Niket Patwardhan

I came to the US as a computer science graduate student with total admiration for American government and American technology - particularly the US Constitution and the space program. The foundation was beautiful - especially the idea that government exists to secure the right of people to "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness". Potential tyranny was avoided by limiting government power; and by giving the people and states opportunities to organize and stage bloodless coups every 2-6 years. This was (in theory) then backed up by the 2nd amendment. I felt as a result of this seeming chaos America had a basically honest and responsive government and a forthright people.

I am 68, a son of a German mother and Indian father, with siblings in Singapore and Germany, and am married to my high school classmate Jaya. They have kept me aware of how American policies and actions look to the rest of the world. With 45+ years of life in the United States, and 4 adult children born and raised in California, I know how those policies work for us here at a very personal level. I am deeply interested that our children can feel safe, boldly voice their truth, and thrive anywhere in our United States.

While our system is drifting away from the ideal, I feel it is still working. It only needs to be pulled back on course. The tribalism set up by blind party loyalty needs to be confronted; Reagan era violations of the 4th, like asset forfeitures and no-knock warrants, as well as due process violations introduced by the Bush era Patriot Act need to be repealed. Excessive criminalization of normal human behaviour and militarization of the police needs to be curtailed. But we also need to get more muscular about censorship, homelessness, trespass, theft, and violence.