The Democratic Challenge
The Republican Party has falsely claim ownership of Patriotism (by defining it as America First), Freedom (by defining it as deregulation of essential constraints) and Public Service (by defining efficiency as its standard).
The Democratic Challenge
Edward Renner
The distinction between a conservative Republican and a liberal Democratic Party is no longer useful. The takeover of the Republican Party by Trump and the right-wing MAGA movement has left the nation without a clear positive alternative. The stakes are totally different now. There is a choice before us – either create a functional democracy that is relevant to life in the 21st Century or default into an alternative authoritarian style of government.
We as a nation, as individuals, and our essential institutions – education, science, and technology – need to move forward into a new and challenging future by focusing our beliefs, values, and actions on true Patriotism, Freedom, and Public Services. There is no viable future if we anchor our beliefs, values, and actions on Nationalism, Prohibitions and Censorship, and Privatization as the Republican Party is now doing; those policies are not compatible with living successfully in the globalized modern world.
True Patriotism Not Extreme Nationalism
True American patriotism dictates policies based on national values and beliefs – such as democratic processes --to achieve political, economic, and social ends. In contrast, extreme Nationalism seeks power, economic advantage, and social influence by any means; my country right or wrong is false patriotism. It is the difference between character and integrity verses self-serving indifference. Extreme Nationalism is incompatible with the patriotic values that make America a good neighbor and the envy of the world. Patriotic citizens take pride when the United States provides leadership in maintaining a global world order in which all countries can thrive cooperatively together.
Democracies are supposed to reflect the character and values of their citizens. In contrast, authoritarian countries typically reflect the personal character of their leader – such as Putin’s Russia. In the world’s view, the United States is becoming more like Russia, than the Uncle Sam they used to know. It is time to turn our back on the self-serving character of Trump and reclaim the national character of the best of us.
As a simple example, Trump’s tariffs, which targeted Canada, stimulated Canadian proposals to open a seaport on the Hudson Bay’s western shores, extend an oil pipeline to it, and mine rare minerals in the Ring of Fire north of Thunder Bay, all aimed at an Asian alternative to the US market. Economically, this would be disruptively expensive for Canada, but in the long-term feed a transition from the US being their good neighbor to the south to those people next door.
The isolation that results from extreme nationalism undermines the political, economic, and social beliefs and values that define America’s character.
Freedom, Not Prohibitions and Censorship, Based Government
Personal freedoms require a transparent democratic process to establish regulations that protect the freedom of everyone. We are not free to drive our car at any speed, anytime, in any place, because we may harm others. Freedom carries with it many limitations and responsibilities. Political freedom ensures the ability to criticize elected officials but also requires absolute restrictions against retribution. Economic freedom allows for corporations to determine production conditions but also includes constraints – like speed limits – such as a minimum wage standard and the right for workers to form a union for collective bargaining. Social freedom permits the right to practice whatever religion you wish, or none, but also requires the complete separation of church and state. The call for “deregulation” is often a form of “unfreedom” when it results in the elimination of essential constraints for protecting freedom.
Prohibitions and censorship reverse the order by telling you what you cannot or must do, and freedom becomes a residual without reference to whether the prohibitions and orders needlessly infringe on the rights and freedoms of others. Prohibitions and censorships reflect authoritarian power to do as I say, not as you wish within transparent responsible constraints.
Public Services Not Privatization
The revenue to make the government work comes largely from taxes. Tax cuts benefit the wealthy at the expense of ordinary people who rely daily on access to many public services to function within their own resources – roads, airports, communication, commerce, schools, science, education, healthcare – to name some of the most essential. The loss of free school lunches or Medicaid for their children does not have an impact on the wealthy whose children go to a private school and whose employer provides premium healthcare benefits. Tax-cuts return comparatively small amounts of money to the average person – not enough to cover the additional costs of privatization of essential public services, from National Parks to old age security. Tax cuts do return large amounts of money to the wealthy who are using their political power to increase their own wealth at the expense of others.
Over the course of our modern history, our government has accounted for about 20% of the GDP to keep all the moving parts in synchrony. Although the constitution had nothing to say about air traffic controllers or the regulation of radio waves, as the world became more complex, so did governmental responsibilities at a parallel rate. We are now in the emerging era of artificial Intelligence which discards human roles and occupations, and with them, the personal identity of individuals. Our security, freedom and identity now require our government to provide a coherent new system in which to function, and the means for individuals to thrive in a new era, free of the costs of privatization of the blooming benefits of modern scientific and technological progress.
A Positive Agenda for Going Forward
As
a Nation we need to put Nationalism, Prohibitions and Censorship, and
Privatization in the rearview mirror, and create a new day of true Patriotism,
Freedom, and Public Service as the means to meet the new urgent challenges of
the modern world. There is a clear positive legislative and policy alternative
for creating a functional democracy that is relevant to life in the 21st
Century, rather than defaulting into an alternative authoritarian style of
government.
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Also see the “Disruptions of Change” and the process of “Forums for a Future” by Edward Renner for meeting the challenges of life in the 2st Century.
