by Willem Meiners
THE FACT that US athletes have won the battle for gold, silver and bronze in Paris by amassing 126 medals, didn’t surprise too many people. What’s more remarkable is that 60 percent of those medals were won by women. Gold alone: 26 for women, 14 for men: 65 percent.
It’s just sports, this was only about who could run, ride, jump or score the fastest, farthest or highest, and, as an isolated factoid, it says little. But earlier this summer, it were also women who earned 60 percent of all degrees at colleges and universities. And of the six largest cities in America, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Phoenix and Philadelphia, four are governed by a female mayor.
In health care, 70 percent of all leadership positions are held by women. They are in charge in 75 percent of all schools. The New York Times has a woman as its top boss; so do her colleagues at the Los Angeles Times and the Wall Street Journal. Their colleague at the Washington Post was a woman until recently, and its newsroom there today is bemoaning openly that the publisher replaced her with an English man. Reuters and Associated Press: led by a woman. The top bosses at CBS, ABC, Fox and MSNBC are all women.
WOMEN ARE still way behind in the military, police and Fortune-500 leadership positions. But there is a good reason why America’s fine-performing economy is called a “she-conomy”. Far more young women than men started new businesses in the past year: plumbers, electricians, contractors, service providers, stock traders.
And where women are calling the shots, crime is declining. This year alone, a sharp drop in homicide, violence and robbery in 54 of the 69 largest cities. In Miami and Washington: 30 percent less violence. Philadelphia: 40 percent less murders, Boston: 70 percent.
WHO THINKS that it matters little that Kamala Harris took Joe Biden’s spot four weeks ago, they have not been paying attention. The fact that she is a woman makes all the difference in the world. In a country where women have made a massive leap forward in the last thirty years in most areas of power and authority, it matters who voters will soon find on their ballots.
Thirty years. In America, a new generation steps up to power every three decades, including in the White House. It occurred in 1901 (Teddy Roosevelt), in 1932 (young cousin Franklin), 1960 (JFK), and also in 1992 (Clinton). This year, another three decades have passed since then. Surely, it’s still a while until November 5. A rabbit can still pull itself magically out of a hat. But what doesn’t change is that Millennials and Gen Z now make up half of the voting population. America counts 161 million eligible voters; 90 million of them are women. More women than men show up on Election Day.
Regardless of what your political preference is: who do you think they are more likely to be inclined to vote for. A 78-year-old man who keeps insisting that America’s yesterdays were much better?
Or a woman who is 20 years his junior?
* Willem Meiners is the Editor of De Daily Dutchman.
