8/23/2023

My Dear Friend & POTUS, JRB,

            “Abundance agenda (AA)” – that could be your new mantra. You can steal it from Atlantic writer, Derek Thompson, along with the catchy phrase, “America has too much venting & not enough inventing.”

Your emphasis on green job fits with AA. In addition you can call to increase the # of doctors, especially in rural areas, increase public transportation, increase the # of teachers, increase housing. To get all this done you will have to increase the # of workers, which means opening our borders to refugees.

            Speaking of which, I hope to hear you say something this week about the 6th anniversary of the Rohingya genocide. According to Human Rights Watch “Rohingya on both sides of the Myanmar-Bangladesh border are trapped in stateless purgatory, denied their most basic rights, awaiting justice & the chance to go home. Instead of addressing these issues head on, UN Security Council inaction & government aid cutbacks are leaving Rohingya in even more desperate straits.”

            Since you don’t have anything on your public calendar today, perhaps you could take a few minutes to read Imran Mohammad Fazal Hoque’s account of his death defying journey through refugee prisons in Indonesia & Australia to eventually land in Chicago. He managed to learn to write & claims that he maintained his sanity by immersing himself in his imagination & capturing what he saw there in his prose.

            We are so lucky to have him here. Let’s embrace the AA & help our neighbors see we are better off when we open our hearts & our doors.

            BYBS,