20 Election Issues That Matter Most
What Issues Matter to You and Why?
If you don’t know the issues and your options, what difference does party loyalty or a specific candidate make? If a politician doesn’t have the integrity, character, authority or follow-through to attend to the issues that matter to me most, I don’t care who they are or what party they belong to. There are too many Junior High School, petty, finger pointing clowns, fighting in a silly circus that caters to a tribalistic, sporting event mentality, or a need for distraction, disruption and entertainment, all of which I have zero interest in indulging. I’d rather talk about the issues and what we can do outside of voting. Here are my 20 election requirements for humanity. Conservatives may see them as liberal, and liberals may view these as conservative; but I find them to be a far more humanitarian purple than polarized blue or red.
As a citizen of this planet, I vote for
1. Freedom
I demand freedom. At no time do I want the government to decide what happens to my body, or in my body. It should entirely be my choice. This includes full bodily autonomy across the board: reproductive (safe & legal abortions), medical (no vaccine mandates), protective death with dignity laws (legalizing assisted medical suicide), and an end to police brutality (law enforcement is trained in ways to disable or restrain a threat, which do not include excessive force or gunshots to the head or chest). I want freedom over my body, my thoughts, my beliefs, my identity, and who I love and create a consensual adult domestic partnership with.
As a citizen of this planet, I vote for
2. Reforming the Supreme Court
SCOTUS has too much power. They have no watchdogs, no binding code of ethics, and are currently the least accountable branch of the federal government. We can expand the court, but to what end? There should be term limits for SCOTUS. “When voters come to see judges as something other than neutral arbitrators, the courts lose legitimacy. Such courts wind up endangering the foundational principles of liberal democracy.”
-Jennifer Rubin, opinion columnist covering politics and policy, foreign and domestic
As a citizen of this planet, I vote for
3. Tax Reform
Create tax equity by pushing congress to pass tax laws that better match each person’s income to the percentage of taxes they are required to pay: higher taxes for the wealthy, lower taxes for the shrinking middle class, and no taxes for those at or below the poverty line. The wealth that is flaunted on this planet should leave no children starving nor anyone living on the street. It is just a step above slave labor to overtax us and under provide for us. The rich will still be rich after paying their fair share of taxes.
As citizens we have a right to know where our tax dollars are being spent. How much is going to keeping our roads well paved, our kids safe and provided for in school, our health care, education, housing, and food safety? How much is spent on our military or in secret? For more on how to realistically change the tax laws, see the book, The Triumph of Injustice, by economists Emmanuel Saenz and Gabriel Zucman.
As a citizen of this planet, I vote for
4. Equity
We don’t all begin at the same starting line in life, so we must create more equity in the world. We can’t pull ourselves up by our bootstraps if we have no boots, let alone feet. A privileged life is not one absent of trials and tribulations, but it often comes with generational wealth and opportunities to at least have a spot on the starting line. Others are born into pools of hardship, trauma, and obstacles just to stay alive, where the energy and effort it takes simply to survive keeps them perpetually behind the starting line while the finishing line keeps moving further away. In addition to that, we need greater civil liberty protections and equity on the starting line for all who have been historically marginalized, including those who are born into poverty and multiple ACE factors (Adverse Childhood Experiences), as well as BIPOC, LGBTQ, those with disabilities, and women.
This is an excerpt of Sage Words FREEDOM Book One, about the inequities on the starting line of life: “Mark Sutcliffe paints a compelling portrait of this truism using a literal marathon as an analogy. In an insightful TEDxKanata presentation entitled, ‘Running, luck, and the ovarian lottery,’ he talks about his own experience as a man born into privilege who made a conscious choice to start a marathon at the back of the line (a three-to-four-hour delay). Sutcliffe explains that when runners begin a race on the starting line, they are given a variety of support, from excited family and friends who are cheering them on with signs, police to keep the streets clear from traffic, water stations to keep the marathon participants hydrated, and medics to attend to any injuries. By the time the runners who had to start hours behind the starting line actually began the race, many of the friends and family had gone home. The police had started to allow traffic to resume, making it more dangerous for the runners. The water stations were empty, and the medics were few and far between. It’s simply not the same race, not the same experience, for those who begin behind the starting line as it is for those who begin on the starting line. Wealth is not just the result of hard work, it’s the result of opportunity to receive a higher income than we likely deserve for the work that we are lucky enough to do.”
As a citizen of this planet, I vote for
5. Healthcare
Provide the same full coverage benefit packages (including dental and vision) to all citizens that members of American Congress receive. Focus the medical industry on healthcare and away from sick care. Teach health literacy and preventive medicine. Make birth control free. Hold pharmaceutical manufacturers responsible and liable for adverse reactions. This shouldn’t be an issue if they are as safe as the manufacturers claim them to be. Protect our citizens from the corruption of Big Pharma, which promotes pain pills that lead to OxyContin and Fentanyl overdoses and addictions, as well as the overmedication of our children, and overcharging for lifesaving medications like insulin and EpiPens. Allow choice in healthcare coverage to be used on all modalities, from Western to Eastern medicine. People in most developed countries enjoy affordable health care. Why can’t we all?
As a citizen of this planet, I vote for
6. Housing
There’s no reason why we can’t follow in Finland’s successful “Housing First” program to end homelessness. Create affordable housing. Every person should have the option of a baseline home and a piece of land, upon entering adulthood. Those who want more than a basic home have the option to acquire it through capitalistic pursuits. We all need an adequate survival starting point to break generational poverty and even secure a spot on the starting line of life.
As a citizen of this planet, I vote for
7. Financial Security
The average cost of living is greater than the average living wage for many Americans, especially those forced to have more than one part time job which lacks the benefits of one full time job. Bring back pensions and a higher living wage, and pay essential workers a wage with benefits. It is utter insanity to pay athletes and entertainers more than we pay those we consider to be essential workers: sanitation, medical, education, food providers, and caregivers. A universal basic income can create a baseline of financial security for every person on this planet. This should include providing a salary for family caregivers, who are largely unpaid. What message are we giving to society about the lack of value we place on those we turn to most in our greatest times of need—unpaid volunteers, artists, and caregivers—if we do not offer them financial security? Furthermore, the future of “Stay-At-Home-Moms,” “Trad Wives” and “Stay-At-Home Girl (or Boy) friends” will be an impoverished retirement if nothing changes. All caregivers deserve a salary, including stay-at-home parents. It’s imperative that we teach financial literacy in school and provide a satisfactory income and shelter for each citizen of this planet.
As a citizen of this planet, I vote for
8. Education
Every child deserves the best education possible, and yet there is no uniformity in American education, due to politics and a lack of funding. We can use the successful Department of Defense Education Activity, or DODEA, as a model for all schools. These are the schools fully funded by the government and set up to teach the children of military families from all ranks of status. Using the DODEA model could standardize the American educational system and end the financial pressure on schoolteachers and parents to provide school supply essentials with endless fundraisers. This would also create environments rich with diversity—ranging from socioeconomic, ethnic, cultural, religious, and political—thereby encouraging more unity through equity and equality and discouraging private school elitism and underfunded homeschool education by diminishing divisive polarization and tribalistic battles and creating equal access to education for all.
As a citizen of this planet, I vote for
9. Free Speech
End censorship. We no longer live in a free country where we can talk about things openly without being canceled or blocked from public platforms. Censorship interferes with solution journalism, dialectical thinking, and educators. It doesn’t support a cause; it suppresses a people. Instead, teach critical thinking on every side of an issue, the nuance of truth, and how two opposing views can be equally true, such as the sun is both good and bad for your health depending on when you’re in it and for how long. Of course, the sun is both a literal and figurative example here, because, well… we don’t truly have free speech. Censorship is a set of principles that, when used against others, can and will eventually be used against you too.
As a citizen of this planet, I vote for
10. Gun Safety
Protect the Second Amendment by treating guns like cars: require all guns being used to be insured with license, registration, gun owner education and safety classes, just like automobiles. Freedom must be balanced by responsibility. Insurance companies would calculate a gun owner’s safety expectancy the way they do our life expectancy when we want a life insurance policy. People can still collect guns like they do cars and have various insurance policies for use by those who are responsible (the NRA actually set a precedent for this); but hold gun owners and manufacturers responsible for deaths, in addition to whoever pulled the trigger. In 2019, I wrote, “Insuring a Gun Solution.” It was a proposal to decrease gun violence that both conservatives and liberals could get behind. In 2023, San Jose, California passed the “Gun Harm Reduction Ordinance,” requiring all guns to be insured. Now, all of California and New York are considering these same laws. It is possible to protect the Second Amendment while protecting lives.
As a citizen of this planet, I vote for
11. Unity
Let’s commit to placing our focus on peace more than on war. Peace begins within. We must teach humans from a young age how to recognize and regulate their emotions to prevent impulsive acts of rage, entitlement, and violence that lead to war. We can create unity programs from preschool through adulthood to end polarization. Extend this to teaching communication skills and how to take accountability for our mistakes and create conflict resolution everywhere: from inside the home, school, and workplace to between countries. The number two reason we have any conflict anywhere is because we are not taught as a society how to communicate effectively; the number one reason for conflict is inequities. At this stage in humanity’s evolution, it’s archaic to even consider war let alone engage in it. My vote is for all people who are oppressed to be free. We can rise as a collective and protect all human rights. It is possible for power struggles to be healed and handled through negotiation, boundaries, and communication, once power is diluted by creating more equity so that we may end corruption and learn to communicate conflicts through maturity.
As a citizen of this planet, I vote for
12. Separation of Church and State
This includes the treating of current scientific theories as religious dogma, just because it comes from the god of science. It’s true that scientific knowledge is responsible for the computer I created this article on; but it’s important to separate knowledge from hypothesis, theory, and belief. Not every scientific theory has been proven correct. In fact, many have been proven wrong or only partially correct. There’s much still to learn, and we should be thinking participants in the evolution of knowledge, not worshippers of every word that scientists speak just because we want to believe that it’s true. All of science, like all of religion, isn’t necessarily true just because someone believes it to be so.
As a citizen of this planet, I vote for
13. Enforcing Extreme Regulation of Artificial Intelligence,
AI remains the greatest threat to humanity and as such, should be highly regulated. “A [2024] report commissioned by the US State Department paints an alarming picture of the ‘catastrophic’ national security risks posed by rapidly evolving artificial intelligence, warning that time is running out for the federal government to avert disaster. The findings were based on interviews with more than 200 people over more than a year – including top executives from leading AI companies, cybersecurity researchers, weapons of mass destruction experts and national security officials inside the government. The report, released by Gladstone AI, flatly states that the most advanced AI systems could, in a worst case, ‘pose an extinction-level threat to the human species.’”- Matt Egan, award-winning journalist
As a citizen of this planet, I vote for
14. Immigration
I would caution any person who is against immigration to reconsider their position for someday they might find themselves in a civil war-torn country needing asylum and seeking an immigration status in another country. The role of a secure border is created to protect a nation, while welcoming those who are fleeing persecution. I vote to allow immigrants in but not to provide services exclusively to immigrants that are being denied to natural born citizens—such as affordable housing, food subsidies, free education, free health care and more. Survival services should be provided to all in need regardless of citizenship status. For example, The California Dream for All program provides a lottery of sorts for a voucher not to exceed $150,000 to a “first generation homebuyer”- meaning if you’ve never owned a home but one of your parents has, then you will not qualify for the voucher but an immigrant will. America’s problem isn’t the care of immigrants but rather the lack of care of its own citizens in the name of corporate greed. Immigrants contribute to society, expand the richness of cultural diversity, and build unity across borders. It’s essential for every country to welcome immigrants and offer asylum to all those in need. We are all citizens of the world.
As a citizen of this planet, I vote for
15. Protection of Labor Unions
“War on Want believes that poverty is political. It is the result of decisions made by those who hold power — governments and corporations — and a broken economic system which generates increasing wealth and power for elites at the expense of the majority of people on this earth. Unions have been central to War on Want’s work throughout our history as they are crucial to the fight against global poverty. We know that around the world, organized workers achieve more collectively than they can as individuals.” -WarOnWant.org
As a citizen of this planet, I vote for
16. The End of the Death Penalty
The death penalty should be ended as part of the bodily autonomy protection mentioned at the beginning of this list, while still offering death as an option under a death with dignity bodily autonomy protection. We need prison reform and rehabilitation, not a death penalty that is all too often used as a threat to coerce false confessions that allow the real criminals to go free.
As a citizen of this planet, I vote for
17. Break Up the Monopolies Caused by Corporate Greed
“The American people are sick and tired of being ripped-off by large corporations that continue to make record-breaking profits by charging outrageously high prices for gas, rent, food, and prescription drugs,” said Bernie Sanders. “Enough is enough. We cannot continue to allow large corporations to make obscene profits by price gouging Americans in virtually every sector of our economy. If corporate CEOs and their masters on Wall Street will not end their greed, we must end it for them.”
-Sanders.Senate.Gov
As a citizen of this planet, I vote for
18. Clean Renewable Energy
We can use the power of the ocean, wind, and sun to create the energy we need. Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) is using the constant movement of the ocean (or any body of water with movement) to create hydrokinetic power by coupling a generator to the turbine so that power is sent back to the shore via a subsea cable. Similar mechanisms can be employed using the turbine power from the wind and solar power from the sun.
As a citizen of this planet, I vote for
19. No Nuclear Warfare (see #11)
“Nuclear weapons are often presented as promoting security, particularly during times of international instability. But weapons that risk catastrophic and irreversible humanitarian consequences cannot seriously be viewed as protecting civilians or humanity as a whole.” - International Committee of the Red Cross
As a citizen of this planet, I vote for
20. Safety
Protect our planet and help our planet protect us. Keep our food, water, soil, air, energy, and medications safe. Prevent the food manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, and skin care and cosmetic products we use from poisoning our bodies. Be fully transparent about geoengineering with stratospheric aerosol injections (the giant white Xs in the sky) and stop engaging in these activities without safety testing and democratic voting consent.
We Are The People We Are Waiting For To Save Us
Instead of arguing about politicians, let’s place our focus on the issues and ask ourselves what we are doing personally, through mutual aid, to create the world we want to live in. Where are you contributing? What civic duties do you engage in beyond voting? How can you create the world you want to live in through your thoughts, words, and deeds?
As cheesy as it sounds, it remains true: we must remember the power of one and that we are the one with the power.
Ps. Cheese = yum!
Sage Justice is an author, activist, and performing artist. She is committed to being the change she wants to see in the world through her work with The Unity Project; merging art with activism with a special emphasis on ending homelessness. If her words resonate with you, please donate to the cause (check out the auction for services donated, Disney collectibles, stamp & coin collection, furniture, jewelry, and more) and please share this post with others.
Sage Words is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support this independent writer, please become a paid subscriber.
If you found value from this essay, please subscribe to SageJustice.Substack.com for just $5 a month, or a yearly subscription is $45, where you can check out the origin story for The Unity Project, in “So This Is Love” (February 2024). If you know anyone suffering from long covid or a chronic illness please check out “How To Heal Almost Anything” (April 2024) or if you’re interested in creating a life you don’t need a vacation from and the topic of loving with a boundless heart while maintaining boundaries so as to not be a doormat, please consider purchasing a copy of Sage Words FREEDOM Book One.
Thank you for reading, sharing and playing an active role in creating the world you want to live in.