sharing equal opportunities to blow our hard-earned cash on useless items. No, apologies! I take that back. How could I forget summer garage sales? Magical places where winters Black Friday items show up, warmed by sunshine and fresh lemonade. Useful, cheaper, and still in the original packaging! Shop on America- TikTok influencers happily support your needs for instant gratification. I will postpone mine for summer.

If the sky is indeed falling, whether blue or red, following the green remains the best indicator for the future. Despite a patriotic clinging to our tarnished belief that this is all about us; We The People, deep down churning in the darkest acid pit of our stomach, really know it’s not. It’s all about the colour of money.

Dark money. The candidate wobbling on the biggest pile of money wins centre stage and a presumption of power. Payback lurks offstage grinning like a devil with a scorpions’ tail. Non-partisan watchdog OpenSecretsestimates a whopping 9.3 billion has been spent without calculating additional monies spent in smaller, local state races. Not all dark perhaps, but certainly deep shades of grey. Americans For Tax Fairness estimates that a mere 465 billionaires are responsible for almost $881m spent in supporting specific candidates. Who says you can’t buy happiness or Georgia?

Let us, for a brief and painful moment, dis-engage from the highly entertaining mud-slinging events that are our revered election process. Let’s take a moment to consider other morsels on the side-table. Condiments to the main meal.

At the UN COP27 summit In Cairo, Egypt, politicians are parading their best outfits for the cameras. tempers are cooled by 24-hour air-conditioning and the after party and workshops menus are to die for. Food waste is a major topic of discussion. It is estimated that 17% of global food is wasted annually. We wonder what the single day food wastage in the Blue Zone event area is. Enough to feed entire Egyptian or American families tonight?

Words. An entire political industry built on selling bio-friendly bullshit. Biden will be highlighting his Inflation Reduction Act. Again. It continues to be as clear as - well, political mud. Despite signing it into law on August 16, 2022, Joe and Jane America have not felt relief from either inflation or climate crisis events. In Egypt, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi took the opportunity to engage in some foreign sand slinging as she indicated GOP colleagues considered the climate crisis “a hoax”. Oddly, Egyptians in the streets don’t care what either GOP or DEMS think, they are busy just trying to stay alive. But FOX and CNN had great fun opinionizing and ranting about it across several platforms. Can we just stop calling it “news”? It’s a twisted form of self-masturbating entertainment. They can scream about it being a climate crisis or hoax. All labels become personally moot when your town burns down or your house falls into the sea. The city and house are just gone.

Another tidbit of note. November is Native American Heritage Month. More tribes of people just trying to stay alive. The White House issued a Proclamation. (No, there was nobody dressed up ringing a bell in the street. This one barely pinged the internet). It heralded, among other interesting things that; “For centuries, broken treaties, dispossession of ancestral lands, and policies of assimilation and termination sought to decimate Native populations and their ways of life. But despite this painful history, Indigenous peoples, their governments, and their communities have persevered and flourished” This amazing Proclamation further states: “We are investing in Tribal language revitalization, protecting Tribal voting rights, and working with Tribal partners to tackle the crisis of missing or murdered Indigenous people. “

I stumble over the words; “persevered and- flourished” (I am a writer. Not a SEO content creator. One is a state of chaos, the other is an acquirable skill). Can someone send me the White House definition of “flourished” in this case? Better yet, send me a copy of the White House Dictionary of New Definitions. I really need one asap. I confess to referring to vintage sources such as Webster. This out-dated and deluded tome defines “flourishing” as being both “prosperous and thriving”. Obviously this is woefully out of date with the White House definitions and directives. Vinay Reddy can you just pop that to me in the mail asap, thanks!

I personally do not believe Native American tribes would describe their past or current situation as either prosperous or, thriving. Per the US Census Bureau, Native Americans make up less that 2% of the entire population. (Calculate less with the ongoing crisis of those listed as Missing and Murdered). In the diversity conversation, African-Americans make up 14% and Asian-Americans 6% of the population. Hard to get a seat at the table if you are part of the 2%.

The average Native American household income hovers at $35,310 compared to $51,371 for the rest of the US. The poverty rate of Native Americans on reservations is 29.4% compared to a national average of 15.3%. Native American Reservations are disproportionably hit by poverty linked to continued restrictive federal oversight measures. The Federal government retains control of native lands on the historically racist assumption they are incapable of managing them or, themselves. The continued lack of tribal autonomy creates direct effects of continued poverty, education deprivation, economic stagnation and ill health.

Yes, it was a White House Proclamation with some extra “flourishes” and no room between the lines for uncomfortable facts. In 2019, I initiated conversations on “exclusive vs inclusive” diversity seeking to highlight this issue. It has taken too long for diversity conversations to include “all lives” especially Native Americans. A “Proclamation” is simply not good enough.

Before you get your red, white or blue knickers in a twist, this is not about individual political parties, being woke or asleep. This is a direct commentary on us as a country and our equal and personal responsibility on how everyone is treated. Inclusive diversity. Real diversity means everyone gets a seat and the table is a circle, not a square.

Bantering words is writer swordplay. The pen is mightier than the sword, in creating the frame and platform for power. Words matter. Back in the Olden Days, before social media sales pitching and SEO, being a writer was a profession of wrangling with life vs analytics. Our history is spattered equally with ink and blood. We despair over humanity even as hope rages in our hearts. I dare you to put a price tag on that level of madness.

Climate crisis or hoax? Diversity or exclusion? Dark money or blood money? Red or blue? It’s time for politicians to stop selling the next election and address present, hard truths. The future is a short sell with an expired warranty.

The sky IS falling, and the seas are rising. It sucks to be us. Especially if you’re a writer.

The Most Wonderful Time of The Year