So..how did we get to Never-Never Land?
As the increasingly surreal incoming administration rolls out its roster of incompetent-to-insane nominees, proposes to eliminate constitutional checks and balances and empower man-child Elon Musk to decimate the federal government, it may serve us well to take a step back and identify which elements of the American status quo brought us to this place.
I have posted a number of discrete analyses–some my own, some from others. Those separate observations, however useful or relevant, fail to point us to useful solutions, fail to suggest what we will need to do when the fever subsides.
The various elements that contributed to Trump’s receipt of (under) 50% of the vote (as the votes have been counted, the thinness of his margin has become more obvious) include the interaction of economic unfairness with the information/disinformation environment, and widespread civic ignorance.
Those elements, working together, fed the multiple bigotries still rampant in American society.
There really are no short-term fixes for the widespread lack of basic civic knowledge and engagement. Heather Cox Richardson recently noted a study showing that people who paid “a great deal” of attention to political news voted for Harris +6, while those who paid “none at all” went +19 for Trump. Many of those voters obtained what little news they did get from the right-wing propaganda network I’ve previously referenced.
It’s easy to sneer at people who make no effort to understand and engage with the world they live in, but those of us who are financially comfortable need to recognize how different life is for people struggling to put food on their tables. When every day is consumed by the effort to make an inadequate paycheck stretch, when a flat tire or sudden illness increases financial hardship, accessing the news–let alone trying to confirm its accuracy– becomes a luxury you can ill afford. That’s why the enormous gap between not just the rich but also the secure middle-class and the rest is at the very base of our other problems.
Stable democracies have large middle classes. Ours has continued to shrink.
There is a mountain of research confirming the importance of economic justice to political life (and another mountain confirming that economic justice produces more robust economies). Inadequate and underinclusive social safety nets exacerbate social tensions. Studies tell us that people in impoverished households experience cognitive stresses that affect IQ, and that children from impoverished families in poor neighborhoods lack access to nutrition and good schools.
Economic deprivation accounts for much civic and political disengagement, while America’s current corporatist economic system is deeply implicated in the proliferation of disinformation. The plutocrats who benefit from a rigged economy don’t just deploy lobbyists and buy influence with political donations. The business model of Fox News and its progeny is based upon delivering the propaganda that reinforces the plutocrats’ dominance by assuring their audience that poverty (especially of Black people) is the result of laziness and/or moral deficit and wealth is evidence of brilliance, hard work and God’s approval.
I am a huge proponent of market capitalism, but a working capitalism requires a level playing field, and a level playing field requires adequate regulation. A working market economy also requires an accurate assessment of the nature of the public goods that markets cannot provide. Properly regulated markets are marvelous mechanisms for producing all manner of consumer goods, but (as I have argued repeatedly) health care and education are not consumer goods.
We are about to experience extreme social and governmental upheavals. Much–indeed, most–of what Trump, Vance, Musk et al want to accomplish is immensely unpopular. In the linked Richardson Letter, she notes that one of the largest programs that would be cut by Trump’s new (and illegitimate) “Efficiency Department” proposal would be veterans’ medical care.
The arrogance of his ridiculous cabinet choices and his evident belief that he can ram those choices down the throats of the spineless Republicans in the Senate may prove to be a miscalculation. (Some of them might actually grow a pair, although I’ll be the first to admit that the jury on that is out.)
All of this points to an important task of the resistance. While we are working to delay or stymie the most damaging goals of this administration–the intended concessions to Putin and other autocrats, the decimation of social programs, the assaults on immigrants, education and public health, the further enrichment of the already-rich–we need to forge a working consensus on what should come next. What systemic changes will be necessary to restore and advance the American Idea?
In coming posts, I intend to address that incredibly important question.
“So..how did we get to Never-Never Land?”
“What systemic changes will be necessary to restore and advance the American Idea?”
I will throw in my 2 cents worth again; the lack of UNITY within the Democratic Party weakened them and their source of votes while the always UNITED Republican party squashed us at the polls. Democrats too busy trying to polish their egos by winning their personal battle on issues while the actual war raged on over, under and around them. The Republican voters were correct when they believed if they continued to support even the criminal element of their party, the liars and the sex offenders, along with their few remaining original GOP officials, that they could/would and DID put the party back in complete control of this once UNITED States of America. Barack Obama’s book “The Audacity Of Hope” needs to be read again before it is banned by the current GOP.
Here is another “dot” to connect and mea culpa; I keep getting E-mails about MSNBC losing viewership due to solid Trump and his mafia family news reporting. No, we don’t want to see that but we need to see that or we will lose our primary source of facts and investigative journalism, turn on MSNBC (or if you have another source of facts) even if you aren’t watching. At this time Fox News is leading the pack and Musk will put his personally owned media on the air to drive investigative journalism off of the air as corporations have destroyed our daily newspaper sources of information.
Less that one quarter of the US adult population voted for Trump.
For the last four years Trump was in the screen headlines daily bragging that only he can save the nation.
I conclude that all means that a relatively few US adults who are the safest, most comfortable humans ever to live, feared they could not be safe without him as President.
They did not earn their freedom.
And here’s the best summary of the cause for America’s demise as a society. Yes, the monied classes are doing very well while everybody else struggles … just as Karl Marx predicted:
I am a huge proponent of market capitalism, but a working capitalism requires a level playing field, and a level playing field requires adequate regulation. A working market economy also requires an accurate assessment of the nature of the public goods that markets cannot provide. Properly regulated markets are marvelous mechanisms for producing all manner of consumer goods, but (as I have argued repeatedly) health care and education are not consumer goods.
Without regulations and good, challenging schools, our brand of capitalism will fail. The fall will be precipitous. Oh. Guess who are all in on deregulation: REPUBLICANS. I don’t care which media is being watched, right-wing anything is taking dead aim at our feet.
I think it is important to support those elected officials who have so far demonstrated resistance, or at least the unwillingness to bend the knee, and let those who are belly-crawling across the floor to kiss the ring that we are watching. I can’t believe I am writing the next phrase, but that means supporting Todd Young, at least for the next two years, who refused to endorse the orange one, and will surely face the wrath for that act of relative courage.
I wonder who the Dems could get to run against him in 2026. Destiny Wells?
Mr. Young has endorsed the selections of two rather questionable nominees for the head of the FCC, Brendon Carr, who wrote the FCC chapter in Project 2025, as well as his good friend, Sean Duffy, for Secretary of the Department of Transportation. Duffy is yet another Fox News host and former Republican Wisconsin Congressman.
Young has remained silent about Gaetz and the other incompetent and unqualified nominees of his party boss. I have absolutely no confidence in his loyalty to the Constitution. Self-interest is his motivation.
A good place to start in understanding the divide in the country is a book entitled The Myth of Capitalism by Tepper and Hearn. It documents the immense consolidation in industry after industry that has occurred over the last several decades. The results: higher markups for most goods and services and lower wages, especially for those without college degrees. The middle class has been destroyed and we can see what that is doing to our politics. I fear that Lina Khan’s lonely fight against oligopolies will come to an end and things will get worse.
I think the Democrats did a fabulous job–Biden stepped aside when it became clear it was the right thing to do. He endorsed his highly qualified VP. She hit the ground running, picked a great running mate, demolished Trump in the debate, and tirelessly and joyously campaigned, particularly in swing states. She lost by a small margin, which is shrinking as all the votes come in. A couple of minor flubs did not sink her. As this article shows, the misinformation from the right thrown 24/7 to low information voters delivered Trump a narrow victory. I suspect those low information voters will be shocked at what Trump actually delivers. Unfortunately, the educated and informed among us must also suffer. Any ideas on how to dampen the right wing lie machine?
I suppose we could track the beginning of the demise of the middle class to Reagan, but as it shrinks that is of little comfort.
We must resist.
Musk’s clearly stated goal is to create hardship for the middle and lower classes—the majority of Americans. But those of us with functioning brain cells know that he and his sidekick Vivek aren’t interested in efficiency, but rather further self-enrichment. And the “suckers and losers”—veterans—are first on the chopping block. How could the real suckers and losers—the MAGAt supporters and voters—not have heard that? Yet, here we are.
There’s no interest on the right to have any kind of income equality. Poor, ignorant people are much easier to manipulate; and the rich are all about getting richer.
I can’t believe that, after all this, JoAnn is still clamoring about MSNBC being “investigative journalism.” Joe and Mika went to kiss the ring in Mar-a-Lago, which is all you need to know about MSNBC. It’s a DNC fraud.
Vern captured the oligarchy well with his hat tip to Karl Marx. As for the “united states of America,” when was that ever true? “We the People” was a marketing stunt by the oligarchy (our founders).
Ignorance is prevalent throughout the globe. Biden, in his last months in office, just gave the green light to Zelenskyy to fire US missiles deep into Russia, knowing that the CIA’s proxy war in Ukraine was very unpopular. The genocide in Palestine kept young progressives at home in this election. A statistic on Bluesky shows that Imperial County in CA (86% Hispanic) voted for Kamala over Trump, with a spread of less than 2%. Democrats have won in the past by a spread of 20% or more.
In the 30s, FDR came into power on the backs of the unions and took it to the oligarchy. He fought for the people, and the unions had his back. He could have ended the oligarchy, but he got what he wanted for the people. Obama was also mandated to take on the oligarchy, but he was a scammer, which gave rise to Trump.
2016 was labeled the year of populism, but Hillary Clinton, through the DNC and its media (CNN and MSNBC), pushed the worst candidate possible on American voters. An insider like Clinton is NOT your choice when the people want populism.
The DNC is part of the two-party controlled oligarchic system. Any change attempt will fail if the DNC remains a controlled entity. Watch closely to see who the DNC chooses to replace the lame Harrison. They will tell us who they are and what their intentions are with who they choose to lead the party. Unless they choose a strong progressive outside the oligarchy, I wouldn’t waste your time supporting the Democratic Party.
Sheila is talking about resistance, and I agree wholeheartedly, but the DNC is not a resistance party. It’s not a party taking on the role of a defender of the oppressed. It hasn’t been that for decades. Unless the party makes major changes now, any attempt to gather strength behind the party will fail. Go back and read how Obama took down Occupy Wall Street and how Biden took down the railroad union and anti-genocide protesters.
Even though ignorance might explain much of the American populace, they know enough to recognize a fraud in their ranks, and the DNC is a fraud controlled by the oligarchy we are trying to overcome.
There are other key elements in civic and political disengagement – “amusing ourselves to death”, for one. When one has given up on nearly all institutions, especially those of government, there are sports, celebrities, social media, etc.
The only thing I can suggest is more podcasts, not by intellectuals, but by smart young people who can call out a lie.
Rachel Maddow is a good podcaster, but she’s not getting the audience the left needs. The “Daily Show” would be ideal to promote the left, if Americans could identify satire and sarcasm. The fact that we have to label it up front leaves little hope for that.
Peggy – let’s see….the largest group of podcast listeners are those under 40. They didn’t show up to vote and more than last time voted for the GOP…so….
What do folks think of Stephen Spoonamore and the Duty to Warn letter he has sent to Kamala Harris? She is the only person who can request a hand count in the swing states. You can watch and listen to his conversation yesterday with Thom Hartmann about this.
Spoonamore appears to have the experience that gives him credibility.
Ezra Klein this morning on predicting what is next: “The worst result or the worst consequence of this kind of government, if that’s what we’re going to have, and of course we still don’t know yet, is that people become apathetic. They say: This is all so overwhelming, it’s so huge. I don’t even know what’s true and what’s not true anymore, and I’m just going to stay home.”
Agree except….it’s not “what’s next” – that is exactly what happened to get us here.
I watch MSNBC only and I think Nicole Wallace at 4 PM, and Rachel Maddow, Mondays at 9, offer really good analysis of what’s happening. I also watch Joy Reid although she’s very hard-hitting left but she does have good and way out of the mainstream guests, like Palestinians and Brittany Griner. I was very disappointed that Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski (also at MSNBC) went to Mara-largess to meet with the uncrowned king of America. Some folks just can’t resist being drawn to the deadly flame.
I have some friends that watch FAUX News so they can keep up with what the latest propaganda is being touted, but my blood pressure won’t let me do that. I don’t need to eat broken glass to know that it’s not good for me.
Peggy, I agree with your analysis. A friend of mine also recommended “Wiser Than Me” with Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Jon Stewart also has a podcast.
Sheila — I am SOOO looking forward to reading those suggestions for what to do. Thanks for keeping up this wonderful blog. For one thing, I think making a small monthly contribution to the ALCU might help.
While thinking about “what to do”, consider one view of where we are – from Eduardo Porter:
“To steer voters away from Trump’s “blow it all up” approach will require figuring out how to invite them into a country that feels alien to so many — a society that is continually changing to embrace new peoples, cultures and technologies, products, environmental constraints, languages, religions, forms of expression, gender identities, sexual affinities, and so on. Voters’ disgust might appear as though it is aimed at venal leaders out of touch with the salt of the earth. But it amounts to a rejection of what America is becoming.”
Different, much harder job, eh?
time for a road trip. ive been waylaid too long here in NoDak, the wife and i need to get outta this rut and see humans again. since covid the political climate here is tense even for the locals. the new arrivals from all over the u.s. who relocated here for work,climate,a living, seem to find a closed loop of locals. most of the newbies dont mingle. they are like myself,looking over territory before making claim. after tyenoil boom,ive seen a headset of employers who disregard safety more and your personal freedoms. if ya say anything,you will be disregarded in front of your working peers. its now much deeper this trump shit has become to the working class. belittle and degrade. since minorities are present,im sure the gestapo of fox and friends here in NoDak will waste no time in pointing out others for deportation for the thrill of screwing a fellow worker. hense, so will the economy here be pointed out. no workers mean no economic force to build its economy.. im just waiting to see whos gonna stoop over and chop celery in march in Yuma Az in 100 degree heat..ag will be the first to get hanged. best wishes all!
Kathy:
read deep. read the context of whatever you are watching. go deeper. have a few worthy items,keep constant vigil on them. read other work from,like journalists and same subject matter,right/left. im 40,plus years into where reagan went. im not educated,but i damn sure read. dont be affraid to have face to face conversations with others.
Thanks for this analysis, Sheila. It seems to me that you’ve hit the nail on the head: in order to understand Trump’s ascendancy, our analysis must begin with the economic realities that account for the disengagement of the underclass from politics and the ease at which they are manipulated within a media environment that feeds them targeted lies, cultivates resentment toward those who are actually blameless and relatively powerless, and leaves them ignorant about societal structures and public policy. There will certainly be room over the next two years for an emerging populism from the left (Bernie and AOC have demonstrated that). But I fear its success will require overreach by Trump’s kakistocracy that leads to dramatic and worsening economic hardships which will become impossible to hide. The good news/bad news is that recipes for those outcomes have already been scripted in Project 2025.
My family lives paycheck to paycheck, do not have college degrees, our son and family moved in when their rental was sold. This is not the dream I was promised as a child or young adult.
Regardless I have managed to keep my family focused on the bigger goal of trying to save the country before our immediate needs. As long as we can maintain, it will eventually get better.. well guess not for quite a while if ever in our remaining lifetime.
I get wanting to figure out what went wrong, now we need to know how to prepare for what’s next.
Orgs like the ACLU keep saying they will sue, but all courts lead to the SC so how is that group to help. The superintendent of Oklahoma schools is not only going to ignore the judge who struck down putting the commandments in the classrooms, he is going to show a video of himself praying for trump and buying the bibles at twice the costs. Pamela asked multiple times on whose authority is he doing it. He doesn’t need any permission he is doing it and no one is going to stop it.
Book banning became such a major issue to support ending the department of education that no one bothered to mention that kids in public schools didn’t have enough texts books or even desks before 1979. At IPS #72 I remember having to pass our book to the person behind to keep reading the lesson.
For all the positive things about school uniforms no one paid attention to the idea of simple daily decision making. Ask a millinial or gen z what they want to eat or do, the most likely answer is “I don’t know, what do you want?” Both have the mentality of Yolo or it could all be over tomorrow so…
We were told if we work hard, follow the rules and be good citizens we could achieve the dream, then they changed all the rules.
One observation is if a source which states the truth or facts is believed to be liberal, everything is a lie, if the source is believed to neutral, it’s becoming woke and is lying, it is not the source. For them there is no legitimate source.
I have a female family member that has avoided me since the election because she most likely didn’t vote and if she did it was for him. We have gotten into more than a few hearted discussions about the state of the union. I’m actually not sure what is going to happen when we are together again, I am not good at ignoring things. I am however mentally preparing to lose yet another family member if necessary.
My biggest concern is how will I get my family out of Indiana should it become necessary. How will we know when we need to flee. What if we are not allowed to leave the state, when do we attempt escaping to the coastal Americas.
Is governor Holcomb planning to bring the Saudi Arabia defenses here to help maintain order and prevent escaping since we deployed our state guardsmen to Kuwait a few weeks ago.
Many things have been scripted from Project 2025, but personalities still need to implement those scripts. I am already reading that Musk and Trump are at odds. Apparently, Trump didn’t have the “donor discussion” with Elon about taking money but not allowing that to interfere with decision-making. Both want to be King!
Their first major test is the Defense Department, which has consistently failed its audits. The DD isn’t even close to passing audits. It has lost trillions of dollars and still receives over $800 billion annually. It is also well known that defense contractors grossly overcharge the government. There are lots of opportunities here for “efficiency cuts.”
However, we are talking about cuts to the military-industrial complex. We’re also discussing cutting monies from going into the trough where Elon Musk and Peter Thiel feed. Also, Donald promised the DD even more money than they get now.
Watch how this plays out and how wrangling with doing the right thing gets bogged down by selfish interests. This will be fun to watch…
Todd – you have a “weird” sense of “fun”…..
There’s a song with a line “He fought the law, and the law won” which has changed to “He fought the law, and he won”! With all the charges and penalties off 45’s back he’s free to continue his crime wave with gusto. In 45’s last term he had all the IG’s fired that were overseeing our tax monies and is sure to repeat that in some way.
His nominated cabinet so far is sycophants looking to dominate and destroy existing structure, rules and regulations of the departments and curry favor and personally profit from their allegiance to 45. It seems to be a plus if nominees have crimes against women on their records. Only elitist power mongers that don’t mind inflicting pain on others, that will only cow tow to 45 need apply.
It’s been reported that day one 45 will call a state of emergency and bring out military to start rounding up immigrants and people on his list. That’s just the beginning.
The 4th estate will be bombarded from all levels and up will be reported as down. The shock of what’s to come will intend to immobilize and silence.
For fixing the US, I still think the solution resides within the common reforms that get talked about on this blog. The problem is that the “fix” is going to require some long-term pain, now that we’ve arrived at the current destination. The populace are fooled, largely, as the current solutions they’ve picked won’t actually help them at all. The current government and the current Supreme Court are anti-humanity.
So, of the various proposals that have been discussed, like replacing the electoral college and eliminating gerrymandering (neither of which will happen now), I think the one we must still have, and is doable, is to get rid of the current filibuster. The Republicans rely on government failure (even when they are in power). It’s time to let government work, and for the people of your country to see what that really means. This will lead to some serious short-term pain, of course, but that is the only way to get to true healing in the end. The people need to really _see_ what the two parties are about so that voting next time occurs with eyes wide open.
A better idea for the filibuster is to require speaking for the entire duration. Getting rid of it has potential serious consequences for DEMs in the future.
I suggest and hope that there is some emphasis on local politics. People need to realize how very much local politics affect their daily lives and give them a window into who they want to send to the Hill. We are in a dreadful trap here in Indiana. It needs to be broken.
James – Destiny Wells for Senate – LOL
Peggy – “Political satire became obsolete when Henry Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.” or the older “Political satire became redundant when Richard Nixon was elected President.” – both attributed to Tom Lehrer – but I’m showing my age
IMO – first the Democrats have to grow [select body part of your choice]. Biden is leaving too many court vacancies. They should be leaving zero. They should have the FBI investigate all of Trump’s nominees, due January 1.
When their time comes, if it does, statehood for DC and Puerto Rico and an expanded court on Day 1. Day 2, the ACLU should have cases going up to the Supremes to re-establish prior precedent and overturn Citizens United. More money isn’t more speech; it’s more volume to drown out opposing speech.
And of course, my other suggestion that rich Democratic donors pony up to flood the MAGAsphere with as many bots as possible spouting the truth, in verbiage created by advertising pros.