31 Aug Perplexed

“Don’t judge today’s political parties by their historical names.” 

TLR recently received the following missive:

Dear TLR:

I’m a Reagan Republican, a dyed-in-the-wool conservative who’s proud of the Republican Party’s accomplishments over the last 175 years. Like Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Bill Buckley and Ronald Reagan, I believe in saying what I mean and meaning what I say. Unfortunately, that isn’t true of today’s Republican leaders…, but then again, it also isn’t true of the Democrats. Instead of sticking to their historical roots by advocating and executing policies that further the interests of the country as a whole – albeit from different perspectives –, each Party is following a populist agenda intended to appeal to extremist constituencies. From my RINO perspective, those who now call themselves Republicans are driven by radically different policy goals and most are accurately labeled “MAGAs.” Democrats today have become “Neo-Socialists.” Neither extreme is mainstream and neither serves America’s interest.

The American public understands that we are living at a time when America lacks strong, visionary leadership. It also understands that today’s America is faced with unprecedented challenges, some to its prosperity, others to its international standing, and yet others to its very existence. For example, the Doomsday Clock – which measures how close the world might be to a nuclear holocaust – stands at 90 seconds to midnight, the closest it’s ever been. There are escalating major power conflicts in Ukraine, the Middle East, Taiwan, Central Africa, Venezuela, etc.; add to those “hot wars” the mounting anti-globalization “cold war” contests between democracies and autocracies; then there’s the ticking time-bomb of an aging international boom-and-bust cycle where national and corporate debts far exceed governments’ and businesses’ abilities to repay; mix in the rapid technological/AI changes that are stacked on top of ongoing agricultural, industrial and biotechnical revolutions, the demonstrable climate transformations that are having a powerful impact on living conditions and immigration pressures and may soon threaten global food supplies, and the increasingly polarized intra-country economic and political divides between far-rightists and far-leftists. The depth and variety of these risks should scare America’s leaders. They sure as hell scare me! But neither Party is talking about making the necessarily difficult – and terribly unpopulist – policy decisions. Neither has articulated a platform designed to increase America’s wealth and productivity. Sure, some of their policies increase their constituents’ wealth, but none increases America’s wealth. No policy mix is grounded in a well-trodden path of successful economic policy-making. Both Parties’ scripts are about retributive or redistributive policies that boil down to crass vote-buying.

The solutions are not complex. They begin by addressing the obvious and yet willfully ignored underlying problem: 54% of American adults read below a sixth-grade level, and nearly one in five adults reads below a third-grade level. No nation can compete in the 21^st Century with that degree of knowledge and learning deficiency. Democracy dies without an educated voting public…, and that is precisely what has been happening. No wonder America’s politicians recoil from addressing the realities – and the root problems – that their constituents cannot comprehend. Instead of explaining the steps necessary to reverse America’s decline, America’s politicians have motivated the voting public to react to increased economic inequality with grievance and resentment and to vote for populism over realism. The rise of social media and the decline in reading proficiency are interrelated. Improving education takes time and effective leadership. This past January, you addressed the abysmal performance of America’s students in math, reading and science and called for radical change in America’s education system. Similar calls for improved education and increased educational opportunities have proven ineffective. Neither of America’s Political Parties has proposed even a passable national education policy for America’s children, yet alone for its adults…, which are necessities for America’s survival and success. No wonder voters are mad as hell. No wonder they are embracing populism. Repeating the failed policies of the past is not a solution. Yet, that is precisely what both Political Parties are offering. Their populist policies are a sop to grievances. They threaten effective government, democracy, the rule of law, property rights, the sanctity of contracts…, and national survival.

Both Parties spew platitudes about bringing prosperity to America, but say nothing about where the money to pay for that prosperity will come from. The answer should be obvious – it can come only from ever-increasing productivity gains … and those productivity gains can come only from a better-educated public. And, yet, Democrats talk primarily about inequality – taxing the rich and increasing support for the poor – and Republicans talk primarily about nationalism – taxing trade and cutting ties with the rest of the world – and reducing government spending. Yes, America needs more tax revenue and necessarily must spend less, but neither Party has a formula that, in balancing the two, results in improved productivity. Neither is talking about the connection between productivity and education or about improving Americans’ level of knowledge and understanding.

The leader of my Grand Old Party has promised to learn from the mistakes he made when he was President in 2017-21. That should be a good thing, but it is not. Candidate Trump has promised that his brain trust will not include Milleys, Haspels, Boltons or Barrs. Instead, he has indicated that he will rely on Patels, Bannons and Stones, acolytes who will not question his instincts. That is not to say that a Harris-Walz Administration can pull together a successful policy team either. Candidate Harris has a different level of inexperience and opaqueness. From where would a President Harris source her Cabinet? The Biden Administration did not prove itself terribly capable over its 3.5 years, and despite serious missteps, there was an absence of accountability. Candidate Harris needs to set out her policy goals – as well as her Cabinet selections – well before Election Day.

Where does that leave America? A friend recently sent me the following. It articulates one of my greatest fears: “It is hard to understand how people who have achieved significant political power can fail to consider the lessons of history, of action and reaction, event and interpretation, and carelessness. If a global power treats its allies worse than its adversaries, reneges on or overcomplicates its agreed obligations, and/or creates confusion instead of clarity, the natural result is the encouragement of adventurism by adversaries and enemy countries. Deterrence is sacrificed, and unnecessary damage and destruction can occur. War is catalyzed by weakness, indecision and unreliability as frequently, and dangerously, as by threats and outright aggression.”

Sincerely,

Perplexed

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Finally (from a good friend)