What else needs to be said?
This is something I have been watching and thinking about for quite some time. As the Boomer generation begins staring at its own mortality, I ask myself
“How will I and my generation’s impact be remembered?”
Being born in the 1950’s, it was quite a time of ascendancy for the US and its middle class. Even as a child of newly emigrated parents, you could still sense the growth and opportunity available. It was not an easy life. But we had our comforts. Technology was beginning to point to more marvelous inventions and possibilities. And after the launch of Sputnik, SPACE became a thing. Limits seemed to melt away in terms of what we could achieve. It was going to be an incredible future. JFK gave us a leader the rest of the world admired and loved. Traveling to places like Europe, you felt an admiration and respect for our country and our people. Interstate highways, Boeing 747, color TV etc. were transformative giving even greater mobility and power to the middle class. We had dark days with the Civil Rights movement, the Cuban missile crisis, the assassinations of the Kennedys, MLK, along w Malcolm X. And then there was Vietnam. Throughout it all, however, the middle class was the bulwark of American society. Science was central to our progress, civics was an important subject in order to understand our system of government. We were taught about geography and where other countries were. Even the names of their capitals. It was an enlightening period where watching the Jetsons was like watching where our own future was headed.
Unfortunately, I am not optimistic about the restoration of our credibility in the world. As a nation, we have been sitting on our WWII laurels for way too long. And the election of Trump, by a minority of the population, along with subsequent reversals of long standing US policies, now has our allies looking elsewhere. My pessimism stems from viewing developments over the last 20+ years of what appears to have been a well orchestrated and executed strategy resulting in a coup d’etat by the minority. Call me a conspiracy theorist, but those “think tanks” were not funded for the general benefit of mankind. Specifically, I would highlight the following as an indication of how difficult it will be in getting our democracy back:
1. Elimination of the Fairness Doctrine.
2. Ignoring/non-enforcement of anti-trust laws beginning w Reagan
3. Aggregation and consolidation of media outlets under the control of a few conglomerates such as Sinclair, Clear Channel, Comcast, Disney, and Fox.
4. The Internet and cable have facilitated market segmentation to the point of allowing the user to eliminate any information or views which may run counter to their preferred belief system. The micro-targeted messaging implemented during the 2016 election is the latest weaponization of that capability. Facebook is now the perfect tool for a political group or party interested in identifying both supporters and opponents of their agenda. In conjunction with a militarized police force that creates the potential for population control. I know this may sound apocalyptic, but the components are there.
5. A Supreme Court stacked, thanks to McConnell, in such a way as to legitimize the theft of our democracy and enforce laws intended to create an underclass. Citizens United comes to mind which overturned One Man, One Vote and established One Dollar, One Vote.
6. Continued legitimization of gerrymandered representation. Along w Voter ID and the Kobach Cross Check program, all of this is designed to maintain control of the majority by the minority. BTW, the Electoral College is gerrymandered by giving unequal weight to votes on a per capita basis. As an example take the case of California v Wyoming. Each electoral vote for California represents nearly 6 times the population of Wyoming.
7. The continued advancement by the GOP of gun and assault rifle proliferation in the hopes of establishing a shadow militia. We saw signs of that during the standoff at the Bundy Ranch.
8. Continued adherence to “Trickle Down” economics. Calling this an economic theory is an intentional lie. It is meant as a social re-engineering program. Under Trickle Down, the general populace agrees to a status of second class citizenship acknowledging or accepting that their livelihood and well being is based on whatever the capitalist/investor class allows them to have. In other words, the populace accepts serfdom. Debt then becomes an effective means of maintaining that status. College student loans effectively subjugate the next generation of debtor.
9. Continued effort to privatize education under the guise of “choice” and through charter schools. This also help defund teachers unions, often characterized as a major source of “liberal” support and thought.
There are other indicators of the methodical erosion of our democracy that I can point to. Stepping back, one gets the sense that the “choke points” are increasingIy under the control of fewer and fewer people. This would be consistent with the general feeling that the government is not working for the people. And it isn’t. I am pessimistic about our ability to reverse these trends. At least not within the current system. It would seem to require a revolutionary and herculean effort which would outlast at least my lifetime. And that is what is so terribly frustrating. In the meantime, it appears that the world community has recognized the fundamental change in the national character of the United States. And so we see initial steps towards bypassing and diminishing the influence our country will have on world events. Sometimes even with the encouragement of our own government. It isn’t that the “arc of history” won’t ultimately bend towards justice and righteousness. Its that I won’t be around to see it. I fear that the time our generation has left on this mortal coil won’t allow us the opportunity to see our own redemption. To witness the turning back towards the light of knowledge and discovery. To the course we thought we were on in our youth. Are we really going to leave this “3rd rock from the sun” in a condition worse off than when we showed up? Is Trump the lasting image of our once great nation? That thought just really pisses me off.
