AI assisted (minimally)
. . . Until it Doesn't - Pt II
American Tectonics
I started this post last year about this time. In fact, even before Pt I and I have been working on it ever since with many changes and updates. I was also wise enough to run it past my two very smart daughters who gave me some invaluable insights into the many things about which I was (and am) ignorant.
As with Part I, this does not cover anything that has happened since the election. That would require months more of revisions.
I hope you find it worth your valuable time.
Geologists tell us that over 200 million years ago the earth’s continents were all bunched together making a single huge one they named Pangea. Then over time violent forces pulled this large landmass apart into the world we see today. It occurs to me that there is a litany of forces at work today trying to pull our American Pangea apart.
A good place to start is identifying some those complex issues leading to this fracture. Many of these I have written about before but it is still painful to catalog them all in one place - but it is very hard to fix what you can't identify. (Of course, finding politicians who actually want to solve problems is the bigger problem.)
Anyway, these are strictly my (non-sarcastic) observations.
The persistent issue of race remains a significant challenge in our country, lingering beneath the surface for most of our history. Now, as new generations confront and acknowledge the enduring impacts of centuries of systemic racism it still proves to be a major divisive force. Some dismiss this acknowledgment with the epithet, "wokeism" - but others see it as a term for empathy. It is a word that perhaps has been misinterpreted or taken to extremes in both directions but it is no less divisive. This tension manifests in both political strife and acts of violence. (Right or wrong, it almost certainly impacted the last election.)
Unlike race, gender identity/expression and sexual orientation have often been ignored in the country's history, emerging as significant topics only in recent years.
We thought sexual orientation rights had been resolved and enshrined in law but it would appear they are under threat again. Gender identity, on the other hand, is a relatively new and obviously very challenging topic. It has perhaps not been communicated or understood properly causing fear and anger for many people on either side of the issue. As usual, the victims are the subjects of this debate and their families. Sadly, there are those who wish to simply send these issues - and some of our fellow citizens - back into dark anonymity resulting in fear and anger on all sides. Clearly, this was another factor in the last election.
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Yeah, but, but, but the bathrooms - and sports!
(OMG, look out - according to the NCAA there's almost 10 college trans athletes competing!)
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Another large crack in our Pangea is the economy. America has always been a land of opportunity, a so-called meritocracy, with an economy that provided a means for people to move up and allow folks to attain a solid middle-class life with their hard work. That meritocracy has now been replaced by a huge and growing crevasse between those at the top and the formerly middleclass workers stuck in the low paid jobs that our financialized service economy now provides. It has become a society that now values who you know rather than what you know.
The gap has widened for many of those same people by a health care system that leaves folks either without coverage or crippled by debt. At the same time, it is literally bankrupting the country (and causing extreme anger evidenced by the recent murder of a healthcare exec.) Need nursing home or memory care services? Better be rich - if you can even find space.
Forget affordable housing, it is almost a myth. In fact, all housing is so expensive that it remains out of reach for a large proportion of hard-working Americans, especially young families. I am positive if these conditions had existed when I was a kid (from a lower working-class family) we would almost certainly have been homeless.
Our education system also contributes to this sense of decline. It is failing many of our youth at the primary and secondary level and is so expensive at the post-secondary level that many students are left with debt for the rest of their lives - if they can even attend college. Again, the specter of class and money further divides our students into haves and have nots.
Politically, our monolithic two-party system, dominated by big money and lifetime politicians, fails to prioritize the common good. This most recent election offers the perfect example of how dysfunctional it is. For example, each party originally offered two old, unpopular candidates for the highest office in the land one of whom tried to overthrow the government and is a convicted felon and sex offender (and he won!) The other was so unpopular that his own party discarded him to be replaced with a decent but apparently unpopular woman of color. Don't, however, be confused by a false equivalence of the parties. One party still vaguely cares about governing but the other has
given up on that and simply wants a dictatorship.
Adding to the stresses are several unique and troublesome aspects of the very Constitution that has held us together for 237 years. Among them, peculiar rules: Electoral College anyone? The ever-popular 2nd Amendment? The interpretation of this ancient document is left up to the whims of a Supreme Court that can appear capricious and often nonsensical (corporations are people?) Also, the unusual structure of our government with the sharing of power within and among federal and state governments is causing great tension as the various constituencies choose to deal with all these forces pulling at our country in different and contradictory ways, pushing us further apart.
In addition, America
has always been an experiment with a premium on maximum individual freedom with all its benefits. Yet freedom
can be a double-edged sword. We are seeing the dull edge today as freedom is used to impose personal wants over societal needs, intensifying discord. We even threaten those who try to keep our country running, people like election judges, school board members, scientists, and jurors.
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| That's exactly what I thought! |
We can’t ignore the rumble we hear every day; it's the death rattle of the truth. In an era of partisan mass media, social media, and polarized politics, discerning truth from falsehood can be very challenging. Ironically, many of us embrace this as we seek - and find - versions of the "truth" that agree with our own opinions.
The quaking we feel is caused by the trembling of our democracy. All these forces that are rending our country are causing some to even question the value of democracy itself, leading them to discard the Constitution and look to authoritarians to solve these complex problems.
Finally, perhaps the most powerful tectonic force is America’s growing diversity. America has always been a nation of immigrants; being a melting pot has been the hallmark of this country. Things have changed, though, as our population has become ever more diverse. The percent of our white (non-Hispanic) population was 90% as recently as 1950. It is now less than 60% of the country and heading to a simple plurality (< 50%) in 20 years. In my opinion, the recognition of this reality underlies much of the angst and anger of many of my fellow white (dare I say old, Anglo-Saxon Protestant?) majority. Perhaps we sense the ebbing of our long-standing dominance
of most aspects of our society - our entire culture - worrying that the
reality of the future will be unlike our idealized memories of the past. (Which,
of course, was never as we remember it.) This has led to an unprecedented - and brutal - assault on not only the undocumented but legal immigrants as well. Even worse, on the very idea of minorities participating in the American "dream."
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| I've got your DEI right here |
I haven't even mentioned global climate change -"Oh, it's just weather" - and its enormous costs that are just beginning to affect us (see your car and property insurance.) Or homelessness, lack of child care, food insecurity or declining demographics - or a thousand other "complex" things. Also, those are just the internal issues that we face. As always there are many external forces hoping for - and helping? - our disintegration e.g. China is openly challenging us around the world and has built a first-class economy and military to do so.
Sadly, for many people these issues - and this is not intended to be a complete list - have caused hope to be replaced with a sense of hopelessness. For that reason, it seems to me that the recent election was about a lot more than two unpopular candidates or even "right" or "left." Nearly our entire population for some - or all - of the reasons above, are very unhappy with their country. Perhaps even angry about the same things but for different reasons. And certainly looking for different solutions.
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| Just every day "tourists' visiting their congressmen J6 2021 |
Yet only 64% of all eligible voters cared enough to vote.
Of those that did vote, some were so unhappy that they voted for a person who is demonstrably unqualified and unworthy of that vote. Those voters hope he will bring change - any change - to what they believe is a corrupt and broken system. (Even as a never-Trumper, I tend to agree with that particular sentiment.) Many others who didn't even vote probably stayed home for much the same reasons; they have simply given up on America. I have heard it stated as "burn the whole damn thing down!"
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| They may all get their wish. |
It is clear that the unity of our American Pangea, once driven by optimism and hope, is now fractured by tribalism and fear. I'm fairly certain if we aren’t able to resolve these issues and recapture a common vision of America then, like Pangea, we will indeed split apart and the cycle of the death of great nations will repeat itself yet again.
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| Sadly, there is no Abe Lincoln to save us this time |
How are we doing in regards to Prof. Tytler's causes of collapse?
- Environmental Degradation - Economic Collapse- Political Instability & Corruption - Social Unrest & Class Conflict - Military Defeat & Invasions - Disease & Pandemics - Technological Stagnation - Cultural & Ideological Decay - Climate Change/Natural Disasters - Overexpansion
(Remember it doesn't require all of them)
Are we late in this cycle? I don't know and neither does anyone else but no matter where we are, shouldn't we see if it can be reversed? Or at least slowed down? Don't we owe it to our kids and grandkids to try?
Before you say "thanks Dr. Doom!" I will add this. Throughout our history it has always been a mistake to give up on or underestimate America and its citizens. Well, at least in the America that was. That America, and those Americans, always figured out how to solve problems. So perhaps a better question then is: does that America - and do those Americans - still exist? I guess we better hope so.
I do know that if we are doomed to end up like every other empire then perhaps the greatest tragedy is that there will never be an experiment like America again.
Who is to blame? The answer is simple, just look in the mirror - and remember it all works . . . until it doesn't.
"Gradually and then suddenly."
(And, of course, my generation, the luckiest generation in the history of the world, will be shuffling off this mortal coil just in time to again escape the consequences of our actions - or inaction.)
Epilogue:
One post-election comment: it's not obvious that this administration will be helpful for solving our problems.
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A scene from 1935 Nazi Germany? Nope
Could be some of the guys that re-roofed your house though, enjoying a trip to a Salvadoran prison with other ICE detainees from America - Land of the Free, Home of the Brave |
The End
I humbly feel that this is the best thing I have ever written so I am sorely tempted to just quit while I'm ahead (even if only in my mind.) I definitely need a little attitude adjustment and, like all of us - at least the cogent among us - take time to focus on what's going on in our country.
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Plymouth Hands Off Rally 4/5
(My first one - if you don't count when I was in ROTC in college on the other end of the protests!) |
I know, however, that I will keep writing so you're not done with Dear Leader just yet. I do promise the next post will be light-hearted though.
BTW I hope you know that you are welcome - no, encouraged! - to comment on anything. Also, please let me know if you do NOT wish to share my mental meanderings. I will not be offended - I have been shot at by people who wanted to kill me so a little rejection from friends is not going to bother me.
Final Note (Really): This is a new link to the View Askew. It allows you to go all the way back to pre-Pangea times and the beginning of the blog, almost 10 years - oh boy! For now, thanks for reading all these years. Maybe see you on the barricades?
Music for the times . . .
Great lyrics
Who doesn't like the Doobies?!
D Roger P (aka Dear Leader)
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