We face three major interconnected national security issues: 1) the lack of political will to adequately address our existential environmental crises; 2) from this, the resulting geopolitical instability and the threat of war, including nuclear war, and 3) corruption and the resulting increased domestic extremism and terrorism.
None of these massively important national security issues will be easily or quickly solved. And yet, all three can be solved. If I am elected US Senator for California, these three national security issues will be my primary focus.
I believe, as Theodore Roosevelt believed, that a strong federal government is absolutely essential in creating a land, national spirit, economy and politics that work. This means we need political leaders who are unafraid to make decisions that are unpopular but are vital for the nation’s longterm sustainability. We need leaders who are unafraid to go toe to toe with the most powerful institutions and sectors in the world, and understand that it is incumbent upon them to be the people’s protector through exercising the full force of the US government.
Why this “Theodore Roosevelt” view of using the power of the federal government to solve America’s problems is needed now more than ever is because we are in a new world. Our national security threats are existential.
As we continue to face greater challenges from resource scarcity and the impacts of human-caused changes in our environment, intensifying geo-political instability is inevitable, heightening the likelihood of war and the potential for a nuclear war. At home, corruption and decades of growing economic insecurity is driving extremism.
What is one intervention point that can simultaneously address each of these three national security threats?
I believe it is massive investment by the federal government to increase the level at which the public is informed on the most important issues we now face. In truth, we have, for the last four decades, allowed the televisions in our living rooms, our mobile phones and desktop computers, to be colonized and deformed.
As US Senator, I will ensure that California leads the nation in the level at which Californians are provided honest information regarding our policies that most impact our national security.
To address the threat of corruption and the resulting domestic extremism, I will draw from the enormous pool of creative talent we have in California to create Unity Corps. The Corps will produce social media, videos, podcasts, books, blogs, a TV channel, and a print magazine distributed to every US address, all designed to bring people together and empower.
The Corps will slowly, methodically reimagine our nation together, by bringing people from opposite sides of the political spectrum to come together towards the common purpose of national renewal.