The Taboo Questions in the Presidential Election Debates

Analysis of the content of the presidential election debates so far and of the topics under discussion in those debates reveals a number of vitally important issues - related to our welfare, safety, the future of humanity and the future of the planet - that are completely off the table. Here are some but by no means all of the issues that seem taboo in the presidential discourse:

Nuclear Weapons: I would wager a bet that you have never heard or will hear the topic of nuclear weapons mentioned in the so-called debates. However, there is no issue that poses a more extreme danger and existential threat than that of nuclear weapons. The Obama administration has announced a modernization program of our nuclear weapon arsenal that is to cost over $1 trillion over the next 30 years. These nuclear weapons will be smaller and more usable, and being more usable means there is a higher probability of their being used. The modernization includes new ballistic missiles, a new manned bomber for the Air Force, and new missile-launching submarines. So much for the non-proliferation treaty and the abolition of nuclear weapons. And what about the commitment of the US and the other nuclear weapons states to abolishing them as outlined in Article 6 of the Non-Proliferation Treaty? Wherefore the utter silence in the debates? By any standards we are being lulled into a fantasy world.

Military Occupation of the World: The US has military forces or military activities in 147 countries. What is this about and who ever voted for such an occupation of the planet? Today we hear of the US bombing a group of people in Somalia, killing 150 people, supposedly terrorists. So where next will we hear of the US unleashing deadly bombs? Did you hear anything of this nature discussed in the election debates or are you likely to do so? My guess is no.

Oppression of the Palestinian People: No doubt we have heard of the instances of violence perpetrated by Palestinians in the debates, and of the right of Israel to exist. The candidates from all parties fall over each other in professing their love for and commitment to Israel while ignoring the unbearable conditions under which the Palestinian people are forced to survive. The mowing down of over 2,000 Gazans in the most recent invasion of Gaza, the vast majority of them being civilians, men, women and children, will never be mentioned as a crime against humanity. But we have heard and will hear ad nauseam of the occasional settler who is killed by Palestinians. It’s just part of a discourse divorced from reality.

The Welfare and Fate of the First Peoples of the United States: The original crime of the United States is the dispossession and brutality directed towards the native peoples of this country. One might say that it is a crime and that as long as we do not come to terms with it we will never be whole. It still continues in various and sundry ways. But did you ever hear of a discussion of this issue in the election debates or are you likely to do so? Talk of lives mattering, native peoples’ lives never mattered and do not still matter. The crime still cries to the heavens.

Repairing the Sins of Slavery: The institution of slavery and all that it entailed was a crime that almost defies understanding. Nevertheless, it was a crime on which the industrial revolution and the wealth of the United States was built. But the human depredation it caused is still with us and our prison system is our way of dealing with the dislocation and deprivation. But did you hear of any candidate speaking of the need for reparations or undoing the racism that justified slavery?

This is just a preliminary list of crucial issues that do not receive an airing in the election extravaganza. You can add your own issues to these which will not receive an airing in all likelihood. What it seems to reveal to us is that we are being immersed in a fantasy world. The media pundits have put themselves in the position of arbiters of what are the real issues. Eyeballs, sensationalism, self-aggrandizement and professions of the uniqueness of the US in world history become the determinants of worthiness for discussion.

Michael Drohan is a member of the Board of the Merton Center and of the Editorial Collective of the New People.

#article