How To Build Back Better TOGETHER!

The Biden-Harris administration is, obviously, doing a great job of building back better TOGETHER — appointing a diverse staff. They have a political appointees application section on https://buildbackbetter.gov. AND they talk of a government for all Americans. HOWEVER, in this time of multiple crises, what we really need is a STRONG PARTNERSHIP AMONG ALL AMERICANS. Many Americans are in situations where they could make significant contributions to our country’s success, but don’t have the capability to take normal positions. The obvious major classes here are children/youth who are “in school” (a complicated term during the pandemic) and older Americans who are retired because of various limitations and don’t have the capability to work a “normal job” or “normal volunteer position” (also complicated terms during the pandemic). What I want to suggest is that the Biden-Harris administration invite all sorts of people and entities to become ACTIVE PARTNERS WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT as they seek to build back better TOGETHER. (I hope they’ll add TOGETHER to the phrase.) I originally had in mind simply adding a new section to the https://buildbackbetter.gov/join-us/ where people could “apply” to work together with the Biden-Harris administration as part time or incidental consultants, advisors, pieceworkers, and so on. They could also have a “contact us” section on https://buildbackbetter.gov similar to this one https://democrats.org/contact-us/ where they can submit ideas. Both of these features could include a way for non-profits, businesses, and faith groups to participate. I’m particularly concerned with the Climate Crisis, and the Biden-Harris administration is already building Climate Crisis focus into ALL ASPECTS of their government. The obvious next step is to adopt non-government individuals and entities as partners. For example, dozens of Climate Crisis focused non-profits such as Extinction Rebellion U.S. could easily be tapped to carry out various aspects of the Climate Crisis solution rather than using the usual governmental approaches of buying solutions, paying states to carry out solutions, or passing laws to solve problems. A major function of government is public education, both through schools and through using the bully pulpit and the government communications sections or even having government sponsored advertising campaigns. They will need to do this to tell the public what they should do regarding the pandemic (wear masks, etc). They can also do this in order to encourage the public to take action on climate change and to change public understanding of the problem, and to set out what public and private organizational actions would be most impactful to improve the situation. All in all, the Biden-Harris administration can be encouraged to enlist the public, underserved groups, nonprofits, businesses, faith groups, and special interest groups. Also, they can enlist money, investors, and the financial sector to help support government priorities, such as by buying “war bonds” to fund Climate Crisis remediation work and supplement government funding. I hope you can help foster some of this through whatever connections you are building with the new administration and also focus on helping the “handicapped” utilize their special talents and strengths. My hero is Greta Thunberg, who has pointed out that her “handicap” is precisely her superpower. I also like to use the example of Bob Fosse who developed his signature dance moves featuring a hat in order to cover his balding head.