Vote

I typically only discuss startups and investing on Linkedin. Investing is for long-term - where long-term is measured in 5-10 years. But what's happening right now is much more critical and much more long term; next week can affect us for the future decades.

Just one week is left. One week until probably the most consequential election ever. For the US, but with the global interconnectedness, for the world as well.

Next week,?Republicans can kill our democracy, right to vote, and vital human rights. Unfortunately, a significant number of Americans will vote for that.

I am writing this to appeal to US citizens. Go out and vote.

I know that many of you are voting Democratic already. Great. Many of you are voting Republican or split ticket, which is unfortunate; I'd love to hear your reasoning. But many of you didn't plan to vote or are still deciding. This post is for you.

It's imperative to vote for Democratic candidates for every office. There are elections for Senate, Congress, State Governors and Legislatures, Judges, County executives, and so on. All of these elections are incredibly important in 2022.

I used to support Republicans when the economic policy was the most important difference between the Democratic and Republican parties. That time is gone now. Lots of people disagree on a lot of policy ideas. We may disagree on welfare, taxes, infrastructure, antitrust, space, oil, immigration, etc. These elections are not about policy. These elections are about foundations that are important to all of us, and one party is attacking them.

Democracy and right to vote

All Americans know by now that GOP is the "party of January 6". The party that peddles lies that Trump won in 2020 and that tried to do a coup. GOP members of Congress voted to overturn the will of the voters; GOP supporters attacked and killed the police officers. GOP candidates are *right now* saying that they will do everything in their power to ensure that GOP holds power forever, regardless of the will of the citizens; if they lose, it must be "fraud" and immediately overturned.

I grew up in Belarus. When I was 12, in 1996, the President of Belarus, Lukashenka, seized power in a coup. Even though 90% of Belarusian citizens voted against him in the most recent elections, he is still in control. I have lived in a dictatorship. My friends are in jail right now because they protested the dictator. One of the things I am most afraid of is that my children will have to suffer a dictatorship like the one I fled.

In 2021, Trump's coup didn't happen because GOP didn't have the House. And because there were still so-called "moderate" GOP members in Congress. By now, this "moderate" wing is gone. GOP primary voters ousted anyone who didn't support Trump - even Cheney lost. If GOP wins the House now, they will install Trump as President after the 2024 election - regardless of the people's will. They will have the support of their MAGA base for that.

Trump has been open that he is a fan of dictators - Putin, Kim, Xi. Throughout his four years in office, he did everything to remove as many restraints on his power as possible. And after the election in 2020, he called governors and secretaries of state to ask them to cheat while counting votes.

It's essential to be on the same page on this: even if you don't like Trump and will never vote for him, but you vote for a Republican for Senate, House, Governor, or Secretary of State, you are helping Trump get elected because those people that you install in power today will install Trump in power after the next election.

147 Republicans voted to overturn the election on January 6, 2021. They broke the law (14th Amendment of the Constitution) but didn't get any punishment. In January 2025, if a Democrat wins the Presidential election, all Republicans will vote to overturn it - they know there is no punishment. And then Trump, DeSantis, or whoever will capture GOP fancy will become a dictator for life.

200 out of 552 Republicans running for office deny the legitimacy of elections.

If you don't want the US to turn into Cuba, Russia, Venezuela, or Iran - vote. Vote against GOP.

Ukraine and Russia

Of course, #1 above, the fact that GOP supported a coup, should be enough for anyone to never vote for GOP again.

But there is more.

Ukraine. Our friends in Ukraine are holding on to dear life against Putin and his army of war criminals. And the difference between Democrats and Republicans is clear: Democrats want to support Ukraine and deny Putin, while Republicans want to treat with Putin and "appease" him with Ukrainian land. Trump called Putin a genius and held military help to Ukraine hostage. Musk, the wealthiest man in the world, is urging everyone to vote Republican, and he suggests giving parts of Ukraine to Putin.

Ukraine has been fighting back against Russia thanks to US weapons (in significant part). HIMARS, for example, were crucial. And these weapons went to Ukraine because Democrats have the House, Senate, and Presidency; many Republicans voted against the "aid to Ukraine" bills. House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy has said that if Republicans win the House, they will cut the aid to Ukraine.

As you remember, Trump was working on removing the US from all international treaties and alliances, starting with the Paris Agreement. If Trump won the 2020 elections, the US would no longer be part of NATO, and Putin would have had free reign in Europe.

You can't vote for the Putin-loving party if you want Ukraine to exist.

Basic safety

Safety is seemingly not significant in the GOP pyramid of needs. For GOP, it's ok that 40000 people die yearly from guns (more than in car accidents). For them, it's ok that 20 children will occasionally die in a school shooting, like in Texas a few months ago.

Nowhere is safe - even in "blue states," GOP judges regularly block sensible gun safety measures, like in New York recently.

Every day 12 children are shot dead in the US, on average.

Human rights

GOP has always been a party that supports the rights of the ultra-rich (0.01%) over the rights of anyone else. And this year has shown it again.

The biggest challenge to human rights this year came from Trump Supreme Court and state governments: abortion was banned in many states. I can't imagine how difficult it can be for women and their loved ones to deal with this — especially where there are no exceptions for rape or the mother's health. Women are forced to carry fetuses to term even if the fetuses have no heartbeat and are not viable. They have to choose between traveling to another state or country for abortion or suffering significant damage to their health.

I hope my daughter will never have to live in a place where abortion is illegal.

Human rights are another reason why local and state elections are essential. If you elect GOP to govern your state, the first thing they will do is make abortions illegal.

This year, a bill was up for a vote in Congress to prohibit states from discriminating against couples married in other states regardless of the couple's "sex, race, ethnicity, or national origin." 157 Republicans voted against it. And 195 Republicans voted against the "Right to Contraception Act" - against Americans having the right to buy, use, or even learn about condoms.

Cooky candidates

The overall policies of the GOP are scary enough. But who are the people who are running to implement the policies? If you compare candidates of two parties, it's not a coincidence that every cooky and crazy candidate is running on the GOP ticket. If you follow politics, you know the names.

Herschel Walker, famously stupid liar candidate for Senate in Georgia, saying right up he is not intelligent enough to be a Senator; he campaigns to outlaw abortions, but he wrote checks to finance abortions for several of his former lovers; he lied about being an ex-police and ex-FBI; and while half a year ago he was saying he had one child, three more of his kids with different women were discovered during the campaign.

"Dr." Oz is a candidate for Senate in Pennsylvania. He is most famous for peddling scammy pseudo-medical products on TV. In 2020, he promoted the use of hydroxychloroquine against COVID. The website Science-Based Medicine says: "No other show on television can top The Dr. Oz Show for the sheer magnitude of bad health advice it consistently offers, all while giving everything a veneer of credibility." And now this witch doctor is running to be in Senate.

Marjorie Taylor Greene is an incumbent. She is running again to represent Georgia's 14th Congressional District. She claimed that a wildfire in California was started by a laser beamed from space and controlled by a prominent Jewish banking family with connections to powerful Democrats.

John Gibbs is running to represent Michigan's 3rd district. Quote: "We cannot say that women should be able to vote... The United States has suffered as a result of women's suffrage."

Of course, there are more and more reasons to vote Democratic. But the most important one:?vote now to be able to vote again in the future.

Photo: Francis Chung/E&E News.