2020 Vision

A new year is upon us. Not just a new year, but also a new decade. As it turns out, a decade as important and significant as was anticipated, a decade that will be defined by its first year. The events and the language are going to set our table, and define our future, more so than any year since 1945. Faced with a variety of choices, directions and alternatives, this is the year that will call the questions of who we are as a people and a country, and ask us to clarify what kind of country we want to live in, based upon what values and principles are truly most important.

We have been entrenched in uncivil conflict for 20 years, conflict now coming into open headlong collision. As a country, we have been arguing among ourselves about America’s purpose and promise since the very beginning of the Republic. We have been through and survived even worse times and fissures in our relationships. But not since our American Civil War has there been such a concerted attack on the institutions and principles that have held this country together in spite of our arguments. We argue about government programs, policies and priorities. We file endless lawsuits to try to clarify our laws, many of which are in fact clear in their intention. We elect leaders who do not lead – and do not even follow – but rather pursue their own personal agenda (or enrichment) with little regard for “the greater good.” Our conversations with each other have become superficial and outright mean, making societal progress and solutions to problems nearly impossible. Our Constitution – that marvelous expression of social and governmental creativity built upon our population’s better nature – is being chewed up by our population’s worse nature. We are drowning in fighting each other while we ignore the opportunities that are possible if we instead worked together. This dysfunction is funded by outlandish amounts of money spent to benefit self-interests in governmental, non-profit, cultural, religious, and corporate realms. And there seems no end in sight to this toxic and counterproductive environment.

Right out of the chute in 2020 will be the Senate impeachment trial of Donald Trump. Will this process be a political sham? Or will one hundred senators ignore the Politics of Power and, instead, act in an ethical exercise responsible to their special oath as “impartial impeachment jurors?” Separate from the ultimate verdict, will our citizens (and the world) watch our democracy in action, or will they see only political grandstanding and theater. Depending upon the outcome of the Senate vote, what actions will then follow, what forces will be unleashed?

Immediately thereafter (or even concurrently), the citizenry will begin to speak through the sacred voice of their vote. They will pick their candidates, and then their final choice, for president, but also for thousands of other federal, state, and local representatives. How will we conduct this election process, given that our experience suggests that this will be a very hard fought and ugly process, filled with exaggerated mistruths? Who will we choose, based upon what criteria: proposed policies; demonstrated competency; evidence of Character? Will this election be governed by fair rules that welcome all eligible voters, or corrupted by partisan misdeeds, perhaps even sabotaged by foreign adversaries intent on disrupting our faith in the results – if not the results themselves?

Alongside this internal journey, there will be incidents, threats, opportunities and conflicts happening across the globe. Ones we may be able to anticipate through today’s eyes; others not yet even a blip on our radar. Who will we entrust to navigate these events in the deeply interconnected world we now live – a world where isolation is no longer an option and cooperation is mandatory. Who will make friends and build partnerships, who will confront enemies appropriately, and who will be unable to distinguish between “friend and foe”?

Running in and out of these major narratives will be a continuing parade of investigations – federal and state prosecutions, judicial rulings, congressional oversight, and media reporting. There seems no end to the list of questionable actions and falsehoods still being continually uncovered. In 2020, some of these investigations will be concluded, some will continue to slowly unfold drop by drop, and (amazingly) some new ones will arise. For many Americans, it is nearly impossible to keep track of all of the separate cases now in process, much less the details embedded in each. But we have to try if we are to be informed voters trying to make good and rational decisions for our country.

Meanwhile, our many divisions continue to get bigger and deeper. We are building barriers over just about every facet of our society with an intention to dominate each other and establish one single “what’s right” for everyone. We are split between two political parties, and split even further within each. Many of our religions are dividing into more narrow denominations and branches over issues of faith, dogma and operational control. Economic goals conflict with social aspirations amid wide-spread debate about the role of government. Divisions over social, religious, gender and immigration questions are “negotiated” in seemingly daily barrages of bullets and violence. Meanwhile, “truth” and “facts” are strewn alongside the highway, roadkill casualties to our efforts to win at all costs. Potential progress is lost because it is “the other guy’s” fault.

Depressing? Yes, quite so. But it does not have to be this way. Our future is our choice – a choice to continue as we are or to make it different. What kind of America do we truly want? What American message do we wish to speak – to ourselves and to the world? When will we get tired of the fighting, and move to a renewed spirit of reconciliation and cooperation? What are we willing to give, and to give up, to achieve a renewed America?

In 2020, we will answer these fundamental, critical questions not by our words, but by our participatory engagement and our actions. It starts with our taking responsibility for the political and cultural environment we find ourselves in. It is not the other guy’s fault; it is our collective fault. The way out requires us to commit to truly staying informed, as difficult as it may be in these times when major events and headlines arrive on a seemingly daily basis. It requires us to reintroduce ourselves to our “opponents” and remember that these are our neighbors whose needs and aspirations should be our concern. It requires us to change the nature of our conversations from throwing bricks and hurling insults at each other, to listening to one another so as to understand why our worldviews differ. It requires us to reject lies, to speak from reasonable facts, to demand truth, and to insist on ethical behavior. It requires us to sit together, work together, and find the many middle grounds that are necessary to make living together possible. It requires us to move away from “my way” and to find “our way” by Compromising with each other – the very foundational and essential principle that our Founders had to draw upon to create this Republic in the first place.

Change does not start in the White House or Congress. Nor in governors’ mansions or state legislatures. It starts in each of our living rooms. Around our dinner tables. It is, as it was designed to be in the beginning, upon us – “We, the People.” What will we do with what we have been given?

©   2020   Randy Bell             https://ThoughtsFromTheMountain.blogspot.com

The Violence Of Political Hate

I am a survivor of the 1960s. “Survivor” may seem a questionable descriptor. But when I look back to those times, it seems appropriate. The 1960s changed everyone who passed through those times and events, even if with different outcomes. Some came away with their existing thinking reinforced and hardened. Others came away with wholly new views and perspectives than before. Everyone encountered a picture of America not seen before; all were confused about what was going on, their role in it, and where the country and its citizens were heading.

Perspectives were shaped differently by age, economic status, educational levels, cultural and racial identity, and geography. The Civil Rights movement of African-Americans said that 100 years of continuing de facto slavery, segregation, and 2^nd-class status was a long enough wait; it was time for the promise of equality to be realized. The positive changes that gradually emerged, albeit all hard fought, inspired similar movements from other “left outs,” including women, Native-Americans, LBGTs, the disabled. Social structures and codes of conduct were thereby turned upside down, done in such a relatively short time period that it precluded easy assimilation. Humans can only absorb so much change per unit of time. The 1960s were a fast track of change.

Fear is a byproduct of “too-much-change” and/or “too speedy change.” We worried whether we could keep up with it all – so much new thinking was coming at us so fast – or whether our social order would survive (or even should it?). Is the government on “our side” or “their side?” Would the “new freedoms” take us to a new Shangri-La of equality and fulfillment, or destroy the communal ties that had bound us together? Some looked to follow the new change agents to places heretofore unknown; others looked to follow the defenders of the already known.

Perhaps inevitably, violent actions in support of both change and the status quo became the tool of protest against these times. The television cameras displayed into our homes the images and sounds of mobs shouting hateful epithets towards black children simply trying to go to school to get an equal education. They showed us live in real time the dogs and state police in Alabama wildly attacking black marchers claiming the equal right to vote without obstructions. They documented the burnt-out Freedom Buses which almost consumed their passengers in flames.

Ultimately but unsurprisingly in this climate of violence exposed for all to see, America crossed a line. Political assassination became an all-too-frequent mechanism of resistance. Three little black girls in a church basement were bombed into oblivion. Black leaders Malcom X, Medgar Evers, and Martin Luther King, Jr. were shot and  killed.  John and Robert Kennedy – who, along with Dwight Eisenhower, were the first to deploy the power of federal judicial and law enforcement to protect the safety of citizen protesters instead of established business and political leaders – were killed. Three voting rights activists trying to register new black voters were kidnapped one night, murdered and buried in an earthen dam.

Viet Nam, of course, accelerated the crumbling of the existing social order in the second half of the 1960s. Over 50,000 young men would pay for this ultimate violence with their lives, given for a war that should never have been fought, done to protect political lies and their cover-up – a terrible price to pay. Television again brought the sounds and images into our homes on a daily basis. When the anti-war / anti-establishment groups began their counteractions, television was right there again at the ’68 Democratic convention, and the Pentagon and Capitol steps.

This was the violent reality of our time. One turned on his/her TV with caution. The desire for escapist entertainment would all too likely be superseded by yet another breaking news update. “We interrupt this broadcast for a special announcement” became the most dreaded phrase coming out of our sets. We wondered, “What now?”

We asked, “How could this be happening – in America?” “How and when does it stop?” We wondered, “Where are the leaders who can end this deadly chaos and get us back on track?” Would-be leaders of course did present themselves: “Law and Order” candidates carried the day as often happens in times of extensive social upheaval. Governor George Wallace of Alabama (he of “segregation now, segregation forever”) garnered 14% of the vote (2^nd-most in history) as a 3^rd-party candidate for president in 1968; Richard Nixon was carried into the White House.

Ending 1968, we had a cautious hope for change in direction, for ending the war and domestic violence, and a move toward reconciliation. But the social and anti-war issues were ignored while “Order” became the priority. It would take six more years before the country would finally settle down and find its bearings again. Wallace was shot in 1972 and disappeared from the political scene; Nixon got swallowed up and spit out in his Watergate scandal. The Viet Nam war finally ended. Enough finally became enough. The nation’s deep wounds gradually healed thanks to Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter. But our blind faith in government was shattered, yet to return as of this day.

2018 marks 50 years since Richard Nixon’s election. The parallels between then and now abound. We are surrounded by racial and other senseless violence, for which only equally senseless “solutions” are offered. Killing is daily; mass killings occur regularly; outward animosity towards one another has become our “new normal.” Alongside our TVs, we now have cell phone and body camera videos documenting events in real-time, confronting our eyes, ears and opinions. Social media incessantly communicates unsocial insults, bigotry and falsehoods. Lies and/or silence from our leaders inflame the ugliness; calls for civility in speech and conduct go unanswered in favor of stoking the cultural antagonisms rather than soothing them. There seems no bottom to this barrel of negativity. Thankfully, good news stories, and reports of our humanity and magnanimity to one another, occasionally penetrate the noise. These keep us going forward each day and after difficult day.

As 2018 ends, 50 years after the pivotal events of 1968, we find ourselves asking ourselves once again, when will our continuing violence against each other finally become enough? In this season of faith and new year beginnings, we once again hold out cautious hope that ending our current pervasive climate of hate can move from being merely lip service to truly become our first national priority. That – in spite of our differences, in fact to honor those differences – we can commit to that great teaching that transcends all cultures and religions: to Love Our Neighbor.

©   2018   Randy Bell               www.ThoughtsFromTheMountain.blogspot.com

America's International Surrender

“Observe good faith and justice towards all nations;
 cultivate peace and harmony with all.”

—George Washington, Farewell Address

For its first 125 years, America lived a very internally focused life. Memories of continual wars for empires in Europe and the Middle East were still fresh in American minds. America instead concentrated its energies on becoming a legitimate country, creating its new democratically elected government, establishing its laws and institutions, and expanding its reach across the continent with new member states. Foreign wars intruded on occasion: we successfully fought the War of 1812 and the Mexican War. Given the geographical isolation provided by the vast Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, we minded our own business and avoided the destructive entrapments of other countries.

That began to change around 1900 when big businesses saw new opportunities for profit by gaining control over foreign resources and markets. It would be an economic conquest, principally into South & Central American nations and the Pacific islands. Sugar, rubber, and produce were among the bounty; buying up local businesses and properties were the weapons. When America defeated Spain in the Spanish-American War, America gained new resource-rich colonies principally in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. A new “American Empire” had begun, in spite of vigorous objection and debate by many concerned Americans. Businessmen held the power; they brought several presidents on to their side; the U.S. Army subdued and controlled the foreign territories – often brutally – against local insurgents and revolutionaries seeking freedom from our domination. President Theodore Roosevelt’s Panama Canal epitomized the whole adventure.

We continued to avoid entanglements with European conflicts until near the end of WW1, when Germany attacked U.S. ships and threatened war against us. We reluctantly entered the fray; our presence turned the tide to victory with our allies. Then we packed up and went home, disillusioned by the whole adventure. President Woodrow Wilson tried to use the occasion through his “14 Points” to create a new League  of Nations for peace, but Americans wanted no part of it. They had done the job that needed to be done, and went back to their isolationist views.

Unfortunately, the “war to end all wars” did not. “America First” isolationists held the day through the 1930s Great Depression amid new rounds of wars breaking out across the globe. That changed with Pearl Harbor and a total commitment to defeat the Axis forces. A year before WW2 ended, President Franklin Roosevelt began to look ahead and plan for a post-war world that would begin to end the centuries of misery and desolation from constant conflict. Further, America – which had led the way militarily – would now lead the way toward peace. The deaths of millions of soldiers and civilians – many suffering horribly cruel fates – demanded a new direction. And a new leader.

First came rebuilding the rubble and devastation of Europe to remove a principal motivation for war. Japan’s government was reconstituted to forbid future warring. Standing military alliances were created to ensure permanent protection for diverse member states. Democratic governments replaced despots and returned power to the citizenry. Global colonies of Europe and America became independent nations. International trade and financial structures were expanded; nationalist barriers were reduced. Poverty as a principle cause of war was recognized. America – the wealthiest and strongest post-war country – supported these noble efforts financially through gifts of foreign aid, and militarily by strategically distributing its troops across the globe. “The America Century” began.

As with most noble causes, it was not all smooth sailing. The “cold war” with Russia dominated many foreign strategy decisions for 40 years. We aligned ourselves with too many minor despots who played us for money vis-à-vis Russia. We occasionally threw our weight around and acted as the “bad big brother,” too often telling other nations what to do instead of working with them. Clandestine operations against governments we did not like (e.g. Iran, Chile) put us at odds with our promises. A “draw” war in Korea, then Viet Nam, and now Afghanistan and the Middle East, have left many Americans exhausted with our international role.

In spite of our failures and continuing problems yet to be solved, there have been many successes. There has been no breakout of a major land war except in the volatile but contained Middle East arena. Health, education, and income statistics globally are all to the better, though much still needs to be done. The European Union has transcended a thousand years of conflicts. The Berlin Wall came down; the USSR broke up into separate independent nations; Northern Ireland is finally at peace. Notwithstanding their birth pangs, new nations have come onto the scene asserting their distinctive identities. We see many other success stories – both big and small – happening alongside the steps backwards. Whatever relationship strains continue to arise, we are still talking more than we are shooting at each other.

The key to these and future international successes is contained in three words: Stability, Cooperation, and Leadership. World security and international finance hate surprises. Stability calms people’s concerns, allows them to reasonably forecast the future, and permits plans made to become plans accomplished. Stability requires Cooperation, the majority of people heading towards the same general destination, helping one another out, even if moving separately. Cooperation requires at least one standout leader: pointing the direction; marshalling the effort; offering a plan or method; inspiring by example. 12 post-war U.S. Presidents in sequence made that commitment to Leadership, however flawed some of their detailed plans. On balance, the world is in a better place thanks to each of their collective efforts. It is against this backdrop of consistency that our international role must be measured.

Thus came Donald Trump, our 13^th President in this sequence. In his first year in office, under the mantle once again of “America First,” American Leadership in the world has been pulled back. State Department positions and foreign embassies are unfilled. Cooperation has been replaced by “go it alone,” leaving Stability hopelessly mangled. Donald Trump has turned the established world framework upside down. He prefers 1:1 deal-making rather than multi-lateral coordinated actions. We are scraping multi-national trade agreements (e.g. NAFTA; TPP); as a result, other nations are going it alone, signing agreements among themselves without American participation. We abruptly recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital after 70 years of consistently not doing so, a move condemned by most of the world and damaging negotiations for the elusive Middle East peace. We are the only nation among 200 not participating in the Paris Climate Accord, even though America led drafting the initiative and no nation is forced to accept climate mandates. We have threatened to unilaterally cancel military commitments (NATO; SEATO; various Russian missile agreements; Iran nuclear limitations).We are instituting new trade tariffs “to protect American jobs,” even though they will ultimately make foreign goods more expensive for American consumers and will protect virtually no net American jobs. We were once the welcoming beacon of hope for refugees and immigrants looking for a better life for themselves and their families. Now we are shutting our door to their creative talents based upon their racial background, falsely accusing them of all being “terrorists.” We treat Russia with kid gloves even as we pull the rug out from under our principal allies.  In the void of our Leadership departure, China and Russia are happily positioning themselves to fill the gap we are leaving behind.

It may all play well with the American home audience for now. But nervous world leaders are already quietly writing us off, ignoring us, going their own way. We have traded Stability for chaos, and given up Leadership to be a follower. The full ramifications of our abrogation of Leadership will not be clear for a while. When they are clear, it will likely be too late to recover.

Each nation is at its own unique position with respect to its development and maturation. Therefore progress in our global civilization is inevitably erratic. But for the last 75 years, America has been able to reasonably articulate and embody where we all need to go together. 50 years from now when historians review the American Story, they will likely point to 2017 as the beginning of the end to America’s preeminence. No country’s prominence in the world lasts forever, as the forgotten empires of Greece, Rome, and England demonstrate. It seems quite surprising to see America’s time for world Leadership come to such a deliberate but early end.

©   2018   Randy Bell             www.ThoughtsFromTheMountain.blogspot.com

Our Divided Nation - Part 2

“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”

—Mahatma Gandhi

Part 1 of this blog posting was a brief look at some of our internal conflicts and divisions since our founding. That review affirmed that America has always had its debates, its divisions of belief, its continual adjustments of what “America” means and aspires to be. We are highly unlikely to ever escape this heritage. Instead, the questions are a) how to manage our divisions in such a way so as to not tear ourselves apart and collapse, and b) how to build on our divisions towards something better for all. We will not succeed by futilely trying to eliminate conflict. We will succeed by following the precedent of our Founders in developing better skills at working together to resolve conflicts.

We continue this discussion with another brief review – i.e. where we are today. As a result of our current divisions, collective solutions are rarely found; our progress as a nation is near-frozen in place. In the last seven presidential elections, in only three did the winner get 50% or more of the popular vote; two elections were won in the Electoral College with less than the majority popular vote. Today, minimalistic short-term gains are hailed as major agreements; small-minded thinking edges out big-picture vision and creative aspirations. We have not passed a real national annual budget in years, versus a series of short-term “continuing resolutions” that keep spending on a status quo with no hard decisions made. The evil economic Armageddon of budget deficits is swept under the rug in the pursuit of a Christmas tax cut for (supposedly) everyone, a cut that disguises rewards to special interests and is built upon a disproven economic theory called “trickle down.” Paying taxes is resented, but the benefits and services received back from those tax payments go unrecognized and unappreciated. The states paying the least taxes receive back the most in tax benefits; the “reddest” conservative states advocating a limited role for government make up the bottom ratings of most all economic and social measures.

With our institutions, many supposedly “non-profit” charities, hospitals and cultural organizations have become de facto for-profit bodies. Public education, the traditional path to upward mobility that most of us benefited from in our youth, is being progressively defunded and devalued. Basic medical care is a “benefit” requiring employment, or affordable only by the very wealthy; medical expenses remain the primary cause of personal bankruptcies. Government regulations protecting Americans’ health, economic competitiveness, and the environment we live and play in, have become a nasty nuisance to be shredded in the acquisition of unrestrained business profit; one person’s stifling regulation is another person’s safety valve protection.

Ex-Speaker Newt Gingrich declared war on the federal government in 1995; Majority Leader Mitch McConnell upped that ante with a “Party over Country” strategy in 2008 with his “oppose everything Obama” stance; Democrats now exercise their own tit-for-tat negative block voting. Lying, ridicule, and character assassination have replaced substantive debate; facts are “fake news” in order to hide uncomfortable truths. Science has been downgraded into personal opinions.  Name-calling and slurs of all types dominate headlines; ugliness has found its voice, as exemplified at Charlottesville. “Enemies” are seen all around us – the government, the media, corporations and businesses, religions, entertainment. A minority of rogue actors discolor most all professions, including politicians, medical and pharmaceutical executives, police and the law.  The pursuit of power and wealth, rather than substance, drives the political landscape. The strategy is to emphasize our divisions, even creating division where there was none, thereby giving voice to extreme positions on all sides instead of searching for common ground. National and international leadership is defined as “loyalty above all” and just telling people – and other nations – what to do, rather than inspiring them by positive example appealing to our better selves. One cannot effectively lead with mid-30s% approval ratings; a nation cannot be properly governed with a 55-60% voter turnout.

“We have met the enemy, and it is us.”  —Pogo (comic strip character)

How do we get out of this discouraging mess? By remembering our history. We have come out of tough times before, and we can come out of these times also. But history also tells us that it will not happen automatically, by default. We have to work hard to find our way out. We have to make it happen, not wait for someone else to do it for us. In many ways, living under Kings/Queens was easier: they simply made a decision, the royal court carried out the decision, and the people did what they were told without question. Governing was someone else’s job. Thirteen English colonies rebelled against that system, and had the audacity to say “we will govern ourselves.” Whether we are actually capable of doing it for ourselves has always been a key question inherent within our Constitution. It is a key question now facing us in these times.

Our solutions start with each of us acting as we wish our government and politicians to act. If we decry the partisanship environment, then what are we doing each day to act bi-partisanly? If we decry a lack of civility in our national conversations, what are we doing each day to speak civilly to one another? If we decry others’ lack of respect for our concerns, what respect are we showing for their concerns? If “they” are so wrong, what are we also possibly wrong about? If we are so right, what are “they” potentially right about? When our politicians state falsehoods in their quest for votes, do we challenge them for their proof and present our proof? Do we hold them – and ourselves – accountable for the hypocrisy that is spoken and acted? When political candidates talk about wanting to “work across the aisle,” that answer is usually obfuscated rhetoric designed to avoid the bi-partisan question while implicitly blaming “the other guy” for not cooperating. Instead, demand specific ideas for specific legislation or action, or ask for specific examples of bi-partisan actions (e.g. jointly sponsored legislation) and vote against that candidate if s/he does not provide them.

We do not change things by sitting on the sidelines. We do not change things by clinging to our own self-righteous convenient beliefs, challenging others without challenging ourselves. We do not change things by thinking small and avoiding the larger picture. I suggest we search out and find the broad and substantive thinkers. Discern between those people truly sacrificing in order to do good, and those demagogues and charlatans seeking our attention and money to benefit themselves. Choose to be part of a national conversation, not a shouting match. Call out and reject that which is said and done that is not acceptable and respectful conduct.

Nothing worthwhile will be accomplished while we are just insulting and yelling at each other. Seek the evidence; listen before speaking; find the worthwhile substance in opposite opinions. Then we can conclude, speak factually without malice, provide substantive ideas instead of complaints, and finally – act.  Perhaps in that process we can figure out what kind of a country we truly are: the nasty selfish country we seem to have dangerously become, or the generous welcoming country we have always aspired to be.

“Be the change you wish to see in the world.”  —Mahatma Gandhi

Are we just interested in making noise, or making things work for one another. Are we in fact what we object to? Or are we what we aspire to see and be?

©   2018   Randy Bell               www.ThoughtsFromTheMountain.blogspot.com