California: Often nowadays in the USA, we hear political terms such as #GreenNewDeal, Leftist Conservatives, Left-wing (Pan-African, Pan-Latin American, Pan-Islamic Leftists, Gender based, White Nationalism, Pan-Arabism, Pan-Islamic liberals) and Classical Liberalism used extensively by politicians. The loss of 2016 Presidential elections by Hillary Clinton was never accepted by the democrat base. Needless to say that the democrats engineered a failed coup via the Mueller investigation; rather, I would call it the Mueller witch-hunt. In the process, democrats have institutionalised race, left-wing politics, and communal segregation as a tool for political victory. How that fares out in 2020, still needs to be seen. The hate that is coming out of Left-wing political propaganda is polarising America by the storm. Suddenly, Americans are waking up to the impending social demographic disaster because of unstrategic Left-wing immigration instituted by Obama that is unfolding right in front of their eyes. Minnesota, Dearborn (MI) and some other parts of USA look completely out of sync with the progressive American society. Never before has the words such as White Nationalists, White Supremacists, Women of Color, Black vs White ever spoken so brazenly in American media and politics. The civility of political discourse has hit a nadir. To understand the different political stances, I would like to categorise politicians and philosophical approaches. That should make it easy for Hindu Americans to understand their political standing. At the onset, I would like to make it very clear—Hindu Americans are completely ignored in any American political landscape. Indian origin politicians also have carefully overlooked Hindu American issues while pursuing their political objectives. Hindu Americans as a community are losing because of this political apathy by all.
Thomas Friedman used the term “GreenNewDeal” as early as in 2007 to refer to a clean power industry. While the concept is novel and is great for the people of USA, however, the political connotations and messaging around it are convoluted. No sane man in the US or anywhere else would like to breathe bad air. #GreenNewDeal is ultimately good for the health of everyone. The Democrat propaganda that Republicans are against #GreenNewDeal is itself wrong. The extensive infrastructure change needed to effect #GreenNewDeal needs to be financially planned out. The US hasn’t made any new investment in power infrastructure in the last 50 years. Hindu Americans want this #GreenNewDeal because it’s an economic goldmine. UNEP’s, Achim Steiner introduced the #GlobalNewGreenDeal on behalf of UN to promote jobs in the Green economy. In the international politics, globalisation has taken a back seat owing to political uncertainties in the global internet-based economy. Every country is trying to protect their interests from the larger more capable nations in the internet economy. Social media has introduced global challenges around data ownership which hasn’t been resolved yet. Overall the #GreenNewDeal in the US has to take into account job losses and also rehabilitation of workers who lose jobs with new power industry technologies. It’s a change that needs patience and policies. #GreenNewDeal politicians must develop greater understanding of the risks and rewards before they campaign. This issue enjoys bi-partisan support. A new industrial policy and economic planning is needed to fuel this transition. And above all, all political factions need to support the Hindu American experts that are needed to make this transition. Political upmanship is just going to hurt the cause of #GreenNewDeal. This is a fantastic opportunity for Hindu Americans as a community.
Leftist conservatives in the American political system haven’t defined themselves well enough. Leftist conservatives are almost Republican in many ways. On the Democrats’ side, my mind immediately races to the rising star of Democrats, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, into this category. While she extensively promotes liberal social and economical stance, she does promote the strong government. On the Republican side, my mind immediately identifies Susan Collins, the governor of Maine. She has been the moderate Republican star with extremely liberal stances on social and economic issues. Leftist conservatism goes hand-in-hand with American society today. Leftist conservatism can also be called the new centrist. The educational institutes of America are producing more Leftist conservatives than ever before. Most Hindu American politicians in Senate and Congress fall into Leftist conservative category. Indian origin or Indian culture affiliated politicians such as Ami Behera,Tulsi Gabbard, Kamala Harris, Raja Krishnamurthy rarely espouse the cause of Hindu Americans. Hindu American interests encompass business, culture, social and inclusivity. Usually, Hindu Americans are underrepresented in US politics in all political spectrums. There is a big vacuum that needs urgent attention for the benefit of the Hindu-American community.
American Leftist Liberal or Left-Wing politics promotes egalitarianism and social equality in complete disregard to existing social hierarchy. The race politics in today’s American political landscape is the classical Left-wing political philosophy. Here, the democrats have used racial tones to become a champion of racial equality. Originally, Democrats were the white supremacists and Republicans removed slavery in USA. Today, it’s ironical that Democrats are talking about racial inequality. Often, nationalism is derided by Left-wing politicians. Nationalism is derided mostly by Left-wing Pan-Islamic politicians because of their Wahabi Islamic connections. African Socialism, Latin American Socialism, Third worldism, pan-Islamism or Islamic-Communism are classical thought processes of Left wing politics in US today. New American democratic politicians such as Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib fall under Islamic-Communism or Pan-Islamic category because of their core campaign and political stance deeply connected to their Islamic Wahabi doctrines. Organizations such as CAIR (Council for American Islamic Relations), ISNA (Islamic Society of North America) and ‘MoveOn’ support these pan-Islamic politicians for furthering their Islamic Left-wing agendas. For these democrats, their community interests are beyond the interests of USA. Here, the race-based campaigns are used to polarise election outcomes for the Left-wing victories. Women, colour and race becomes the focal point of electioneering and polarising vote banks. Left-wing Democrats pose a serious challenge to other religious minorities especially, six million economically rich Hindu Americans who are not represented adequately in the political spectrum of US today. Bernie Sanders falls into the category of liberal conservatives with extreme socialism. Ro Khanna, an Indian American Democrat was appointed by Bernie to be the vice chair of his campaign. Ro Khanna is a leftist conservative not a centrist. To put things in perspective, Indian congress party will be considered somewhat leftist conservative and in some cases left wing also. The only democrat that appears centrist and is also a Hindu is Tulsi Gabbard. But again, she has to get support of leftist lobby within her party which will be difficult for her. Also, even though being deeply connected to Indian traditions, she hasn’t been able to represent the political, social issues of Indian Americans in a complete way. There is a strong need to create educational materials by the Hindu American community to educate American political leaders across the bipartisan spectrum.
Centrist and Center-Right constitute the second half of American political system. There are right wingers who have extreme religious and racial views against others, but those are the minority and can be safely ignored. Republican Party popularly known as GOP, which, traditionally ended slavery and is the proponent of classical centrist liberalism. Generally speaking, that is close to Hindu Varnashrama system that also promotes a free economy with strong political and social governance. GOP advocates free economic policies with civil liberties under the rule of law. There are some major philosophical stances with minor adjustments but overall it stands for economic freedom for all. It differentiates itself with leftist conservatism in that it doesn’t emphasize on social engineering at all. Hindu Americans are hardly represented in Republican Party which is an ideal party for them philosophically. To put things in perspective, GOP is akin to BJP in India. Usually, they have the most successful record against terrorism in USA. So most Hindus will naturally fall into GOP category. Hindu Americans are patriotic, nationalistic, highly educated, business owners and professionals, which is what GOP stands for. Also, Hindu Americans are against any form of terrorism and want to call that out. Hindus have known the impact of terrorism, against them from years by left-wingers in India. There is no single republican leader of Hindu American descent that proudly claims their heritage while serving American people. However, Seema Verma a White House appointee has excellent credentials as administrator and a proud Hindu American official. There are and have been many other Indian American descent officials in the GOP but none of them have yet become a leader of Hindu Americans in their own rights. That’s not very surprising given the affluence of Hindu Americans.
The six million strong Hindu diaspora is extremely unrepresented today in American Political system. Most existing Indian descent American politicians haven’t done much for Hindu Community interests and also they haven’t been able to bring all Indians together. What needs to be done is to build a manifesto of needs, dreams, aspirations, cultural symbols and demand for the Hindu American community for the entire American political landscape. Indian Descent American politicians or American Politicians who understand Hindu American community need to confirm to that manifesto before they are given vote by Hindu Americans. That’s where and how the Hindu American Representation will begin in US Politics. So far individual approach hasn’t worked for the whole community. With occasional cultural recognition of a Hindu American, Hindus have been paid only lip service by American politicians. With other left-wing groups gaining foothold in American politics, it’s high time that Hindu Americans get themselves heard loud and clear. I know that when Hindu Americans organise themselves, it will be another revolution in USA. The best way to begin is to create a common community demand that every politician needs to adhere to who seeks their vote. Hindu Temples are the best place to begin reorganisation. Let’s start!
Aditya Satsangi is CEO, Nymblsoft, LLC; CEO, Nitai Partners Equity Ventures, LLC; and President, Indian American Chamber of Commerce.