BENGALURU: Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal is the first Indian-American woman in the U.S. House of Representatives and one of the 14 naturalized citizens to serve in the US Congress. She represents Washington’s seventh Congressional District.
While addressing a meeting in Bengaluru, she deciphered America’s realities by discussing her thoughts on that country’s current political situation and touched upon issues of income inequality, immigration and the rise of Trumpism. As an era of conflicting times, Representative Jayapal, initiated the communication by emphasizing the importance of Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of tolerance and ahimsa. Regarding the ground realities in America, Pramila said, “Today in America, being the richest country in the world, many don’t have even 1000 dollars in their bank accounts, people are engaged in 2 or more jobs and thereby, highlighting the fact that minimum wages was last raised in 2009.”
About Trumpism she said, “Trump is a symptom that has also become the cause,” attributing the same to America’s encounter with the 9/11 terror attack, economic insecurity, rise in greedy corporations, angers of dislocation and economic stagnation, which dislocated anger towards black and brown people, the disabled, and other minorities.
Fundamentally, she stated that America doesn’t have a scarcity problem, but rather a greed problem. Thus, she questioned, how can America lead form her heart again? In response to the same, she emphasised for structural changes in America.
