Union strong

To the editor:

"Everywhere I go I tell people, you may not be a union member, but you can thank a union member for the five-day work week. You better thank a union member for sick leave. You better thank a union member for paid leave. You better thank a union member for vacation time." 

This statement from Vice President Kamala Harris indicates her appreciation of labor. She and other Democrats might not show that often enough and may be unduly influenced by wealthy donors, But when the opponent is an anti-worker, would-be dictator, voting for Harris is a matter of self-defense.

Unfortunately, there are tens of millions of people who, for reasons I attribute to ignorance and/or hatred, are still supporting Donald Trump. When he says he'll replace Obamacare with something better, they're never bothered by the fact that he never made any such proposal during his four years as president. Same goes for his plan to save Social Security. 

Climate change, COVID and income inequality are just some things made worse by Trump's policies. The economy's far from perfect, but it is better under President Joe Biden than under Trump. But when you have people blindly supporting someone, they imagine that things are better under him and worse under his opponents.

Trump supporters may imagine that they are rebels. But they are just the opposite. They are tools that the wealthy use to support the status quo. As long as you have to vote for the Democratic candidate just to avoid losing your freedom and the safety net that saves many from poverty, homelessness and death, that prevents you from considering a candidate such as The Green Party's Jill Stein. If people would abandon the Republicans, perhaps we could weigh Harris' proposals versus Stein's.

Richard Warren