The Plight of American Democracy

(The Real Systemic Issue)

The Republicans lost the election but this does not mean democracy is restored to America.  For that to happen we must address why Trump was empowered as president and sustained by Republican Party recalcitrance.  And this will require clarity of definition.

Definitions

Democracy – a government where the citizenry affirms its equality of worth, is   devoted to its common good, and rules by its vote.

Socialism – a government where the citizenry’s equality of worth is affirmed, the common good is sought, and rule is by a benevolent government.

Despotism – a government where one or a few rule for the sake of their own benefit without regard for the people.

Economic Imperialism – a government’s despotic rule by a behind the scenes wealthy elite that uses minorities, women, and children as a cheap labor force and domestic servants – characterized by racism, sexism, classism, utilitarianism, and despotism – the triumph of individualism.

Capitalism – a tool of profit making and wealth distribution owned by business which can be used by any form of government.

Individualism – placing the individual before community in all decision making; making me more important than we.

The American Dream – the assertion that every citizen has the right to pursue private economic aspirations.

Education System – that cultural institution which purpose is to avail the citizenry of desirable knowledge and which grounds the populace in the nation’s style of governance.

Systemic – that which characterizes the entirety of something – that which defines the whole rather than just a part.

The Systemic Problem

Much of the U.S. citizenry seems to believe that the American Revolution’s adoption of democracy as its form of government eradicated the influence of the womb from which the colonies sprang – British, French, and Spanish economic imperialism.  However, one’s womb and one’s nature are not so easily separated. In actuality, only about a third of the colonists believed in and fought for the revolution.  A third remained loyal to the British crown.  And a third waited to support the winner.  In brief, there were far more Americans devoted to sustaining economic imperialism than supporting democracy at the nation’s struggle for birth. What American independence did for the colonists was free economic imperialism from foreign control and give it a home base. 

This private economic pursuit was re-labeled the American Dream in the early part of the twentieth century. However, from the nation’s inception this dream served two purposes.  It legitimately underscored the freedom of each citizen to pursue their economic aspirations and it erroneously became a justification for the continuance of economic imperialism by making democracy about accomplishing individual dreams rather than the accomplishing the common good.  This set up an unending battle between the advocates of democracy and the advocates of economic imperialism.

The nation’s Civil War and continuing struggle with racism, sexism, classism, and   utilitarianism, all imbedded in individualism, are graphic evidence of this continuing battle.  Indeed, economic imperialism cannot be separated from these isms because they are woven into its fabric. Do away with the isms and economic imperialism loses its social power.

What came to be known as Reaganomics in the past century was a fresh justification and fueling of economic imperialism that eventually led to the election of Trump and the capitulation of the Republican Party to despotism.  Reaganomics was grounded in two forthright lies.  Lie one was called Trickle-Down Economics which claimed that if the rich got richer the poor would be blessed with the scraps dropping from their table.  This is a demeaning falsehood that trashes the notion of democratic citizenry equality and seeks to justify an economic ruling class.  Lie two was the notion that the problem with American government was its size – it was too big.  This was also a deliberate falsehood that sought to hide the truth that Reaganomics was not against the size of government but against its regulations that kept capitalists from being unfettered in their pursuit of economic despotism. This was what “The Great Communicator” communicated.  Embracing these lies is why so many Americans oppose the very democracy they claim to support. Reaganomics was economic imperialism made appealing through falsehood and individualism.

The capturing of the Republican Party with its equation of economics and democracy and the election of Donald Trump with his advocacy of despotism were the political triumphs of economic imperialism.  Racism, sexism, classism, and utilitarianism, grounded in individualism, have been systemic issues in American culture because economic imperialism is systemic in American culture.

The Systemic Solution

Throughout human history it is the education system that has dictated a nation’s destiny – irrespective of how this education is processed. Whatever this system teaches is what the nation becomes because it molds the perspective of its graduates.  Consider America and the following:

• It is not possible for one of the two major political parties of America to have been completely seduced by economic imperialism without the failure of democratic civics in the education system. 
• It is not possible that close to 45% of the citizenry would support the psychopathic, despotic, and anti-democratic practices of Donald Trump without the failure of democratic civics in the education system.
• It is not possible that systemic racism, sexism, classism, and utilitarianism in the form of individualism could continue to exist for almost 250 years without the failure of democratic civics in the education system.
• It is not possible that much of the citizenry sees capitalism and democracy as inseparable without the failure of democratic civics in the education system.
•  It is not possible that the average citizen would view individual freedom as

the major focus of democracy over the accomplishment of the common good without the failure of democratic civics in the education system.

• It is not possible that one-third of qualified voters did not vote in the 2020 election without the failure of democratic civics in the education system.
• It is not possible that hordes of young people would flood Florida during Spring Break in defiance of the danger they pose to both themselves and those back home by not wearing masks or observing social distancing without the failure of democratic civics in the education system.
• It is not possible that over sixty billionaires would continue to support Trump and Republican politicians without the failure of democratic civics in the education system.

The reason why racism, sexism, classism, and utilitarianism, promoted by individualism, continue to be primal issues in American culture is because they are symptoms of systemic economic imperialism which prevails over systemic democratic values in the nation’s education system.  Democratic values will only prevail when they become more dominant than those of economic imperialism.

Benito Mussolini was a despicable fascist political leader but he did understand what shapes a nations destiny.  Here is how he said it:

It is the state which educates its citizens in civic virtue, gives them consciousness of

their mission and welds them into unity.

If America ever becomes truly democratic it will be because its education system has shaped its citizenry into devotees of the ground of democracy – the worth equality of the citizenry, the common good of the citizenry, and the rule of the citizenry.

Primal Question

Here is a primal question: Given the states individual control of education in America, how can the teaching of democratic civics be guaranteed so that it becomes culturally systemic?

Robert

Robert T. Latham

mythinglink.com