Dilemmas of Our Times

Dilemmas of Our Times

  We live in perilous times.  One political party—the Democratic—is focused on meeting the challenges of preparing the United States for the near-term future, for which the year, 2040 might serve as a symbolic target. Foremost among the priorities is climate change reform, without which Planet Earth will be in peril, with the result that the planet’s temperature will rise well above the recommended 1.5c rate for the remainder of the 21^st century. In response to this crisis, the recent legislation passed by the Democrats makes a historic climate investment that is on track to reduce carbon emissions by 40% by 2030. It would be difficult to minimize the importance of this alone, even as the Inflation Reduction Act accomplishes a great deal more, including expanding Medicare benefits by capping out-of-pocket drug costs, ultimately to $2,000 per year, and lowering energy bills by $500-$1,000 per year. For those living on fixed incomes, the importance of these reforms cannot be exaggerated. Retooling jobs to meet the challenges of an increasingly energy diverse economy is also an important Democratic priority. In response, the Act includes a $60 billion job investment in creating millions of new domestic energy clean manufacturing jobs. (Summary: The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022). https://www.democrats.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/inflation_reduction_act_one_page_summary.pdf

  Other Democratic initiatives include investing in infrastructure to meet transportation, health and safety, and broadband internet service needs of a fully modernized nation. Such an investment would put the US on an equal or greater footing with other advanced nations in preparing the US to meet the many challenges of thriving mid-21^st century life. This will have a substantial boon, particularly for the younger generations, whose lifespans will extend many decades into the second half of the 21^st century. A top-line concern—another core Democratic priority— would be that of maintaining and expanding a vibrant public health policy that addresses major health challenges within the US and throughout the world. If the pandemic is an indication of problems to come, the importance of this vital commitment will become increasingly apparent. The resurgence of polio should sound the alarm bells that require diligent action from the worldwide health community, including a vigorous response from the US in helping to lead the world to resolve this problem once and for all. The exertion of such soft power would pay additional dividends in US prestige and influence in expanding the worldwide credibility of this nation. This is a responsibility we cannot afford to squander.

 The Democratic Party is also poised to establish long-term immigration reform, including a comprehensive Central and South American policy designed to address deep-rooted social and economic conditions that have resulted in thousands of people fleeing their home countries.  There are no easy fixes here, but the solution can’t be that of turning the US into one large, gated community symbolized by the Wall. Viable immigration reform—as proposed by both Parties—has been blocked by extremely conservative Republicans for over a decade in exchange for the vilest anti-immigration blustering that trades on the darker angels of this nation’s checkered past. There are viable long-range approaches that could be enacted, but this would call upon this nation to exercise sufficient political maturity to activate them.

 I do not assume that the Democratic Party possess all the answers on every issue. I do contend that the Democrats are focused on addressing substantial national and international problems that will likely come to bear in the near-term future, which simply cannot be ignored. This includes the preservation of a vigorous constitutional democratic tradition, which has been seriously jeopardized by the machinations of the 45^th president and his election denying minions. As a counter, I would like nothing better than for the Republican Party to offer a plausible set of solutions to equip the US for the year 2040 and for this nation to engage in a serious dialogue on meeting the challenges of our time. Such a problems-oriented focus could form the basis for a serious national conversation and a degree of intelligent consensus in moving forward to address these challenges, which would include a coherent foreign policy in positioning the US for the decades to come.

  Unfortunately, this is exceedingly unlikely given the prevailing power of the MAGA influence in the Republican Party. Out of power, the MAGA creed is nihilistic to its core. In power, this democratic eroding cult will further seek to impose its contempt for all things progressive on the nation, however much its vision for America is out of step with most citizens. In addition to its obsession with culture wars of varied types, if the MAGA crowd gets to rule, it will establish retrograde policies on immigration, while offering no solutions for addressing climate degradation. Instead, it will spend its precious time in Congress investigating all things Biden, all the while imposing its MAGA conspiracy obsessions throughout its fanatically inspired politics and obfuscating media outlets.

 There are true leaders in the Republican Party, but they are not in the ascendant. Until the Party finds its authentic voice in pursuit of the nation’s foremost interests, it is not only the GOP, but the political culture of the United States that will be severely hampered. One result is that the 2020s will be a lost decade in which much that is of value will have been sacrificed. My hope is that we can do better than this, which will require significant reform in both national parties. Thus, however much the Democratic Party is broadly on the right track from a policy perspective, it has work to do, too, particularly in galvanizing and positioning its political power to best meet the long-term interests of this nation. A great deal rides in the balance on how this nation’s political leaders address the challenges of our times.