So, at this point, it seems like we did it. We voted the incompetent nationalist demogogue and religious zealot out of office. The Trump-Pence administration will go down infamously in history as an international embarrassment and a strange social phenomenon due to its cult of personality and years of national infighting. Liberalism has saved the world. Can we pat ourselves on the back? Absolutely not, because there is still a lot of work to be done.
Biden is a centrist at best and a center-right neoliberal at worst. There are a lot of valid criticisms against him and his supporter base are not necessarily fans of him, but rather they oppose Trump. His administration will be difficult and fraught with opposition from both the left and the right. Ahead I see difficulty, gridlock, and stalemates on the path to repairing relations in a divided country.
Biden ran on a platform of listening to scientists, yet does not want to ban fracking. He wants meaningful criminal justice reform, yet is hesitant to decriminalize drugs. He is an advocate for strong international relations, yet was part of the Obama administration which committed heinous drone strikes against civilians in the Middle East.
Despite all of these challenges, I am still hopeful. From my young and progressive peers, I see a lot of enthusiasm and support for politicians such as Ed Markey, Bernie Sanders, and “The Squad.” There still exists a section of politicians that we can enthusiastically back up and who will advocate for progressive policies. I believe the party system as we know it is changing and the establishment centrist democrats are dying out, literally and figuratively.
We have to keep protesting, calling our representatives, and pushing for important social justice reforms. Just because we settled for Biden in the election does not mean we have to settle for his policies in office or become complacent, and not hold him accountable. It is at the very root of democracy to critique our elected officials and to demand more from them. As an elected official, we the people are the source of his power and we are his bosses.
As for a course of action, I encourage my peers to keep holding him accountable and to keep fighting for meaningful social and economic justice policies. The most important reforms in the history of the United States started as grassroots organizations, especially from the working class and people of color. We have people such as Stacey Abrams to thank for mobilizing marginalized voices in Georgia and overcoming obstacles such as voter suppression and disenfranchisement.
The future can be intersectional and progressive if we work together. There is so much work to still be done and our fight is not over. However, we can breathe a sigh of relief because we won a battle and we deserve to celebrate today. The war is long but we deserve to celebrate small victories for the sake of our mental health and capacity for motivation. Celebrate victory, but hold him accountable.