Dear friends,
This newsletter isn’t about plays or upcoming projects. It’s about the future. And everything that’s at stake for me this primary season, and therefore, very indirectly, my plays and projects. But really, it’s not about my projects. Consider this a hand reaching out.
This newsletter takes the form of a ~*CHAIN E-LETTER* ~ The letter is a call to express the urgency of political reforms—like single-payer healthcare and the Green New Deal—with older generations. By going on a baby strike! Or explaining the challenges of raising a child under our present political conditions. Or maybe just using my own experience as fodder for conversations in your own families :)
Thanks for reading and passing it along to 5 *BOOMERS + SENIORS* you love!!! Or anyone who says they want the best for you!
[I've included an opening paragraph for you to tweak as it applies]
Oh and this article is great to share, too!
To new conversations!
Rachel
As special thank you to my grandma for being a muse, and to my friends for encouraging me to craft this note.
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Dear parents/grandparents/relatives,
I am often asked about if I am going to have a child and to be honest for a second, I really don’t know. And I’m not alone. My friend Rachel wrote an essay about her experience with her grandmother asking if she’ll have a child and I think it helps explain why my generation is conflicted about bringing more people into this “polluted world” (her grandma’s words). We would need a lot to change soon, and to be frank, the only way forward that seems realistic is if Bernie Sanders becomes president. I hope you can take some time to read the essay, and I’m happy to talk more about it too!!
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NO BABIES TILL BERNIE
My grandmother is afraid that I won’t have a child. And she should be.
Last week, my grandmother emailed me a photo of a complete stranger’s baby, saying “I understand, and respect that you probably do not do a child any favor by bringing him or her into this polluted world. However, just ONE baby is not asking for too much, is it?”
The problem is that, under our present conditions, it is.
In a country where only the rich can drink clean water and eat healthy food, it is. In a world with rising levels of climate-change induced conflict and major population displacement, it is.
To have a child, I told my grandmother, I’d first need single payer healthcare. Under our healthcare system, giving birth alone costs on average $10,000. In Canada, birth costs an average of $3,200. What’s the difference? Canada, which is not a revolutionary Marxist country, has universal healthcare. To go back to work as an adjunct teacher, I’d need affordable child-care. And I’d need the Green New Deal to transition to a carbon neutral society, so that anyone I bring into this earth will have a future.
In short, to even consider having a child, I’d need Bernie Sanders, the only unwavering champion of these progressive policies, to be President.
My grandmother thought I was being hyperbolic.
“Are you trying to buy my vote?”
“No, I’m actually just telling you what I need. And what my friends need. And what every other young person needs.”
“But do you know how unlikely all of this is?” my grandmother said, almost hysterically, now realizing she might never have a great-grandchild. “Do you know how hard it will be to get this legislation anywhere in Congress? It’s not going to happen!”
“But what makes you think Biden's policies are any more likely" I said, thinking about Obama's inability to pass legislation. "This is about the vision it will take for a new generation of politicians to take over Washington. This is about the values my generation are dedicating our lives fighting for. Are you in this with me? Because if you are, it starts with you believing.”
At this point, I was in tears. Everything felt like it was on the line. My future. My trust that my grandmother cares for me. I was reminded how different the world was for my grandmother, who came of age when the government offered families support to buy homes through programs like the G.I. Bill. She of all people should have hope.
I was also reminded that she and my father had each thought the world was coming to an end because of man-induced conflict. But the nature of climate-change induced disaster at a global scale is unprecedented.
“However we get there, this has to be the first step. You, as my grandmother, saying, I care.”
There was a long silence.
“I don’t think I understood how serious this is for you. But if you’re asking me to vote for Bernie for you, I will do it. I will do this for you.”
My friends, do we have to call for a strike to be heard?
No Bernie, no baby.
Moderate policies will not bring about the level of change we need in the timeframe we need. We shouldn't view our ambitions as radical. In fact, they are returns to tax-policies and protections from corporate power older generations should remember.
So what will it take for our parents and grandparents to believe us?
I’ve never been a persuasive debater. But this was the first time my grandmother listened to my convictions. And then my parents listened. And my boyfriend’s parents, too. I had no idea how many people one hypothetical baby could affect. (Somewhere around 5!).
If we all shared that our willingness to create or care for children was at stake, we can affect generations.
Whether or not we decide to have or adopt children, the point is we need the freedom to decide. Our friends need this freedom. Our loved ones need this freedom. And if it is an option, do we want to raise someone in this world?
Right now, I don’t have a good answer.
What I do know is that resolutions like the Green New Deal mark *the first time* in my 29-years that politics have exhilarated me. That I feel motivated to be involved, not out of obligation, but out of a vision for a collectively humane future.
What I dread most in response, is hearing our elders use “common sense” to shut us down. I have to remind myself, as Hannah Arendt writes, that popular opinions are often “nothing but desperate efforts to escape responsibility.”
I know that my parents and grandparents care, because they are frantically altering their lifestyles. But personal concessions—such as flying less and eating less meat—are besides the point. As Katherine Hayhoe, director of the Climate Science Center, explains: “Even if everyone in the United States in North America who cared about this went to a carbon neutral lifestyle, if they could afford to do so, that still wouldn't even make more than a tiny, tiny dent in the overall magnitude of the problem.”
Parents and grandparents, how do we tell that we need you to channel your concern away from metal straws and towards politicians with visionary policy?
In the hopes of reaching my elders, I’m abandoning my previous tactics and speaking from a place of desire.
I want to live on a green earth.
I want to have the freedom to live a meaningful life.
I want everyone I know and everyone I don’t know to have this same freedom.
I want the people who are responsible for my wellbeing —the people who matter most to society—teachers, nurses, caregivers—to be well compensated and well taken care of.
I want to be able to actually do my job: I want to be able to teach my undergraduate students literature, and read James Baldwin as a class without anyone wondering: but how will this help me find a job that will pay off my loans?
I want to be a writer and write books, not because I need a full-time position to qualify for healthcare, but because of the urgent words that must be said.
I want so many things that feel out of reach now, but could be possible with opportunities for new legislation.
I want to allow myself to want to have a child.
Young people, what do you want? Have you spoken?
Parents and grandparents, do you hear us? Have you asked?
We are asking you to vote for Bernie. Not for you, but for us. For the grandchildren and great grandchildren you’ve worked your whole lives to welcome into being. It’s time to take responsibility for how seriously your children feel. Ask any of us if you should vote for Bernie. We’ll say it’s a matter of life.