For the past five months, I’ve had the honor of speaking with thousands of neighbors around the Shenandoah Valley and the Alleghany Highlands. The more stories I’ve heard, the harder I find it to distill the people of Western Virginia into a few hundred words.
I’ve spoken to young people looking for work who know that their prospects in this job market are growing increasingly bleak while the narrative about a strong stock market and the technology revolution driven by AI and billionaires reflects less and less their day-to-day reality.
Author
- Pete Barlow is a candidate for the Democratic Party nomination in the Sixth District in the 2026 election cycle.
I’ve spoken to older retirees who have a secure future with pensions and Social Security, but who worry every day about the future they’re leaving for their grandchildren which promises more economic uncertainty and global instability.
I’ve spoken to people of all stripes on both sides of the political aisle who may not agree on what better looks like, but are united in knowing that the system we have is not it.
People across the board agree our healthcare system is completely broken, that we need term limits and a better tax system. People on all sides have told me they want a better future for their kids, clean water, good schools, and neighbors they can count on.
Despite all we agree on, our tribalism is killing us. The division we see around this nation is driven more by political parties and rhetoric than it is by ideology. Over the past 10 years, there has been a wealth transfer in this nation to the tune of $97 trillion from the bottom 90 percent to the top 1 percent. Median income today, adjusted for inflation, is less than it was in 1973. A handful of men own more wealth than over half of the nation.
While we could be looking up at the obscene wealth and depraved lifestyles at the very top, we have bought into lies and divisiveness that keep us plebeians fighting amongst ourselves while the billionaires continue their grift.
I decided to run for Congress because I’ve seen government working at its best, and I’ve witnessed government at its worst; when it is being run by those who would rather have us divided and in decline than unified and striving for something greater. I have ideas about how it could be vastly improved and I’m willing to do that work, and I’m willing to work with others to get it done. To me, there is no other way.
Don’t let pundits and party leaders tell you that fighting is about speaking louder and playing legal games. The real fight is having the courage to engage in hard conversations, challenging our own ideas and building patience for others’.
Over these past months, I’ve had the honor to witness the real beauty of people who live in this wide Valley, and I know that we can do better. We owe it to our children to talk to each other regardless of party. If we do that, the sky is the limit.
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