President Obama sealed his victory Tuesday night, but despite the security he’s gained by winning a second term, several pressing issues will remain completely ignored and unsolved.
CLIMATE CHANGE
Imagine this: Scientists have long warned of an impending climate crisis that could lead to rising sea levels, food shortages and an energy crisis — but over the course of four-and-a-half hours of total debating, the two nominees did not mention the issue once.
Even Hurricane Sandy, the second of two storms this year unprecedented in the northeast for power and destruction, hasn’t prompted any serious discussion about perhaps our world’s most serious threat. According to a Pew Research poll, two-thirds of Americans believe there is “solid evidence” of global warming, up 10 points since 2009. Forget the science; this is something people care about, and any good leader should lend it some attention.
GUN POLICY
How many college campus shootouts, attempts to assassinate political figures or “Dark Knight Rises” massacres is it going to take to draw some attention to our broken gun laws? When 3,000 Americans were killed on Sept. 11, 2001, we flexed our muscles and declared war. But when more than 30,000 people are killed due to firearms annually, politicians retreat into a corner. It makes sense, then, that only one question was asked about gun policy during this year’s debates — and neither candidate gave an intelligible answer.
And for anyone out there who still clings to the Second Amendment, here’s some news: It’s 2012, and unless you are part of a “well-regulated militia,” the Constitution does not protect your right to carry around a concealed semi-automatic weapon that didn’t even exist in 1776.
Altogether, our country is home to 300 million privately owned guns, the highest of any country in the world. Close behind us is our good friend, Yemen.
THE DRUG WAR
If we are good at owning guns, we are even better at imprisoning people. The United States, home to around 5 percent of the world’s total population, is also home to about 25 percent of the world’s prison population, making it the highest in the world.
This phenomenon, of course, is due to one simple factor: our obsession with throwing nonviolent drug users in jail. Ever year, roughly 1.6 million Americans are arrested for drug charges. Since the “War on Drugs” began in the 1980s, we have seen nothing more than an increase in criminalized Americans who present absolutely no threat to public safety.
Instead, we have more people who cannot find work due to tainted records and more children growing up with parents behind bars.
The legalization of marijuana is a good start, and as we elect a new president there is a good chance Colorado, Washington or Oregon will achieve that goal. Regardless, any of those state laws will still be in violation of federal law, which still treats marijuana as one of the most dangerous substances out there. If the debates are any indication, the two candidates for president could not care less.