5/14/2020 -
Following is a draft of proposed NYTimes OpEd written by Al Rodbell, in the voice of Noam Chomsky
The
extent of polarization of our national politics is illustrated by
something that could not happen to me, but
did yesterday to the person who convinced me to write this OpEd for
this newspaper. Al.R is my intellectual doppelganger, whose childhood
did not provide the stimulation I was graced with that led to a life of
academic achievements and political activism.
Those who came of age before the turn of the century know of me, while
those born later rarely do. We wrote this OpEd together, coming to a
shared conclusion from very different lives. He describe this passing
conversation that could only happen to one whose
politics is not widely known.
"Walking
home yesterday, I greeted a neighbor who is a clinical psychologist,
and asked her whether she is busy
now with couples who are together day and night without previous
socializing. She hesitated, interpreting my words as indicating that I
was opposed to such regulations, and then concluded that I must be one
among the angry, perhaps to the point of rage at
those politicians who would deny my God given freedoms, She was a bit
ambiguous, but made the point that she sees no problem, and people are
"doing O.K." Without a single word of partisan politics, I was
identified as a Trump supporter -- verifying the breadth
of our toxic partisanship".
As
of this moment in time, civility across the political divide is still
possible. Whether it will still be so
when the campaign between the two political parties begins in earnest
is doubtful. Al contacted me out of the blue about five years ago,
having been frustrated by a refusal of this newspaper to print a
retraction of a distortion of an appeals court decision
- only a small element of the article. I replied with my own
frustration that this paper over the years did the same to me- which was
the beginning of our.connection.
He
wrote the following to verify we are on a common tract: It is self
evident that the divisiveness between what
is the TrumpRepublican party and the Democratic party is at an
unsustainable level which will escalate with the campaign between the
two putative candidates.
No matter who is elected, the results will be a presidential party
that builds on vilification of the opposition. A two party election
will inevitably continue to exacerbate raw hatred of the other;
exemplified by Pelosi ripping up the text of a vindictive
presidential speech in the midst of an impeachment trial with no
possibility of removal.
Bill
Gates has been thrust into the limelight by the current pandemic, which
he not only predicted but made an extraordinary
effort to alert chief executives of countries throughout the world.
The allocation of his billions through the Bill and Milinda Gates
Foundation are a mix of advanced scientific research to slow climate
change to expanding latrines that prevent disease in
the most impoverished countries of the world.
This recent article, "Bill Gates Has Regrets" in The Wall Street Journal lauding him showed in the
comments, that the mostly Republican readers
overwhelmingly admire him. As of this moment, his being able to be
nominated on the Libertarian ticket is still possible, This would be a
variation of a third party run Michael Bloomberg considered in 2016.
He wanted to be President with at least part of
the incentive being fame, power and glory a normal component of
ambition.. There is no evidence that Bill Gates,having earned such
admiration as a private citizen, would desire, or even accept the
Presidency.
All
of the stability, the redundancy and depth of authority of the party
system would be negated in a hypothetical
Gates administration. The complex party apparatus from vice president
to the cabinet to partisan think tanks and connections to state and
local governments would be gone. This would normally be enough to
reject even one as admirable and talented as Gates
transforming our party system. But it has already been transformed, so
the choice could be between the autocrat who is now in power and one
who is truly trying to save the world.
One
option that would preserve the existing party system, but also
transform it, would be that Biden ask Gates to
accept the Vice Presidency nomination. He would be given the authority
equivalent to Richard Cheney under the Bush administration, which was a
full realization of the autonomy of the position. He would be the
antithesis of the Mike Pence who has no independent
portfolio other than revering his President. Joe Biden chose to
promise that he would appoint a women with a strong hint it will be a
person of color. This promise may have won the nomination for him, but
it enshrines the simplistic and damaging elevation
of identity politics over the reality that it is the individual, rather
than his or her identity that should be evaluated in all aspects of
public life.
We
are at a pivotal time in history, where advances in technology,
specifically artificial intelligence is reaching
new levels of replacement of what had been human functions.
Simultaneously, the ubiquity of these systems have transformed how
populations are influenced, along with vulnerabilities to corruption of
even the most sensitive of networks. Bill Gates' background
as an innovator in this field would make his contributions as Vice
President even more productive.
With
armed men now occupying state capital buildings and others threatening
police who are enforcing social distancing regulations, we already have
the beginning of armed insurrection promoted by the President of the
United States. The upcoming election is the moment to take a stand, one
that will only be effective if the opposition to autocracy is not a
political party in disarray, but includes one individual who transcends
this toxic partisanship.
