I have been pondering, largely in an attempt to avoid falling into despair, the state of the world and especially the place of the USA in that global society. Let me add, in preface, that I have also thought about the role of "influencers" in today's digital morass. I am not and do not care to be an influencer, someone who tries to seduce people to adopt their beliefs or strategies based upon purported superior knowledge. I am an observer, analyst, critical thinker, and sometimes perspective taker. I do not encourage others to adopt my beliefs or opinions, but do invite others to consider facts, logic, and moral constructs and come to their own conclusions.
This brings me to an assessment of the current state of world affairs. We have a democratic republic that has withstood more than a century of developmental strife and has moved toward "a more perfect union" based upon common acceptance, if not belief in, a set of principles embodied in a foundational "constitution. Yet it is not hyperbole to say that this representative democracy stands on the brink of disintegration with the ascendance of a narcissistic despot who would be king. He has, through intimidation and fiat, with the help of wealthy oligarchs and ideological zealots, disrupted the global economy and eroded the fundamental principles of liberty, due process, and the rule of law. In his regime, whatever he declares is to become "law" and anyone who disagrees or resists becomes a criminal. Basic concepts that have been taken as universally accepted, such as innocence until guilt is proven has been overtaken by Trump Administration agents who simply declare that individuals are "criminals" or "illegals" without proof and often without any basis in fact. In his regime, the arrogation of executive power has come through the declaration of an "emergency" when there is no demonstrable or rational proof that a real emergency exists.
This usurpation of power has been used to summarily deport individuals, including citizens and sick children, to unlawful detention and to foreign concentration camps without due process, and to impose taxes in the form of tariffs without authorization or approval of Congress. The national severe weather warning system designed and established to provide detection and early warning of natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods has been disabled along with cutting funding for FEMA to help regions respond to and reconstruct damage from such natural disasters. Cancer research and access to vaccines that can prevent deadly pandemic disease have been hobbled and put in the charge of an incompetent moron who does not believe in science or vaccines. International diplomatic relations built and reinforced over the past 80 years have been undermined, if not destroyed. The United States is now viewed as both a laughingstock and an untrustworthy ally by most European nations, and as a "useful tool" that can be bribed and manipulated by middle eastern regimes that have been previously opposed for their funding of terrorism, oppression, murder of a journalist, and the attack on the US soil on 9/11. The list of degradations could go on, but the picture has been outlined.
But all of these travesties are not, in my view, the worst aspect of our current state of affairs. There is a just and rational basis for putting an adolescent in jail for the first shoplifting offense [unless the teen happens to be of color], because it is possible that the adolescent "did not know better," did not appreciate the gravity and wrongfulness of the offense. In contrast, repeat offenders are often given longer and more onerous punishment because it is accepted that the defendant was fully aware that the criminal actions were wrong, unacceptable, and commanded punishment. As a society, there are processes of evolution when the concepts of liberty, freedom, and common humanity mature and expand to embrace rights previously denied. Many Americans did not know what the American society would be like, how it could survive, without chattel slavery which had been in existence since the nation was founded. Over time, abolition developed and became accepted. For the majority of years of the republic, women were denied full citizenship and the right to vote or hold property in their own name. But suffrage and gender parity have changed and continue to evolve.
The salient point here is that the American public has been in similar circumstances before. Eras of blatant discrimination based upon skin color, gender, sexual orientation, and religion have been experienced. Denial of fair treatment, a safe working environment, and fair wages for workers has been identified and remedial actions have been established. Even the insidious and pernicious manifestations of systemic racism have been assailed by anti-discrimination laws. As a citizenry and society, we KNOW that these practices, policies, and behaviors currently manifested by the Trump Administration and condoned by Congress are WRONG. One might argue that the Trump Administration executive orders to remove certain materials from libraries, curtail and circumscribe teaching of history, and attacks on academic freedom are based upon fear that knowledge of these past wrongs is a threat to the current regime. We also know that, as a society, we can do better. The remedies are not easy or simple to establish and maintain. But the nation has experienced the kind of cruelty, injustice, and moral depravity that these current policies represent and inflict and has grown to become a more just society.
My assertion that the nation has grown and evolved is not mere speculation, but a product of eyewitness experience. I entered public education the same year that Brown v. Board of Education was handed down by the Supreme Court of the United States [SCOTUS] Prior to that, public schools segregated on the basis of race and color were legal. In junior high school, where "aptitude tests" were administered, the counselor told me that I should aspire to become a carpenter or tradesman, despite my superior test scores in math and reading, because a negro could only become frustrated by aspiring to become a professional. This was not stated in malice, but because it was then the "norm" By the time I graduated from high school, I was awarded a Vice President's Nomination to the US Naval Academy from Hubert Humphrey, who was a prime catalyst for the 1964 Civil Rights Act. I visited the Kent State University Campus within days of the national guard shooting of unarmed student protesters, and joined in the protests there and in Washington, DC. While attending law school, I worked as an intern at the EPA on a team that developed the Toxic Substances Control Act which was established to police and prevent major public environmental pollution disasters and hold large corporate polluters accountable for environmental contamination. As a lawyer, I participated in a group that planned and convened the first Conference on Diversity in the Profession ever held by the American Bar Association. While the trajectory of these events and experiences has been positive, the line has not been a straight one, or without setbacks. Other than a belief in a better society and a voice of protest, I could do nothing to prevent the assassinations, of MLK, Jr., JFK, Matthew Sheppard, Trayvon Martin, and the many other victims of a cancerous hated-inspired segment of society. But that is the point. The majority of Americans did believe in a better, more humane, inclusive, and just society. And with that belief, society evolved and did become more worthy of claiming its aspired values.
This brings us to where we are now. The regression and deterioration of American society, as well as the dismantling of American democracy did not take place overnight. It has been a process of erosion, the opposite of the process of evolution that brought salutary and more humane changes. There has perhaps always been a faction that rejected the notion of "strength through unity" in favor of a belief that "might makes right" and there is never a problem with having too much that grabbing more cannot solve. This sociopathic greedy narcissism has manipulated the fears of poor and less educated whites to believe that a loss of their power and prestige is the "fault" of those in society who do not look and think as they do. They have been told that, despite their own lack of resources and need for health care, government programs to provide such aid to the needy is a wasteful expense of taxpayer funds for the "undeserving." While diverting and distracting this manipulated "base," the current regime has put in place measures that suppress the right to vote and other democrat\c processes. A system has been established which elevates the voice of wealthy corporate and PAC funding significantly above the voice of voters [Citizens United ruling] so that control of campaign funding dictates who will be the "representatives" of "the people."
This is also a narrative we have seen BEFORE. We have seen greed and corruption take hold of the reins of power in the nation in the days of the 19th century "Robber Barons" and the "trusts" that dictated government policy and diverted public largess to a privileged few. It took major anti-imperialist wars [Spanish-American War; Boxer Rebellion, WW1, etc.] the financial "Panic of 1907" and the "Great Depression," along with organized pressure from Progressive "Muckrakers," and the 19th Amendment [women's right to vote] to establish laws and standards to curb excessive greedy and power-hungry would-be despots. While seemingly simplistic, the gist is that it took major economic and geopolitical upheaval to dislodge the centralization of power and establish some level of democracy.
There are mechanisms still in place that ostensibly enable constraints and "checks and balances" regarding illegal and unjust usurpation and exercise of executive power. The question is whether those who have seized power have so weakened the foundations of a representative democracy that those tools may no longer be operative or effectual. Like the repeat offender analogy, the question is an open one whether the American public that SHOULD have known better and has seen the types of cruelty, inhumanity, and disregard to the rule of law will have to pay a heavier burden of punishment to recover a functioning representative democracy, or whether that form of governance and an inclusive societal ethic is gone forever.
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