1.
It's almost a month since that misguided, frightening mob stormed the Capitol. As I write this, it's also been several weeks since Trump left office. My house is still standing. Our divided house, pace Lincoln, is still standing as well, although desperately in need of repair.
I am writing this essay to convey a much-needed sense of relief, even optimism, for I believe the glass of our present situation is over half-full, be it ever so slightly. This coming from a person like me is saying something, for I was very worried for a while that the glass was about to fall and shatter.
Democracy has survived! The attempted coup failed. It failed for good reasons: the checks and balances that the Founding Fathers wisely put into the Constitution did check and balance the excesses of a sick man, who was (and is) as authoritative and as anti-democratic as the thugs he admires: Putin, Duterte, and Kim Jung Un, to name a few.
Even a padded Supreme Court didn't allow itself to be used as a footstool from which that 'very stable genius' expected, with the help of others, to proclaim victory, and to void the uncomfortable truth of having lost the election. If this were a country (like Belarus, for instance,) in which democracy is as popular as a can of beans would be in a butcher shop patronized by cannibals, Trump would still be president--I have little doubt about that.
Having won the War of Independence, the Founding Fathers, who wanted to safeguard America's future from despots, wrote and ratified a splendid Constitution; the separation of powers and the First Amendment are still very much in effect. Two Hundred years have given Uncle Sam enough time for these bulwarks of democracy to become second nature. Lucky for us, and unlucky for those countries that lacked them, such as Weimar Germany.
2.
I proudly assert that I smelled a rat even when there were no droppings on the pantry floor. I count myself among those who 'knew Trump's number,' a zero that would never add up even to a positive fraction; Trump and his party would reach that unifying integer, one, as quickly as a mule in Boston would arrive at the North Pole by heading south from Faneuil Hall.
Trump is a racist, a narcissist; a mean, incompetent, lazy man who had no business being president. How could one think otherwise of a person who was the head of the 'birther movement', which claimed that Barack Hussein Obama was as American as Idi Amin? etc. Unfortunately, many did, and apparently still do.
From the day after Trump's election in 2016 until now, I have written some thirty pieces about this nasty saboteur who has inflicted great damage on my country and on the world. These documents are all on my blog and have reached thousands of readers all over the world. Unfortunately, the prediction of the first essay, Small Hands Blues, namely, that Trump was too incompetent, too crooked and too scandal-prone to complete a four-year term, has, alas! been proven wrong.
Among the metaphors I used to describe the Trump presidency was that of 'the negative pyramid.' I asserted that if someone as ill and incompetent as Trump suddenly found himself at the apex of a pyramid, which his vanity had constructed solely out of imaginary, diaphanous bricks, gravity would know what to do with him; he would have met the same fate as a madman who jumped off a skyscraper imagining that he was able to soar like an eagle, but who fell like Icarus, having become as important as a dead pigeon on a busy sidewalk. He did not fall on his face because he was supported by the upper third of the pyramid made up of muddy bricks, the Republican members of the House who even now support him, Trump's pathology had brought him to the top; greedy Republicans, who love their perks and fear primaries more than they fear God, are largely responsible for keeping him at the summit of power. More problematic still is the lower two thirds, the base of the pyramid, his base.
It is beyond the scope of this article to discuss why so many, including good people, willingly got in line behind a very needy, obese, aging piper who has lead us all into a cave of despond from which it will take a long time to extricate ourselves. Broadly speaking, however, I would like to mention three reasons why his base is so, well, base. First of all is the financial support he received from the very wealthy. The rich, who have become even filthier rich during the Trump administration, want to maintain their position as the hidden puppeteers running the whole show. Their primary concern is lowering taxes, despite the great needs of everyone else. Whether America burns or not is a matter of indifference to them. Second, Trump's support comes in large degree from undereducated whites from areas devastated by globalization. The good-paying jobs of their fathers have gone. When people lose meaning in their lives, they tend to become angry. Angry voters tend to become irrational. Angry and irrational people tend to find scapegoats--in this case, Blacks, immigrants and liberals, to name a few--groups of people who have absolutely nothing to do with their plight. The third aspect is relatively new--the rise of social media. Someone said that about 30% of voters in America are ignorant and tend to vote against their own interests. This 30% has swelled astonishingly, by at least 50% in the last election. The rise of social media is at least partially responsible for a decline in critical thinking. Many like to hear their own ideas, however irrational, enforced. The internet is the ideal platform for fanatics to share the flames of their passion until they reach a level of conflagration. Could anyone imagine the absurdities of QAnon having arisen in the age of Walter Cronkite and Edward R. Morrow? (I'm old, I admit it.) How can the harm wrought by these three factors be mitigated?
3.
At the outset of this essay I asserted that there is reason for some optimism. The coup, after all, failed. We can be only slightly optimistic, however; the country remains deeply divided. Although Biden received about eight million more votes, a full 48% of the American electorate cast their ballot for an incompetent, selfish man. Yes, the Democrats received more votes than in any other election, but the Republicans garnered the second most votes in any election. If it weren't for Trump's horrible bungling of the Covid epidemic, Narcissus would probably still be in the White House.
How will we get out of this mess? It won't be easy. I must admit that I'm no expert here, but I have come up with three factors to counter the three factors mentioned in the last section, that were pivotal in causing the current political decline. First, we must increase taxes on the rich. A simple solution would be to remove the salary limit for Social Security taxes. Second, there needs to be a considerable increase in funds for education. The amount of education one has and one's ability to think critically are, without a doubt, directly proportional to each other. Third, we need a vigorous New Deal-like program to put people back to work. American infrastructure is in bad need of repair. Not only are bridges between people, but steel and asphalt bridges are in danger of collapse as well. The transition to green jobs, and the many positions this will create need to be vigorously supported.
There will always be a section of the country that is irrational and fond of conspiracy theories. However, if the undereducated become more educated; if most people are employed doing work they can be proud of, irrational behavior would be greatly reduced. Which also means that Republicans wouldn't have to take extreme positions, since they no longer would fear bein primaried if they did the right thing.
Yes, the glass is half full; but it is positioned at the edge of the resolute desk. A few more false moves and the glass will fall and shatter. These are still dangerous times! It is up to all of us to fight for democracy; it is true that we get the country we deserve. I hope that I will be more optimistic in the (near?) future. Let us take care of each other better, beginning now. Stay active, stay informed, and stay tuned.
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