We the People: Week of November 8

Looking ahead

With Election Day behind us, it is now time to look ahead. Our president has steadily reduced the exposure of our armed forces around the globe and maintained our commitment to friends and allies around the world.

He nurtured an economic recovery despite difficult financial situations and will lead the national recovery from Hurricane Sandy in a similar steadfast manner. Governor Christie summed it up best, as he led President Obama on a tour of the devastated Jersey Shore, when he said that all that was destroyed by the storm can be restored, however the loss of a human life creates a void that cannot be filled.

He promised, with the help of the president, to make the Jersey Shore and the Garden State better than before. Governor Cuomo echoed that promise to the people of New York. The citizens of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut can look to the citizens of New Orleans for inspiration. They renewed their city after catastrophic storms and environmental disasters. We have dynamic leaders who lead us to be stronger, better and better prepared in the future.

This is no time for fear. A great society can face the vicissitudes of natural disasters, manage a great economy, and still defeat the schemes of foreign tyrants and terrorists without fear. Franklin D. Roosevelt described how the American people have managed change and fear with a “a perpetual revolution… which goes on steadily, quietly adjusting to changing conditions” without a need for violent action or violent rhetoric.

Some people want xenophobic television ads that bemoan the collapse of America to distract voters from the positive fact that America has adopted healthcare reform, bank regulation reform and will adopt taxation reform in January. That is why the fear card is being played.

The great strength of the American people has always been a unity of purpose. We have a leader in the White House who has calmly and carefully led us through many potential disasters. Let us come together to continue positive change for America. The American people need leaders who look at issues and who move the struggle forward.

In East Flatbush, a young man working his first night at a popular night spot was shot and killed. He was killed on the same street his brother was shot and killed three years earlier. Does anyone believe that the mother of these men wants to know about the right to bear arms and the difficulty of passing effective gun control legislation in America?

The strongest support for those persons opposed to gun regulation is a basic distrust of authority. The NRA and the politicians they groom exploit that fear to push America to accept a haphazard system of gun control that rests on the premise that universal gun ownership is needed for self-defense.

We need sensible gun regulation that assures that less guns are circulated and no guns are possessed by criminals or psychopaths. We need gun regulation reform including the microstamping of ammunition. We need educational changes because the education system still does not produce enough graduates prepared for the challenges of life.

Local business owners are sponsoring efforts to give relief to those displaced by Hurricane Sandy. The NYPD is supervising donation collections at the Aqueduct Racino in Queens. If we all give, donate, volunteer and pray, the situation will improve quickly. Community Board 10 can provide information to persons who want to donate or volunteer. A donation to the American Red Cross is a positive way to celebrate the American tradition of helping those in need.