My Resources
This article recounts a brief history of the March for Freedom. In keeping with the theme of generational change, I included the rally to highlight another kind of generational change in Detroit, particularly within the African American community, one moving from hopelessness to hope and back again.
2. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/15/us/politics/pete-buttigieg-speech.html
This article is Mayor Buttigieg’s full presidential kick-off speech, annotated. Throughout my project, I borrow several quotes from this speech verbatim, as he said often says what I want to say better than I ever could. I rationalized borrowing quotes verbatim with the understanding that, were I Mayor Buttigieg’s speechwriter, I would constantly be reusing phrases. Once you’ve got the best version of something, why not keep using it?
This is but one of many examples of Mayor Buttigieg touting his record in South Bend. Of that record, he most often cites reducing blight and boosting economic development, and uses such initiatives to make a case for how we ought to revitalize other cities marred by industrial decay.
This article takes a stab at explaining what Mayor Buttigieg means when he talks about intergenerational justice and why he values generational change. In my project, I attempted to expand the term, and further explain what “generational change” looks like.
5. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/22/south-bend-poor-say-democrat-pete-buttigieg-left-them-behind.html
Mayor Buttigieg gets a lot of praise for the work he’s done to revive South Bend, but he also gets a lot of flack for the inequitable way that revival has been distributed. To become presidential, as this project attempts, it’s important to speak to all your potential constituents, to recognize your shortcomings, and to make a plan for moving forward. This section purports to begin that discussion and to expand our understanding of what’s required from a national economic rejuvenation.
6. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/15/us/politics/pete-buttigieg-speech.html
Again, Mayor Buttigieg’s annoucement speech. While he details these three values in detail in every stump speech he delivers, he does a particularly excellent job in his announcement. It seemed to me that he built his campaign message around both these values and the theme of intergenerational justice, and I thought I remiss if I addressed the latter without the former. As a result, I expressed my discussion of intergenerational justice through the lens of these values.
7. https://www.politico.com/story/2019/04/15/pete-buttigieg-national-service-program-1277274
Mayor Buttigieg has repeatedly mentioned support for a new form of national service program. Exactly what that program would look like is a mystery, but it reflects a desire for fulfilling civic responsibility. I considered this desire a key component of intergenerational justice.
8. https://grist.org/article/mayor-pete-2020s-stealth-climate-candidate/
Mayor Buttigieg is serious about climate change; later in my project, I have him call it the “great security issue of our time” (a direct quote from his stump). He consistently refers to millennials as the generation who will be “on the business end of climate change.” To discuss the different issues affecting different generations in different ways, I settled on climate change (as Mayor Buttigieg often does), and the cost of prescription medication.
9. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zunsfxjyOAE
In this interview with The Breakfast Club, Mayor Buttigieg is asked about his “black agenda.” He specifically discusses redlining and fair housing policy. I chose to do the same when bringing up a cause of racial wealth inequality.
10. http://fortune.com/2019/04/23/pete-buttigieg-town-hall-cnn/
Mayor Buttigieg discusses a national consensus for what ought to be done to fix our broken immigration system, including what he believes to be the lack of political leadership to act on it.
11. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/15/us/politics/pete-buttigieg-speech.html
Mayor Buttigieg says this phrase verbatim in most of the speeches he delivers, and the sentiment is echoed in his announcement speech, his website, and his media appearances. He believes that revolving our politics around the word “again” is dishonest and does the country a disservice. I considered this key caveat in outlining intergenerational justice.
In this interview, Mayor Buttigieg spends a lot of time discussing why he believes our democracy is in peril, and why it’s so vital to fomenting progress. I tie his quest for functional democracy to his quest for intergenerational justice, and say that justice cannot exist if our democracy isn’t just and functional.
This article discusses Mayor Buttigieg’s feelings these democratic issues. In the paragraphs that follow, I try my hand at voicing his opinion on these issues and why they matter.
14. https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/11/07/elections-democrats-2018-2020-222258
This article suggests that voters are interested in civility, and Mayor Buttigieg seems to agree. I drew connections between civility and “Midwestern nice,” not least because of the venue of the speech and the Mayor’s origins.
15. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/15/us/politics/pete-buttigieg-speech.html
This sentence and bits and pieces of the sentences that precede it are taken verbatim from Mayor Buttigieg’s announcement speech, and their sentiment is echoed in every stump speech he gives. In the paragraphs that follow, I attempt to express his opinion on freedom using evidence from his stump and his announcement, including more of his own language.
16. https://money.cnn.com/2018/05/22/pf/emergency-expenses-household-finances/index.html
This article provides evidence to support the conclusion that 40% of Americans do not have the saving to cover a $400 emergency expense.
17. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/15/us/politics/pete-buttigieg-speech.html
Once again, this language comes straight from the Mayor’s announcement speech. In the paragraphs that follow, I draw connections between current economic inequality and the Gilded Age, and call for the current era of supply side economics to be over. This is in keeping with his announcement message, as well as the theme of generational change.
Mayor Buttigieg often mentions that he and his husband Chasten have “six-figure student debt.” When discussing generational change, he often discusses college affordability (not free college) and student debt.
19. https://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2019/01/16/employers-job-training-000872
This article details a retraining program that South Bend is planning to adopt by 2020. In keeping with the theme of intergenerational justice, Mayor Buttigieg would address economic justice for older Americans — they would certainly benefit from programs such as this one.
20. https://www.axios.com/podcast-pete-buttigieg-1552364264-1465dd8a-6116-453d-80f6-1d5fcea42918.html
In this podcast, Mayor Buttigieg discusses how the U.S. has let its guard down on enforcing policies designed to limit monopolies. In other instances, he has discussed a reimagination of antitrust law that can tackle the issue of tech companies that provide consumers with services for free. I tied this question to Teddy Roosevelt, the infamous trustbuster from generations ago.
21. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbXvWh5d4Wk
This CBS Sunday Morning special on Mayor Buttigieg shows a clip of his stump in which he calls climate change “the great security issue of our time.” This is why I began this section on security by discussing climate change. The following section includes verbatim passages from his presidential announcement.
This article mentions the effects climate change will have on Detroit. As Detroit is the venue for the speech, I felt it was appropriate to include these effects.
This IPCC report details these findings.
24. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsrjkQt60vI
In this Pod Save America interview, Mayor Buttigieg discusses the United States’ current lack of coherent foreign policy strategy. I pair this idea with the United States’ lack of action of climate change, as well as with various elements of the style and priorities of the current President and leadership, to outline a vision for future American foreign policy.
25. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/15/us/politics/pete-buttigieg-speech.html
The idea of being between on a blank page between chapters of the American story is taken nearly verbatim from Mayor Buttigieg’s presidential bid announcement. It is present throughout the project.
This article describes Mayor Buttigieg’s position on various issues, including support for state and federal background checks for gun sales. The rest of this section details basic Democratic party platforms as I imagined Mayor Buttigieg might articulate them.
This article describes how Detroit’s renaissance has yet to help much of the city. As previously mentioned, South Bend has had similar problems with its revival. I use this fact to push for continued change, arguing that the Mayor’s campaign is the necessary change.
28. https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/04/14/pete-buttigieg-2020-226654
This article, “How Mayor Pete Started Looking Presidential,” beat me to the punch, in many ways. Still, in the piece, the author mentions that the first question Mayor Buttigieg gets is about his age and his experience. I use that fact to tie the piece together, and end on one final push for generational change.
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