We the People are Unhappy
The American people are unhappy. It was clear with the surprise election of Donald Trump as president. It’s clear with the ever-increasing division of the American people. It’s clear with protesters proclaiming that Black Lives Matter, and with protesters against the protesters. When Americans are in the streets destroying property of those they don’t even know, and toppling statues of historical figures of both the North and the South, it’s clear that somewhere there’s a deep-seated problem and frustration.
American unrest and indignation were clear nearly a decade ago with Occupy Wall Street. And that was the issue that most clearly touched on the real problem in America: the decline of prosperity for the middle class – and that while the financial status of the top 1% continued to dramatically improve. Had protests then grown with the same ferocity as today, something may have been done to benefit America’s poor and middle classes. But, people, for the most part, quietly returned to pursue their daily jobs and home lives.
This stew of dissatisfaction has simmered for a decade and more, and finally has reached the point of boiling over into whatever new injustices Americans face to protest. The last straws are breaking the camel’s back.
Many US citizens today weren’t yet born to experience the post-World War II prosperity. But some of us remember. It was a time of job stability. People could spend their entire working career with the same company, enjoying benefits of health care and retirement income. Strong labor unions protected tradespeople. Employees could count on annual increases in their salaries, and promotions on the job. Year after year, we all could count on making more income relative to the cost of living. We had job stability, income stability and financial prosperity.
Most companies valued the experience of their employees, provided training as necessary, many had attractive benefits, and consequently there was fairly good morale among workers. A young person out of high school or college could find a job. Even at minimum wage, a person could afford a small apartment, groceries, some kind of transportation, and put aside a few dollars in savings.
Survival in the US in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries is based primarily on holding a stable job sufficient to provide food, clothing, and shelter for an individual or family. The very basics of life. In the mid-twentieth century, we had that. People were content.
Going into the twenty-first century, many of us do not have that. People are stressed because not having sufficient income to provide the basic necessities of life is stressful. Whereas we once could count on each year providing increased prosperity, now there is no end in sight for trying to scrape by from one paycheck to the next. No end in sight to job instability or unemployment. A large proportion of the American people are stressed and frustrated – every single day – because life has become difficult, with no brighter future in sight. Frustrated people protest. They may not realize what’s at the real root of their frustration, but they protest the next injustice to arise.
What would I suggest? This: the left, the right, and everyone in the middle – including media outlets – work to make the middle class strong and prosperous again. Work to help pull the poor up into that prosperous middle class. In a society in which the majority of the population feels content and financially secure, those people may protest peacefully or send letters to their congress-men and -women, but are not likely to be out tearing apart public property.
Congress currently does not adequately represent the majority of the American people. It represents big business and citizens who possess sufficient wealth to make big campaign contributions or provide incentives for those in Congress to do their bidding.
Legislation passed by Congress leans so heavily toward benefiting the wealthy few rather than the poor or middle class majority, that the United States now meets the definition of an oligarchy. That puts the United States of America in company with Russia, China, Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, North Korea, and Venezuela, among others. Is that what American citizens want? I don’t think so.
I propose, instead, that United States citizens insist upon a return to real democracy, and do whatever it takes to get there. A start would be to place term limits on Congress. Eliminate super PACs and other loopholes that allow large campaign contributions. Eliminate or seriously regulate lobbyists. The whole solution is fodder for broader discussion and specific, measurable solutions.
(Next upcoming article will explain why/how the US meets oligarchy status.)
Those currently in power in the US government had best heed the cries for help from those citizens who elected them. And those citizens had best think about the need to ensure that those in office actually do the job of faithfully representing them.
June 24, 2020