How Do Americans Feel About Democracy?

 This image depicts a partial democracy; all men, all white.  Americans have moved it forward since the founding of our country.  Do we want to continue with this form of governance?

Pew research tracks how Americans and others living in declared democracies feel about their governing system.  On July 4 , 2022 Pew surveyed citizens about their government.  It is interesting to me that  76% of older citizens  age 50+ responded felt that the U.S. either stand above all other countries or is among the greatest countries;  27% of citizens age 18-49 agreed.  So, it would appear that the longer Americans live here the more we appreciate their country and its government.  Most appreciators are Republicans.  More skeptics lean Democrat.  Puzzling that the Jan. 6 attackers  on the Capitol and Democracy were likely not Democrats.

This Pew study reports that about 2/3 of us say our openness to people from around the world is essential to who we are, with younger people leaning toward this view.

Among the 17 self declared democracies, U.S. citizens ranked #13 believing democracy works well with 58% not satisfied. 85% of us feel we need major changes or need to be completely reformed; most say they are not confident the system can change.  Ironically, about 2/3 of us, from both Parties were confident of our future with Democrats being the most confident.

Another Pew survey reported  in December 2022 looked at satisfaction with democracy and political efficacy, studying the attitudes of citizens of 19 democracies.  The U.S. ranked 16th among those feeling not satisfied with the way democracy was working.  Only 38% were satisfied. The top 6 satisfaction levels ranged from 79% to 57%.  In the U.S. 49% of those satisfied were Democrats or leaned Democrat; 25% of Republicans and R leaners were satisfied. 71% of Americans felt that few political systems allow people like them to have influence. 70%  of them are dissatisfied with democracy  The survey was taken prior to the midterms.  This explains a lot to me about the rise of authoritarianism in America.

Another Pew  study reported on Dec. 7 2022 that 85% of Americans feel our system needs to be completely reformed or need major changes.  We were # 4 of 17 democracies surveyed with the strongest negative feeling. 82% of us are economic optimists, 87% economic pessimists.   

A 2017 Pew study  across 38 countries reported that between 78% to 68% of citizens of democracies supported the idea of democracies and 17% to 30% did not.  49% supported rule by experts, 26% rule by a strong leader and 24% rule by the military.  In the U.S. 14% on the left supported the idea of a strong leader without constraints, 23% in the center felt that way and 27% on the right.

An overwhelming majority in the U.S. believe we are not a model democracy to follow.  46% of us believe our country is run for the benefit of all of us.

Probably an overwhelming number of statistics to absorb but the net net is that while there is hope for our democracy, we have lots of work to do to achieve close to our democratic ideals and ideas.  Which of course is the whole challenge of having a democracy.  It takes work from all of us, work that many of us do not want to do.

Democrats Answered "What Have You Done For Me Lately?"

Voters asked Republicans "What Are You Going To Do To Me Now?" So the Red Wave didn't materialize and Blue washed over the electorate. The Call To Activism site listed these Biden administration wins for our citizenry: 

.  The Inflation Reduction Act including lowered RX drug prices

.  CHIPS and Science Act

.  PACT Act for veterans

.  First major gun safety laws in decades

.  Took out the leader of al Qaeda

.  Historic job growth

,  Significant reduction in the national deficit

.  Historic low unemployment

.  Expanded the NATO Alliance and major support for Ukraine

.  American Rescue Plan leading fasted jobs recovery in history

.  First African American woman on the Supreme Court

.  Major infrastructure investments

,  Life saving interventions to mitigate the tragedy of the Covid pandemic

.  Applying the Rule of Law to Jan. 6 insurrection participants and planners

Voters rewarded Democrats with a major historic mid-term election success.

Writer Thomas Clay Jr. and I  point out that the Trump Insurrection administration:

.  Lost 5 million jobs 

.  Killed more Americans than the Nazi's

.  Attempted a coup

.  Got impeached twice

.  Got banned from social media

.  Received and filed more lawsuits that any other President

.  Supported efforts to suppress the vote

.  Stole national security secrets and mishandled classified documents

.  Potentially endangered national security

.  Flushed and destroyed national documents in the White House

.  Voiced more documented lies that any other President 

.  Welcomed the support of avoid racists and fascists and supported them

.  The First President to face state and federal indictments for illegal behavior

.  Advocated falsely that the election he lost was stolen from him

And with this record managed to maintain the support of friends and family members who refused to disavow him and refused to support Joe Biden. 

AMERICAN VOTERS SHOWED WISDOM IN THE MID-TERMS BEYOND MY EXPECTATIONS.

 

Cast A Fact Based Vote On Nov. 8 2022

Republicans are trashing the truth with their bullshit about key issues American voters care about in casting their midterm elaections votes.  Here is some solid truth to drive your vote on November 8 on inflation and crime increases.

INFLATION

We're all feeling it.  The receipt and the grocery store and the gas station.  Food bought for home use is up 13% in the past year. The Consumer Price Index has a target of a 2% annual increase. Republicans tell us it is Joe Biden's and our federal legislator's fault.  NO IT IS NOT.  Data and research tells us it is over 50% caused by increases in corporate prices and resulting profits.  This is hard data from the non-partisan Economic Policy Institute.  And a more than 25% increase in their non-labor costs.  Things like increases in fuel and transportation of goods,  supply chain disruptions,  WTO limits on stockpiles of goods and Covid as well as the impact on the flow of goods like wheat from the Ukraine invasion.  No, Joe and your Democratic Representative/Senator didn't cause these factors.

Democrat's Solutions

Dems are instituting solutions: Such as, major changes in the tax law for 2023 to give taxpayers lower taxes to mitigate the impact of inflation on family budgets, the Inflation Reduction Act and the most recent increases in our petroleum reserves.  Short and long term solutions.  What are Republicans doing?  Nothing but opposing these measures.

 

CRIME

 Always a Republican attack tool, implying the centers of recent increases are our heavily minority populated cities.  Here is the latest data from state crime data and and FBI.  Much of the recent crime increases are seen in violent crimes.  With most of the violence involving guns/firearms.  Guess who adamantly oppose reforms to our gun laws?  Not, Democrats, nor even much loved law enforcement officials, advocating major changes to reduce gun violence  through mass shoots.  No, the leading, top 10 states with the highest per capita violent crimes of murder are Mississippi, Louisiana, Kentucky, Alabama, Missouri, South Carolina, Arkansas and Tennessee, all red states.  Only two blue voting states are on the top 10 list, New Mexico and Georgia.  If you look at violent crime data (murder,  armed robbery, assault, rape), added are Arizona, Michigan, South Dakota.   Crime a big city problem?  Yes, but  the two leaders in violent crimes per capita are Anchorage and Memphis, ahead of the big minority populated cities you usually think of such as NYC, Chicago and LA, who certainly have crime issues they are dealing with.  Oh, and did you know that overall, crime rates are about half today of the rate in 1990 ?

Democrat's Solutions

No, we are not supporting defunding police departments.  Quite the contrary; we are advocating adding crime mitigation with increases in social workers and violence prevention training and staffing.  Democrats are aggressively advocating gun reforms including such measures as increasing the age to purchase, background checks, safety locks on guns and in many cases, limitations/banning of  the purchase of weapons of war by citizens/civilians. 

So, my appeal to all rational voters out there is know the facts on the roots of our major issues and the role our parties play in proposing and initiating government measures to address solutions.  

Vote with critical thinking on November 8. 

 

 

American History Explains Alternative Facts

 Kurt Andersen's brilliant survey of magical thinking in the American historical psyche finally explains to me the evolution of how we got to Trump, Q Anon and all of the current madness.

He explains that it starts with the Enlightenment period in Europe where individuality and intellectual freedom permitted people to believe any damn thing they wanted. They founded the Age of Reason in Europe.  That included freethinkers but it also included the tightly wrapped Puritans who settled in the northern part of what became America and fortune seeking capitalists populating the southern part. Puritans were separatists from the Anglican church, whereas the Pilgrims believed they could coexist with Anglicans and possibly reform that Church.  The latter group populated New England later than the magical thinking Puritans.

Thus, the creation of a sort of Christianity- believing colony which was to be a Utopia, also dedicated to the myth that their religion would be the eternal salvation of the "savages" who greeted them on the eastern shores. Puritans were full of zeal about the end times and certainty about their path to god.  Andersen's analysis of history cites the Puritans as the founders of the Age of Unreason and the tribe to whom we can trace our current Fantasyland segment of society.

And the settlers of Jamestown whose vision was a commercial boom town there and endless riches from  finding vast quantities of gold, neither of which worked out for them, at least, right away. Their legacy is associated with the current capitalist segment of our modern society who have their own form of magical thinking about the pursuit of riches.

Andersen traces our history's connection to the evolution of Protestantism from stiff necked communities of worshipers to charismatic preachers introducing deep emotion and passion into belief and worship with many settlers attracted to camp meetings and chaotic gatherings of believers anxious to find the secret of their salvation through praising and pleading with a deity to grant them eternal life and forgiveness. In the early American years,  snake handling and speaking in tongues came in to vogue as means of worship.

This populists approach to religion and worship led the creation of all forms of bizarre new belief systems such as Latter Day Saints, Seventh Day Adventists, Christian Scientists and Evangelicals, side by side with mainstream protestant communities. 

In early colonial life great fear of so called satanic behavior enveloped communities leading to Witchcraft trials and marginalizing of women.

These aberrant communities of colonists developed side by side with groups of pragmatic realists who began the the process of founding a country based on enlightenment values of freedom, rationality, the rule of law, self governance and freedom from religion for those so inclined. The founders were representative of the reality-based segments of our culture.

From the aberrant communities and the inevitable con-artists in every society came quack medicine, side by side with science-based medicine.  Also, faith healing came into vogue, a weird confluence of religion and medicine.  During this period, as Euro-Americans pushed west, lo and behold the gold so many fantasized would enrich them was discovered and the gold rush had a pretty formidable run.

Andersen equates a prophet of the 17th century named Anne Hutchinson who asserted whatever you want to believe is true to our Kayne West.  Boundaries between fantasy and reality are fogged up, blurry. Thus the creation of myth stories such as Washington's Cherry tree and the myth stories of our early history which are mixed with historic fact teaching in our schools. And the mixing of magic and actual science with medicine and invention.  We dared to imagine that nearly everything was possible.

This mix of fantasy, entrepreneurial ambition and science led to America's industrial revolution and world envy for our innovation. Nearly anything was possible in the American Dream, including the belief that nearly anyone could become rich.

But romanticism and showmanship fueled the American imagination. The majesty of the West became and major obsession with the glories of our great outdoors featured in art and public obsession.  Thus the legends of the Wild West, Buffalo Bill and victories over the resistance of the First Americans evolved into traveling road shows and theater.  Our current gun culture is traced to that period of our history.  

The American belief that nearly anything is possible led to  P.T. Barnum and the huge popularity of traveling shows of the weird, strange and outlandish.  And through our history, belief in conspiracies and  imaginary plots conceived by evildoers and Satan worshipers were abundant. According to Andersen 200 persons were imprisoned, accused of Satanic victimization of children in the 1980's. 

Our science fiction literature and film flow from this mix of reality and fantasy. As do also our theme parks and Las Vegas, not to mention most TV, including so called reality TV which is usually far from reality.  The allure of escapism from reality surrounds American's daily.

Conspiracy beliefs are a small industry in the current day around events like JFK's assassination and 9-11.  Skepticism has resulted in accusations of fake staging of the moon landing and cover ups on alien visitations. According to Andersen, only a third of Americans understand that Co2 is a cause of our global warming crisis threatening our future. 

 Americans love their fantasy films and theme parks including those devoted to biblical stories, not to mention fantasy computer games which followed the 60's psychedelics and fantasies about the counterculture  and New Ageism. Feeling dominated reason.  Fantasy dominated reality.  UFO culture flows from that, according to Andersen, as does our addiction to youth culture and plastic surgery. We are taught to do our own thing.  Realists respond that you are entitled to your own beliefs but not your own facts.

Kurt Anderson further tells us that  today two thirds of us today believe angels and demons are active in our lives.  More than half of us, according to his research believe there is a heaven and a personal deity with human, male nature. A majority of us believe the bible stories are literal. 

Thus, a neurosurgeon can build a huge TV audience pitching unproven fake cures and remedies and a TV con man; no,  two show business con men can be elected President and many believe the most recent was the actual winner of a closely monitored and audited election. Oh, and super-realist computer genius Bill Gates funds a creationist pseudo-science according to Anderson.

So, here we are, America The Beautiful, mixing truth with fiction and reality with fantasy. This is not new.  It connects back to our origins and has a lot to do with innovation of dreamers and  American inventors and entrepreneurs.  I strongly urge you to read Fantasyland.  

Tragically, our magical thinking and fantasy is a bad mix with our politics, governance and civics. The fascism we face might not be so fanciful.

 

 

 

How Do We Live With These Fascists?

There is much talk these days about a pending civil war. I for one do not feel that I need to engage these anti-democracy people in any kind of combat as a foot soldier for democracy.  They are just not worth giving up a life for.  I guess I'll just have to depend on our federal military to take that risk should these deplorable fascists launch such a war against what is left of our union. 

I will continue to engage them in mental, verbal and intellectual combat, knowing that convincing them that democracy is a better way to live is next to impossible.  They want authoritarians to make decisions for them rather than engage in the hard work of participating in self government.  These people are authoritarian personalities either genetically or culturally.  That is the way they want to live.

They are going to have to decide if they can live with neighbors who value self governing and or as their 60's moral majority predecessors used to tell us liberals, "Love it or Leave it."

The elections of 2022 and 2024 will likely determine if we will choose democracy or fascism.  I have been warning those around me for many years now that fascism was on our horizon.  It has been lurking in the nooks and crannies of American life for many decades.  Racism has been a major driver to keep it churning inside the American experience.

We are largely dependent on the roughly one-third of our citizenry who do not participate in our elections to join with the plurality of us who believe self government and democracy serve us best.  If we can mobilize enough of the non-participants to join us as the polls, we have a chance to return the fascists to their red communities to suffer in silence.  If that mobilization does not materialize, we pro-democracy Americans will have to either craft ways of surviving fascism or defeating it. 

We pro-democracy Americans will have to become strategic rather than election to election tactical as the promoters of fascism through such decades-old organizations of the Republican Party as the Federalist Society and movement conservatism have done.  Democrats and Liberals have failed to establish long term  strategies on the offensive, looking decades forward as have the Republicans and conservatives.  We have a myriad of  groups competing for funding working various niches of the pro-democracy world who could unite into a much more powerful force for progressive change and reform but haven't.  Their competition rather than cooperation has produced defensive tactical actions each election cycle which has reduced their effectiveness to incremental slowing of fascism but not outright defeat.  But movement conservatism has powered its way through liberal incremental defenses to the point of national crisis evident at this very moment.

We may now have to settle for a grinding pro-democacy education and marketing  process spanning several decades ahead to overtake the fascists.  They were quite clever in embracing Trump and powering his cult like following.  They know what they are doing, but so do we.

Good governance has not been enough to convince the American electorate at large that democracy is of value to their lives.   It is going to take education, persuasion and marketing of pro-democracy thinking aimed at future generations to build the support needed to sustain the success of liberalism and democracy.  Republicans and movement conservatives have done very astute marketing.  Liberals, Democrats and pro-democracy Americans have created laundry lists of policies which are unmemorable and as communicated, unconvincing as our current affairs would suggest.  

Let's unite on the pro-democracy side and build a strategic program.  Or, wallow in the misery of cruel, selfish and punishing fascism. 

These Supremes Don't Understand Their Own Religion

The 6 Catholics on the Supreme Court are of the Opus Dei variety, extreme and weird. They clearly have a flawed understanding of their Church's teaching over the decades which has changed significantly. The overarching teaching, not declared infallible is that primacy of conscience should guide ones position on abortion.

Their rigid position on abortion was not established until 1917; in the early Catholic years abortion was treated much like adultery, not a mortal sin.

Here is some history:

The medieval Church rules of penance did not consider abortion murder until after the first 40 days of conception; this was true up until the mid 1800’s. It was a sin but the context was associated with adultery and the punishment similar to that for adultery.

St. Augustine , Bishop of Hippo (ca. 415 AD), one of the most influential of all Catholic theologians, persuaded early Church leaders that abortion should not be regarded 'as homicide, for there cannot be a living soul in a body that lacks sensation due to its not yet being formed.' He, and Thomas Aquinas after him, taught that the embryo does not acquire a human soul until the end of the first trimester. At the beginning of the 13th century Pope Innocent II proposed that 'quickening' (the time when the woman first feels the fetus move within her) should be the moment at which abortion becomes homicide. Abortions occurring prior to that moment constituted a less serious sin. Pope Gregory XIV's declaration in 1591 that early abortion was not grounds for excommunication guided Church policy until 1869. In that year, Pope Pius IX eliminated the distinction between the animated and non-animated fetus and insisted on excommunication for anyone having or providing an abortion at any stage of pregnancy. That instruction was written into the Canon Law in 1917.

These people cannot be trusted to be guided by authentic teaching of either their Church or their Constitution.

 We are just fucked until we replace these twisted people steeped in the misogyny and authoritarianism of my former Church.