OCTOBER 25, 2022 -As we enter the home stretch before the mid-term elections, I shake my head and mutter—now write—“Seriously?” If sobering matters weren’t in play, I’d think that C students are running for student council, appealing for the votes of D and F students. The A and B students, meanwhile, race from class to class, dodging spit wads, dispirited by the circus-zoo that their once proud school has become.
Red candidates and their surrogates hammer away at:
- The “Economy” – a. . . . without citing (other than inflation) specific issues—A labor shortage? Low wages? Supply chain problems? A surging dollar (and cheaper imports)? A decline in equity values?—and without understanding the causal nexus between such issues and “Democratic policies,” real or perceived, past, present, or prospective; and b. . . . ignoring (or “ignorant of”?) the reality that the “economy” is a globally integrated system of production, distribution, sale and purchase of goods and services with an annual GDP of over USD $85 trillion, of which the U.S. share is below 25%—a complex amalgam of trade; labor and capital (debt and equity); government regulation and fiscal and monetary policy (think not only the U.S. but the UK, the Eurozone, Brazil, India, and East Asia); and most critically, billions of consumers world-wide;
- “Inflation,” as if it were apart from the “Economy,” with no mention or analysis of the multiple causes, many beyond the control of Reds or Blues;
- “Crime”—resisting all meaningful and reasonable gun control and embracing the ultimate crimes of our era, namely, the attempted murder of democracy and the contempt for national security committed by You-Know-Who, orange head of the Reds; and
- “‘Illegal’ immigration—ignoring (a) the causes of migration; (b) labor shortages in the U.S.; and (c) the fact that applicants for asylum aren’t “illegal.”
Blue candidates and their supporters counter with:
- The Reds’ insistence on retrograde, governmental interference with women’s choices—a serious issue, but not the only one;
- Garbled and apologetic references to the IRA (“Inflation Reduction Act”);
- An occasional indirect, milquetoast reminder that Reds are no longer a political party but a dangerous personality cult.
Neither Reds nor Blues highlight our biggest threats: climate change and our continued dependence on fossil fuels; public health and strains on our medical system; national infrastructure in dire need of repairs and upgrades; Putin’s cataclysmically criminal war in Ukraine and its destabilizing effects on the world order; the chronic epidemic of gun violence; and wealth and income disparity . . . to name a few.
Our “middle school student council” election campaign occurs in a culture that is both awash in information and dangerously shallow in understanding; a society in which attention spans are the duration of iPhone screen impressions tailored by algorithms to fit our narrow pre-dispositions. We thus get what we seek: hedonistic diversions, simplistic answers to complex questions; and we get what we deserve: higher costs and lower standards. Perhaps it’s the nature of democracy in an age of steroidal information and disinformation in a populous, pluralistic, trans-continental nation rooted in #MeNow. But we can do better—especially if we all do better; if together we transform our culture into #WeFuture—starting now.
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© 2022 by Eric Nilsson
