The current GOP and 45 aren’t a cause, they’re a symptom of decades of the decline of our citizenry into ignorance and lack of civic involvement skills. I can think of a couple of factors, though I’m sure there are more. We’ve had conservative extremists using slick propaganda and manipulation. We’ve had slashing of education funding and high school curricula no longer including mandatory civics class. As a consequence, in 2016 we had citizens voting for a dangerously unfit candidate for President with the criteria that “he’ll shake things up.”
I can think of only one way to remedy this, and I wish it were doable.
We could bring about a return of sanity to our politics if we brought back mandatory civics classes in high school, rigorous civics classes requiring a passing grade of at least 80 percent. Schools would set that as a requirement for a high school diploma.
That isn’t enough. We need to add to that mandatory civics re-testing every two years, also requiring a passing grade of at least 80 percent. The tests would be updated for current events, current policy initiatives, current elected officials, and other topics. We could not bar anyone from voting if they don’t pass, but we could impose a fine or the loss of a privilege of some kind until a citizen earned the required passing grade. The privilege would be something that matters to the citizen, something that would hurt if it were withheld, something that citizen would be highly motivated to earn back.
We’re suffering dire consequences for civic illiteracy. Even if my flight into fancy isn’t practical, we need to restore civic literacy and a moral compass somehow. We need to restore the skills of civic involvement. It’s our only chance of emerging from this crisis stronger and wiser.