Most of my political writing is solution-oriented. This is not that.
This is the article to which I will keep referencing back while making a case for solutions that show what government can and should be doing to make life better for the citizens it represents.
The Republican Party has been strategically and systematically undermining American’s faith in government for over two and a half decades now. The ideas which Reagan spawned in the early 80’s were rebirthed on steroids by Newt Gingrich in the mid-90’s. Since then, the party has been committed to doing everything in its power to ensure that Americans see government as the problem, not the solution.
To be sure, even the best governments have flaws and can be wasteful and intrusive. However, they are also the only means by which we can collectively deal with certain issues we are unable to address individually. Loss of faith in government has directly contributed to the slow-motion disaster that is unfolding before us now.
So where have the Democrats been? Why don’t people view their politics and policies as a counterpoint to the one Republicans have been crafting about government?
The issue is that while Republicans have been making a clear case about the many ways government is lacking, and pushing that narrative at every opportunity, the Democrats narrative is far less clear. It certainly doesn’t make much of a compelling case for government.
Over the past twenty years, Democrats have mostly campaigned and governed in opposition to what Republicans are doing, essentially validating the anti-government narrative by proxy. When they do advance their own agenda, it is usually narrowly focused, incremental, and in no way part of any larger pro-government narrative.
Making matters worse, Democrats are as beholden to big-money special interest donors as the Republicans, so even when they do enjoy ‘successes’, it often isn’t viewed that way beyond the narrow corridors of Washington, or within the echo chamber of the mainstream media.
Most people’s individual experiences with government is not often positive – whether it be a speeding ticket, a fine for fishing/hunting without a license, oppressive fees and regulations to start or run a business, etc. When government does help, it often passes unnoticed, and so the idea that we would be better off without it continues to gain traction.
This is why poll after poll shows fairly broad public support for policies which Democrats ostensibly support, yet this never seems to lead to nearly that same level of support for the party itself.
The one time the Democratic Party pieced together a pro-government narrative was during Obama’s 2008 campaign, inspiring millions and giving them Hope that things might actually start to Change for the better. That hope was quickly dashed when Wall Street was rescued from the housing market crash, while ordinary Americans were left to fend for themselves.
Any that remained was mostly killed during the fight to pass Obamacare, an enormous giveaway to the health care industry that cemented a broken system into place in order to provide the most low-hanging benefits in exchange.
This gave rise to the Tea Party, with the disastrous (for Democrats) 2010 midterm soon to follow. Since then, the party and its supporters have been forced to defend this deeply flawed law against attacks, all while the cost of health care continues to skyrocket and many of the underlying problems persist.
Meanwhile, the failure to defend Americans against Wall Street gave rise to the Occupy movement, and effectively disillusioned an entire generation of voters.
Selling people on the ability of government to make their lives better, and then failing to follow through or continue to advance that narrative, has been one of the biggest failings of the Democratic Party. It far outweighs any good that might have been done during Obama’s eight years, for it so effectively undermined people’s trust in government that they turned to a charlatan like Donald Trump…with predictable results.
Now we stand at a crossroads. People have gotten a good look at what America is like when its government behaves as if it is powerless to do anything of value for those it represents. Many are rightfully horrified.
What is desperately needed is a party whose members lay out a compelling vision for what a government that works to improve the lives of its people actually looks like. A vision which addresses how government is necessary to deal with the issues we cannot fix individually, such as protecting the environment, ensuring huge corporations are playing by the rules, creating opportunity for all and providing a safety net for when misfortune befalls people through no fault of their own.
The best hope for this obviously lies with the Democrats, despite their past failings, and there are some voices within the party beginning to make this case. However, if the party as a whole finds itself unable to divorce from the politics of cronyism and continues to fail at offering a narrative to counter the anti-government one being put forth by Republicans…people will soon begin looking toward other options. In the short-term, at least, this only benefits those undermining people’s faith in government and will lead to even darker days ahead.
Let us hope we find new Democratic voices that are up to the task…though I am not wildly optimistic.
As I said, this is not meant to provide a solution. I have several which, taken together, provide the narrative to which I refer, and will be laying out my case in the weeks and months to come.
What this is meant to be is a wakeup call to deal with the reality of the danger we face, as well as a warning of what will happen if we do not acknowledge this threat and begin to offer a counter-narrative to the one that has wormed its way into the American psyche.
This is the article to which I will keep referencing back while making a case for solutions that show what government can and should be doing to make life better for the citizens it represents.
The Republican Party has been strategically and systematically undermining American’s faith in government for over two and a half decades now. The ideas which Reagan spawned in the early 80’s were rebirthed on steroids by Newt Gingrich in the mid-90’s. Since then, the party has been committed to doing everything in its power to ensure that Americans see government as the problem, not the solution.
To be sure, even the best governments have flaws and can be wasteful and intrusive. However, they are also the only means by which we can collectively deal with certain issues we are unable to address individually. Loss of faith in government has directly contributed to the slow-motion disaster that is unfolding before us now.
So where have the Democrats been? Why don’t people view their politics and policies as a counterpoint to the one Republicans have been crafting about government?
The issue is that while Republicans have been making a clear case about the many ways government is lacking, and pushing that narrative at every opportunity, the Democrats narrative is far less clear. It certainly doesn’t make much of a compelling case for government.
Over the past twenty years, Democrats have mostly campaigned and governed in opposition to what Republicans are doing, essentially validating the anti-government narrative by proxy. When they do advance their own agenda, it is usually narrowly focused, incremental, and in no way part of any larger pro-government narrative.
Making matters worse, Democrats are as beholden to big-money special interest donors as the Republicans, so even when they do enjoy ‘successes’, it often isn’t viewed that way beyond the narrow corridors of Washington, or within the echo chamber of the mainstream media.
Most people’s individual experiences with government is not often positive – whether it be a speeding ticket, a fine for fishing/hunting without a license, oppressive fees and regulations to start or run a business, etc. When government does help, it often passes unnoticed, and so the idea that we would be better off without it continues to gain traction.
This is why poll after poll shows fairly broad public support for policies which Democrats ostensibly support, yet this never seems to lead to nearly that same level of support for the party itself.
The one time the Democratic Party pieced together a pro-government narrative was during Obama’s 2008 campaign, inspiring millions and giving them Hope that things might actually start to Change for the better. That hope was quickly dashed when Wall Street was rescued from the housing market crash, while ordinary Americans were left to fend for themselves.
Any that remained was mostly killed during the fight to pass Obamacare, an enormous giveaway to the health care industry that cemented a broken system into place in order to provide the most low-hanging benefits in exchange.
This gave rise to the Tea Party, with the disastrous (for Democrats) 2010 midterm soon to follow. Since then, the party and its supporters have been forced to defend this deeply flawed law against attacks, all while the cost of health care continues to skyrocket and many of the underlying problems persist.
Meanwhile, the failure to defend Americans against Wall Street gave rise to the Occupy movement, and effectively disillusioned an entire generation of voters.
Selling people on the ability of government to make their lives better, and then failing to follow through or continue to advance that narrative, has been one of the biggest failings of the Democratic Party. It far outweighs any good that might have been done during Obama’s eight years, for it so effectively undermined people’s trust in government that they turned to a charlatan like Donald Trump…with predictable results.
Now we stand at a crossroads. People have gotten a good look at what America is like when its government behaves as if it is powerless to do anything of value for those it represents. Many are rightfully horrified.
What is desperately needed is a party whose members lay out a compelling vision for what a government that works to improve the lives of its people actually looks like. A vision which addresses how government is necessary to deal with the issues we cannot fix individually, such as protecting the environment, ensuring huge corporations are playing by the rules, creating opportunity for all and providing a safety net for when misfortune befalls people through no fault of their own.
The best hope for this obviously lies with the Democrats, despite their past failings, and there are some voices within the party beginning to make this case. However, if the party as a whole finds itself unable to divorce from the politics of cronyism and continues to fail at offering a narrative to counter the anti-government one being put forth by Republicans…people will soon begin looking toward other options. In the short-term, at least, this only benefits those undermining people’s faith in government and will lead to even darker days ahead.
Let us hope we find new Democratic voices that are up to the task…though I am not wildly optimistic.
As I said, this is not meant to provide a solution. I have several which, taken together, provide the narrative to which I refer, and will be laying out my case in the weeks and months to come.
What this is meant to be is a wakeup call to deal with the reality of the danger we face, as well as a warning of what will happen if we do not acknowledge this threat and begin to offer a counter-narrative to the one that has wormed its way into the American psyche.
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