What’s Ailing America
Our nation, while great in its origins and its opportunities, is ailing and past due for a check-up.
"It's never paid to bet against America. We come through things, but it's not always a smooth ride." -- Warren Buffett
Our nation, while great in its origins and its opportunities, is ailing and past due for a check-up.
Symptoms:
A divided populace. We don’t just have different opinions, there is a new level of vehemence and anger toward those who differ.
A coarse culture. Our nation was built for civil discourse, not verbal, drive-by Molotov cocktails delivered through political rhetoric, social media, and people screaming at each other. These days, even violence is seen as an option.
Degradation of the vote. In winner-take-all primaries, essentially states are voting, not people. The same is true of the electoral college. We have had too many elections in which the candidate with the most votes lost the election.
Extremism. The two parties are becoming bizarrely extreme, which is necessary to differentiate themselves from each other and to vilify those of the other party.
Legislative paralysis. Our government depends on debate and compromise that leads to a decision, but the “sides” are not talking to each other as our nation has fallen behind in so many ways.
Uncompetitive legislative districts. They have been drawn to benefit the party in power, who, incidentally, draws the districts.
Holding onto power. Our founders envisioned citizen politicians, not professionals who hold on to power as long as possible. Our current presidential candidates being prime examples.
Unreliable media. Cable news is the propaganda arm of the political parties. There is a lot of opinion presented, but few facts. They report the status of the horse race, i.e., elections, but provide little depth on the issues. On local races it is difficult to find any meaningful information. Social media, of course, is an even worse mess.
Money. It takes millions of dollars to win any sort of national race. It is waste that opens the door to corruption. Odds are on the one with the most money.
Conspiracy theories. Trust in our government is at an all-time low. So, the time is ripe to gin up conspiracy theories based on half-truths and lies that work to benefit a particular candidate or office holder.
This is just a starter list. Our national ailments are so many they are like a cancer that has metastasized through all its systems. But there are treatments. Most of the time they are not hard to figure out. What is lacking is lacking is political will and courage.
Treatments:
Have a national leader who has the courage to turn away from party politics and set an example of how to compassionately communicate and work together for solutions with those who differ, rather than do the party’s bidding.
Enact election reform that elevates the individual vote. The politicians will have to earn every vote and not just campaign in the swing states.
Eliminate political parties, or at least require joint, bilateral sponsorship of bills.
Have a neutral agency draw legislative districts.
Enact campaign reform. Have a neutral group do fact sheets and debates. Severely limit the money spent on trying to get elected.
All these things will make it harder for the politicians to manipulate the system and fool the populace. Some of these things have been done on the state level already, so they have a track record.
Resources:
There is a rapidly increasing level of intolerance toward the way thing are, and there are numerous groups that have organized to make a difference. Here are three.
Has a blueprint of values and aspirations shared by many Americans. This is probably the best and brightest political hope, for people fed up with the two-party candidates. They also run a Problem Solvers Caucus in Congress.
The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation
Is creating a counterforce in society powered by community-led change to get on a more equitable, fair, just, inclusive, and hopeful path forward. They have significant success on the community level, which is the easier level in which to enact real change.
Empowers the 87% of Americans frustrated with extreme political and cultural divisions with the skills to engage across our differences and move our country forward.
There are many more non-partisan organizations that are uniting like-minded people to work together for meaningful change. This brief list is representative, providing a national, political option, a local, community option, and a relational option.
There is hope. This country has worked through a lot of rough times. It all begins with one person who is tired of “cursing the darkness and decides to light a candle.”
Good article. I would love to see those positive Treatments actually put in place.