Editor’s note: Wausau Pilot & Review gladly publishes commentary from readers, residents and candidates for local offices. The views of readers and columnists are independent of this newspaper and do not necessarily reflect the views of Wausau Pilot & Review. To submit, email [email protected] or mail to 500 N. Third St., Suite 208-8, Wausau, Wis. 54403.

Dear editor,

My family, my wife and I, our children, their spouses, and our grandchildren over the age of 18, probably canceled each other’s presidential votes this past election. Some voted for Biden, some for Trump. These are all intelligent people, they all have good educations, and they all have the same concerns. They want a good life and a bright future for their families. There seemed little enthusiasm for either candidate. Perhaps a quiet resignation – no matter who took the prize, the oligarchy, the ultra-wealthy controlling America and its politicians, would win.

I am thankful there is no anger in my family over political issues. We want the same things and we care about one another. Obviously, this is not the case across our nation. Hatred and bitterness abound. We have all become victims of a vicious “divide and conquer” and the oligarchic perpetrators of this calculated division watch in privileged comfort from on high.

They watch as we blame food stamp recipients, immigrants, gays, Blacks, Latinos, Muslims, “liberals,” “conservatives,” and our next-door neighbor for the problems. They watch…and they know they have won. The masses have no clue and the money flows upward. The billionaire class has reaped over a trillion dollars during the pandemic while working people continue to lose everything.

The person different from us, our fellow struggling soul, is not the problem. The help average Americans have received from “our” legislators is pocket change compared to the welfare they have showered on Wall Street, billionaire bankers, and other parasitic financial manipulators over the past several decades. The terms “liberal,” “conservative,” “socialist,” “illegal alien,” are tools to divide. How long will it be before we understand that our diverse neighbors, people who need help, our fellow working Americans, are the only friends we have?

We must be done being divided by the oligarchs, done being distracted into hating one another. We have a common enemy. It is called gross inequality – rule by the rich. There is a way to reclaim our nation – coming back together as “We the People.”

Dave Svetlik
Kronenwetter