Issues, Values

Basic Values.   I would hope that we all care about systemic inclusion, equity and justice for everyone. Human and cultural diversity should be welcomed, not feared. And don't we all want timely health care, a solid education, and freedom from poverty, oppression and displacement? These, then, are human rights. Likewise, Earth's flora and fauna and soils, waters, landforms and air should be cared for—if not for their intrinsic worth, then at least for the fact that they keep us alive.

I oppose authoritarianism, imperialism, racism, classism, cronyism, tech oligarchy, plundering corporations and colonial powers, xenophobia, anti-intellectualism, sectarianism, religious hypocrites, misogyny, nativism, ableism and other types of bigotry and discrimination. Around here, key problems that endanger democracy are grifter politicians and their Whitehouse simps, billionaire technofascists, and the ideological descendants of the KKK: white Christofascists (for whom Mark 8:36 was written), not immigrants or the non-binary. 

The Current Regime.   Clear-minded observers across the political spectrum can see that Machiavellianism now fully pervades the White House. Discrimintation and callous insensitivity have been normalized. Rule by extortion, threat, and gaslighting reinforced by executive decree and a non-stop “firehose of falsehoods” social media campaign is a pathetic way to govern. And it erodes democracy. For a deeper dive, I suggest Hannah Arendt's (1971) Lying in Politics or John Plotz's more recent commentaries. Harry Frankfurt's (1986) essay On Bullshit rounds out the topic. 

Equality, Justice, Opportunity.   Each human has inherent dignity and the right to life, liberty and inclusion. The list of systemic discriminations against people of color and disempowered groups in American history is long: forced displacement, dispossession, exclusion, segregation, internment, patriarchy and more. 

The legacy of slavery, in particular, is far from resolved—the White House's recent erasure and whitewashing being striking cases in point. While the American civil rights movement of the 1950s-60s was a huge step forward, there remains much to do. We, all of us, must commit to real and measurable progress for transformative justice across the spectrum of Black communities: safe and free movement and association, unfettered access to voting, access to generational wealth accumulation, flourishing Black business, arts and culture, and quality education, housing, health services and environments.

American Diplomacy  is now an oxymoron. Because they've openly embraced the ruthlessly transactional and predatory on the international scene, the White House and Republican party have relinquished any claim to global and regional moral authority. There are many thoughtful essays on what this means for the global order. But nearer to home, I fully understand why Greenland, Canada and Latin America are outraged with the US administration's illegal expansionism (its so-called Donroe Doctrine) through the means of broken contracts, the weaponization of trade, annexation threats, constant bullying and even forced occupation (e.g. Venezuela. Cuba next?). 

The Pattern is Obvious: 

• target the resentment of one's MAGA base at a sovereign target in the western hemisphere—preferably one with resources and strategic military potential;

• frame the target as adversaries rather than allies: socialists, cheaters, woke, unthankful freeloaders, somehow evil. . . all to the detriment of American manifest destiny and greatness;

• initiate economic coercion, subversive political intervention, and military threats;

• repeat; repeat again. 

In short order, Republicans who never gave Canadians or Mexicans or Venezuelans or Greenlanders or Cubans or Panamanians, etc. a second thought suddenly and enthusiatically welcome a whole new slate of enemies to be subdued through various means - legal and illegal, but all immoral. When subjected to scrutiny and called out? Deflect, accuse, retaliate. These are classic fascist tactics.

It's now to the point that the White House is normalizing this policy by openly interfering in foreign elections and referenda through support for far right proxies, flooding their social media with fear-mongering rhetoric (in concert with Russia bots), and applying yet more tariffs. The elections in Brazil and the Alberta referendum are just two examples of aggressive US actions across the western hemisphere.

DOGE and USAID.   Trump, Musk, and Rubio must be held responsible. In 2025 these US officials conspired to spearhead the far-too-sudden dismantling of USAID that, in the first year alone, resulted in almost 800,000 fatalities around the globe, over 500,000 of them children. And this remains an ongoing global humanitarian catastrophe of the White House's making. The ICC in The Hague was specifically designed by the international community to address crimes against humanity of this magnitude.

Middle Power Democracies.   I stand with Canada, the European Union, and other liberal democracies as they seek closer ties and genuine friendships. “Europe and Canada believe in democracy—that power does not belong to the strongest, the richest, or the loudest, but to all of us. Democracies have the freedom to choose with whom to work" (von der Leyen 2026). Prime Minister Mark Carney's words also resonate: “You cannot live within the lie of mutual benefit through integration, when integration becomes the source of your subordination” (CBC 2026). Canada is not the US's backyard.

Aggressions Against Sovereign Nations.   Regarding U.S. bombing in Iran and non-defensive attacks on other sovereign nations, the US Constitution “assigns Congress the power to take the country to war rather than leaving such momentous decisions to the whims of one person" (J. Security 2026). So the reigns on 'defense' are still (barely) in the hands of American voters. 

Although pursuing different aims, both Israel (in Gaza) and Russia (in Ukraine) have contravened key principles set forth in the Geneva Conventions, namely: Humanity, Military Necessity, Distinction (between civilans and combatants), and Proportionality. They have targeted civilians, subjected detainees to inhumane treatment, attacked hospitals and aid workers, restricted fleeing civilians and their access to humanitarian help, and caused excessive loss of non-military infrastructure (NPR 2018; Amnesty Intl. 2025).

On Gaza.   The violence and destruction in Gaza became disproportionate soon after the October 7 atrocities committed by Hamas in Israel. Credible estimates of the Israeli-inflicted death toll in Gaza range from 73,000-100,000 civilians, most of them women and children. Over 92% of residential buildings are destroyed and 90% of the population is desplace (UN 2026)—inhumanity on a vast scale. In fact, the UN’s Human Rights Office asserted that Israel's actions amount to genocide: “It is clear that there is an intent to destroy the Palestinians in Gaza through acts that meet the criteria set forth in the 1948 Genocide Convention” (OHCHR 2025). 

And through the vast supply of arms and military intelligence channeled to Israel, successive US administrations are complicit in abetting the Gaza genocide. The international community and regional powers must cooperate to de-escalate, ease humanitarian crises, and begin negotiations that lead to a just and lasting peace. 

On Urkraine.   Ukraine is a sovereign nation and I commend the bravery of its people. Russia's expansionist actions are illegal and profoundly immoral. In 2023 and 2024, The International Criminal Court issued a series of arrest warrants for war crimes committed by Russia’s president and other top officials against Ukraine (BBC 2023). More recently, the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC 2026) found that Russia was responsible for crimes against humanity, including intentional attacks on civilians and the kidnapping and deportation of Ukrainian children. 

Democracies globally should re-double their efforts to assist Ukraine and sanction and deter the aggressions of Russia and its enablers. And, most importantly, Congress (and voters!) should counteract the president's subservience to Putin, as evidenced by his diesel deal-debacle, the executive order to retract sanctions, the Trump-Musk throttling of Ukraine's largely defensive Starlink service (innocent Ukrainian blood on their hands?), and a broad pattern of fawning over the Kremlin. “The pro-Putin, anti-Ukrainian actions Trump has taken over the past week constitute compelling evidence that Donald Trump is a traitor to the principles upon which our 250-year-old  constitutional democracy is founded” (Corcoran, 2026).

Congress, it's beyond time to step in. Articles I and II address impeachment. Article III, s.3 concerns treason. The 25th Amendment, s.4 addresses presidential incapacity. And federal law 18 U.S.C. § 2384 criminalizes seditious conspiracy. Use whatever tools you need to get the job done.

And voters, on November 3, choose Democrat up and down the ticket to help stop this madness and give Ukraine (and democracy globally!) a fighting chance.

The ICC.   In solidarity with the leading democratic middle powers, I support the independence, impartiality and integrity of the International Criminal Court. I congratulate ICC judge Navi Pillay on her 2026 Nobel Peace Prize. And I denounce the White House's intention to “dismantle the ICC piece by piece.”

Climate Change.   “Global climate change is not a future problem...The effects of human-caused global warming are happening now, are irreversible for people alive today, and will worsen as long as humans add greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.” and “The scientific evidence is unequivocal: climate change is a threat to human wellbeing and the health of the planet. Any further delay in concerted global action will miss the brief, rapidly closing window to secure a liveable future” (NASA 2026).

This global crisis began in the 1830s at the start of the Industrial Revolution. The link between the burning of fossil fuels and global warming was already accurately predicted in the seminal Charney Report in 1979. In the late 1980s the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) began providing leadership on climate change by coordinating the efforts of thousands of scientists and experts. 

Fast forward to the recent U.S. withdrawals from the Paris Climate Agreement and the UNFCCC and IPCC, the repeal of carbon pollution standards for most power plants (NRDC 2026), and the ongoing intimidation of climate scientists through litigation and open records requests: these moves are unconscionable in their denial of scientific fact and their prioritization of corporate profits over human health. I call on the US to re-commit to environmental stewardship and its international obligations. All countries, and particularly the US and China, the two biggest polluters, should immediately and sharply cut carbon emissions and mitigate those ongoing climate change impacts occurring in vulnerable places.

Likewise, oil and gas corporations must be held to account. According to the Corporate Governance Institute, 20 companies have contributed to 35% of all energy-related carbon dioxide and methane worldwide since 1965. “For decades these companies possessed detailed and accurate knowledge about the dangers their products pose to the global climate and understood that climate action would threaten their business models. Yet they planned, funded, and continue to engage in a campaign to profit from the planet’s destruction by deceiving the public and blocking climate action” (Union of Concerned Scientists 2025). So, I applaud Boulder, Colorado for their lawsuit against Exxon and Suncor.

Indigenous Peoples.   I support the principles stated in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP 2007) regarding self-determination, land, culture, and informed consent. Healing, justice and reconciliation may involve truth-finding, colonizer apology, sovereign nationhood, compensation, substantive equality, and other manners of redress.

Biodiversity  and the natural land- and waterscapes that support it is essential to sustained life on earth. In fact, all scales of beneficial conservation and action can play a role, from the UN's Global Biodiversity Framework (CBD 2022) to the small ecosystems around us. The White House's gutting of the Endangered Species Act and dismantling of the EPA are just two of the many greedy, short-sighted assaults on America's environmental quality, native species and natural landscapes.

Education.   Accessible, affordable and effective schooling should be open to all who seek it, at all levels. (Educated people don't tend to vote for authoritarian hucksters.) Teachers and faculty should be respected and academic freedoms affirmed. 

The Arts Matter.   They should be embraced because they reveal, celebrate, heal, probe, critique, connect and challenge in ways that few other means of expression can. They are, in good part, what make us free and human.

Science Matters.   I trust the scientific method as a rigorous-yet-fallible process because, done right, it is transparent, self-corrective and reliant on broad consensus. Most importantly, it is critical; it questions itself. So far, it's the best approach we have to understanding the world and grappling with big problems. The far-right's anti-science campaign weaponizes irrationality and fear, causing widespread harm and a collective powerlessness to plan and adapt.

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To Conclude, I Support  those conditions and actions that improve the lot of all of humanity and the health and vitality of Earth systems and its many life forms. In my context, a basic checklist would include:

• the rule of law; judicial independence and impartiality and an enforceable US Supreme Court Code of Conduct that reads in the imperative: “shall” or “must” rather than “should” or “may”; an empowered and fully-funded ICC

• a free, open and accurate press and wide media literacy; free, fair and accessible elections and a well-informed electorate; campaign finance reform and limits to Big Money: “Citizens United was a blow to democracy—but it doesn’t have to be the final word. Politicians can listen to what the vast majority of the public wants, even if big donors don’t like it (D. Weiner 2025)”

• the separation of church and state and a broad societal commitment to human rights and pluralism; in my +6 decades living in both Canada and the US, I much prefer the cultural mosaic metaphor over the melting pot

• policies and funded actions that address economic, health, environmental, and criminal justice disparities affecting Black communities

• the outright abolishment of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or, if not politically possible, its dramatic reform

• full international cooperation on near- and long-term climate strategies, particularly accelerating progress towards net-zero emissions in every country

• full international re-commitment to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

• affordable healthcare for all in the US (e.g., the Nordic approach); living wage policies; family- and elder-friendly programs such as subsidized childcare (e.g., the Canadian approach), paid parental leave, and universal public long-term care insurance (e.g., the Dutch approach)

• increased federal and state subsidization for post-secondary 2-4 year degrees, along with tuition caps, lowered amenity spending, and paring back of administrative staff; consider the EUA approach

• well-funded, accessible and integrated public education, pre-K to 12

• the moral imperative of international humanitarian funding shouldered by all developed countries; “Fair burden sharing among the 118 richest countries, according to a formula based on their economic strengths, can easily cater for all current and foreseeable humanitarian needs” (M. Kapila 2026)

• common sense gun laws and enforcement through research-informed advocacy, cultural change, policy reform, and industry oversight. Here, here and here

• stronger policies and programs for disabled persons, including accessibility and normalization (e.g., the Swedish approach)

• the passing of the Women's Health Protection Act (WHPA) in US congress 

• enhanced urban and regional mobility; in North America, much expanded bikeways and fixed guideway transit and passenger rail systems; transition away from the internal combusion engine; more compact, sustainable and walkable new communities

• the wide sharing of history's cautionary stories. Commenting on extremist's roots in the US, Stein (2025) writes, “The point of remembering such histories is not to wallow in shame, nor to collapse every political dispute into “fascism.” It is to offer an accurate account of America’s democratic vulnerabilities.”

and most urgently, 

• the condemnation of, and active push-back against, extremist ideologies that undermine hard-won democratic institutions and international goodwill. 

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To Students Past and Present:   May these notes provide some insight and clarity. Yes, it's all a bit much, but hope persists! To start, cherish the company of those you love and good, open-minded people.

Then please vote in the upcoming mid-term elections. Don't know who to vote for? I'd suggest those candidates who care about the oppressed and the least powerful: the discriminated against, the sick, the poor and homeless, the refugee, the immigrant. And the Earth and its many life-supporting systems. If that nudges you to the left, embrace it.

And then find your voice, trusting your abilities to connect, heal and resist, each in their time and place. There are plenty of hands-on opportunities: Refuse Fascism, End Citizens United, Sunrise Movement, Fridays for Future, Citizens Climate Lobby, many racial justice groups, 350.org, PDA, and a slew of equally worthy local organizations. 

—Ken Tamminga, fall 2026