Our UnHappy Birthday: Everything Is Broken

In 1774 the American struggle with England became a war for independence. On July 4, 1775 the leadership of this revolution declared freedom from England but gave themselves a year later before making it official. The following year they signed the document celebrating America's birth. 

1776 America was far from perfect. The war still had to be won and peace with England needed to be forged. It would take decades for things to become normalized. The original government, the Continental Congress, would be replaced as would be the Articles of Confederation, the governing principles.  The original states printed their own currencies and had their own treaties and there were arguments over state borders.  Even when the Constitution was established and the presidency was created, all of current concepts were not set and the process of electing a president and vice president were fuzzy at best.  Many current Americans were alive when Alaska and Hawaii became states in 1959.

Conceptually, America as a government, a unification of people, and as a nation has often been a work in progress. We pride ourselves for creating the best republic the world has ever seen. We see ourselves as the inheritors of the best of the ancient republics of Greece and Rome and philosophies of the Enlightenment. In truth, these are lofty challenges and responsibilities. 

In contrast, I want to offer a different perspective.  America is the best that "this world" (the modern world) has seen. It is not like France, as we have not experienced five republics. Nor is America like Haiti, a doomed republic. Never-the-less America is far from the shinning city on the hill that writers, politicians and theologians have dreamed. America has had bright moments, indeed stellar ones and there have been dark ones. Right now, at this very moment, America is in another dark period. Indeed, America is broken and every facet of this hopeful and potentially great nation is broken. And it starts with the telling of its history

Why do I say this? America is 246 years old. It had its first uprisings Shays Rebellion (1786-1787) and the Whiskey Rebellion (1794) during its infancy challenging the right of the central government to enact taxes and a Civil War (1861-1865) which challenged the role of the federal government over slavery, industrialization and states rights. Three major armed conflicts before it celebrated its 100th anniversary and all contesting the power of the federal government. In 1865 men conspired and killed the president and there have been countless attempts to kill America's leaders from that point forward.

Since 1865, there have been significant challenges to the federal government but they have not taken center stage as a form of "visible armed struggle". Yet, there have been armed struggles. The overthrow of Reconstruction era governments from 1866 to 1900 was a period filled with violence and defiance of the federal government. The Wilmington Riot (1898) is a perfect example of American history hidden in plain sight where an existing government was displaced by a mob. Native peoples were killed and placed on reservations during "wars" at the end of the 19th century. Anarchists were prominent in American cities for two decades around the turn of the 20th century. The development of Jim Crow America and the associated violence of lynching as a group crime, the race riots including the Red Summer of 1919 and the destruction of African American communities in Tulsa and Rosewood are other examples of armed action that counteracts the existing laws that makes America a democracy. 

You cannot proclaim greatness if you cannot acknowledge your past. In 2021, America witnessed the most visible act of violence in its history. Television and cell phone technology recorded an armed assault on the American capitol. The purpose of this attack was clear, and a year later a large percentage of the nation and even members of Congress are in denial of the action. An armed mob wanted to stop the peaceful transferal of power from one administration to the next. Members of the mob wanted to hang the Vice President and the Speaker of the House. Once again, there is the obvious connection to the dissatisfaction with the federal government. And whenever the federal government in America is broken, other parts of the nation follow suit.

The presidency is at its lowest point. President Trump and President Biden have some of the lowest approval ratings since these opinions were recorded. Mr. Trump was a horrible leader. The people voted him out of office. Didn't their voices count? And, they should have the right to vote Mr. Biden out of office as well?

Congress has some of its lowest approval rates as well. Yet, they are allowed to gerrymander districts and urge state governments to support legislation to keep minority parties in power! Where is the democracy in those ideas? Americans have an elected government, which in many ways is not elected in a democratic manner. Majority rule(s) has not determined two key presidential elections (2000 and 2016) which have led to profound consequences. Congressional elections are based on districting which are not always fair.

The Supreme Court might as well turn America into a theocracy. The justices are wearing the wrong types of robes. They are not determining the law but making decisions based on corporate interests and religious ones. In a non-Catholic nation, the court is dominated by Catholics who appear to support evangelical ideas just enough to please a segment of the Republican base. Sadly our justices are hypocrites! Their positions were bought by conservative interests and they lied to the public to gain Senate confirmation. 

Unfortunately, the court and Americans are misreading history in supporting abortion bans, the First Amendment and the Second Amendment. The court may lead to the next visible wave of American violence and instability.  In this session, the court has failed at many things including to protect the environment, protecting Native American rights and courts, and failing to protect citizens in a period of mass gun violence. The court is operating in conflict with the needs of people claiming that its interpretations are consistent with legal theories that most Americans have never heard of. 

The famed First Amendment is designed to protect all people. Yet, if a Muslim coach wanted to pray on the football field before or after a game, it is not clear that this court would have supported his claim as it recently did for a Christian coach. Fears of the British returning as they did in 1812 and uprisings like Shays Rebellion and the Whiskey Rebellion were the key reasons in support of an armed militia that supported the writing of the Second Amendment. This amendment did not envision people walking through the city streets armed with pistols and semi-automatic rifles or even having shotguns in pick-up trucks. Yet, keep in mind that only white men could be armed in the Jim Crow South before the 1990s.  And abortion is far more than a religious argument. Sadly, what about the rights of women? Clearly, our courts are not considering women who are raped or need medical abortions. We are not considering the children of rape or incest or even children born into poverty or abusive homes or into situations where they will not be supported by both parents. We are not changing laws to support children or ensuring that children are adopted. So in a simplistic way, what on earth is this decision really trying to achieve?

So as the government unravels you can see how and where America is broken. It was broken before COVID, but COVID exposed everything. Americans deserve policies that protect their health and environment. There is a pandemic that is not resolved and in a few months we will be back to wearing masks because we did not keep them on long enough and adhere to set policies. The Paris Climate Accords are a minimal standard to help give our children a decent future. Why can't we honor that promise? 

We deserve school systems that are respected by parents. Educators are professionals who have studied their subject matter and continue to enhance their education as they work. We need uniformity in our educational content. We deserve integrated and inclusive schools that respect the diversity of the American population. We deserve schools that teach the truth. Slavery is a part of America's ugly past. It should be taught along with the Chinese Exclusion Act  and the Trail of Tears. Racism should be defeated by being acknowledged not avoided. Cowards and opportunists in various medias shout CRT, reparations, Affirmative Action, LBBTQ as weapons to create fear about changing American dynamics. However, America was never uniform. The forces of division should never be allowed to diminish the power of American education in creating unity and progress for individuals and the nation as a whole.

Our transportation networks are broken. The supply chains are broken by COVID, and the delays in receiving goods and the rising fuel prices are largely responsible for growing inflation. The unnatural suspension of the pandemic conditions has led to uneven operation of mass transit where no one wants to return to work which is causing a financial collapse of local transportation and the rush to vacation travel is placing a strain on unprepared airlines.  While buses and commuter rails are far from capacity, airlines lacking pilots and flight crews are cancelling flights.

The impact of failing airlines has placed a strain our the highways which are challenged by needed repairs and increasing fuel costs. With a gallon of gas hovering around $5, there is national outrage and cries for action. However, any action will undermine environmental decisions to reduce the production of fossil fuels.

The retail industry is collapsing, brick and mortar stores are being replaced by costly delivery services that are further polluting the atmosphere. Mom and Pop stores and malls, movie theaters, and dine-in restaurants are being driven out of business. What will sustain the old economies in the transition to the new ones? Stimulus funds designed to support people and industries are being misused to cut taxes.

No matter where you look, every facet of America is failing. The system is broken and few have faith in the Biden Administration to correct things. For America to be America again seems like a big stretch. However, the nation will not be saved by another Trump presidency. This is a critical time. Americans either have to reinvigorate President Biden for two more years or develop suitable Democratic and Republican candidates for the future. These candidates have to restore national confidence and have real solutions to the problems that face us as a nation. 

The reality of our fate is clear. It really is up to average Americans to save American democracy. And this is where the test of history and notions of democracy must truly be understood. The Founders did not trust the common man. It wasn't until the Age of Jackson, that the "common man" truly participated in federal politics. Throughout the majority of the 19th century, most Americans did not vote for president or senators. "Real democracy" took more than 100 years to achieve. White women did not vote until the beginning of the 20th century and African Americans waited three decades longer.  At age 200, America still deprived some citizens equal access and rights. Birthday 250 is going to take place in the next president's term. Will America be America at that point? Will corporate America, the courts and politicians entrust "the people" to do what the Founding Fathers feared in 1776? I think this birthday is one of the most important in our nation's history. I hope we don't squander what we have.

Happy Birthday!