We’re On It

Faith in government solutions to our problems is on the decline. I haven’t had much faith in government for a very long time. Scott Adams (of Dilbert fame) is coming around to that conclusion as well.

…citizens are taking a more active role in fixing the world when government isn’t the right tool for the job. There’s something in the air now – maybe because of Trump – that feels intensely American. And by that I mean not waiting around for someone (such as the government) to fix your problem. We’re a nation of problem-solvers. I would argue that problem-solving is the most basic American character trait.

You need something invented? We’re on it.

You need a dictator removed? Can do.

You need economic stability in the world? Working on it!

Don’t like having a king? We can design a better system.

At the moment, citizens see our government as defective and they see Donald Trump as a wrecking ball. Step one: Demolition.

Step two is the scary part. What happens when you break the government? Do we devolve into chaos, anarchy, or dictatorship? Well, that might happen to some countries. In America, when stuff is broken, we fix it. And if it ain’t broken, we’ll break it anyway, just to fix it better. That’s sort of our thing. And we’re good at it.

Scott goes further and says that Government can’t do everything. I’d say he doesn’t get the full flavor of the dish he has tasted. Government in fact can hardly do anything. One of the reasons for that is that the rules it makes one day are totally obsolete by the next. Instead of getting guidance from government all we get is friction.

Politico gets the general drift of our current political situation. The parties no longer represent their voters.

For political observers, 2016 feels like an earthquake — a once-in-a-generation event that will remake American politics. The Republican party is fracturing around support for Donald Trump. An avowed socialist has made an insurgent challenge for the Democratic Party’s nomination. On left and right, it feels as though a new era is beginning.

And a new era is beginning, but not in the way most people think. Though this election feels like the beginning of a partisan realignment, it’s actually the end of one. The partisan coalitions that defined the Democratic and Republican parties for decades in the middle of the twentieth century broke apart long ago; over the past half century, their component voting blocs — ideological, demographic, economic, geographic, cultural — have reshuffled. The reassembling of new Democratic and Republican coalitions is nearly finished.

What we’re seeing this year is the beginning of a policy realignment, when those new partisan coalitions decide which ideas and beliefs they stand for — when, in essence, the party platforms catch up to the shift in party voters that has already happened. The type of conservatism long championed by the Republican Party was destined to fall as soon as a candidate came along who could rally its voters without being beholden to its donors, experts and pundits.

Well the details of policy have changed for the parties but I think Scott Adams gets the shift in politics more accurately than Politico does. What we see is a “Faith In Government Party” vs a “Faith In The People Party”. What we have had up until now is two factions of a “Faith In Government” Party. Which is why you see some Republicans mooting support for Hillary. Hillary believes in Government and so do they.

I see Trump as a transition candidate for the Republicans. He thinks government should keep its promises to the people – thus his support for social security. But he is definitely against government keeping its promises to the “Mr. Bigs”. Thus his support for cannabinoid medicine.

Also missing from his speeches on policy are promises of major new government social programs. I wouldn’t mind a redirection of some of the smaller government science programs. Some work on Fusion Rockets might do some good.


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One response to “We’re On It”

  1. Kathy Kinsley Avatar
    Kathy Kinsley

    I see Trump more as a lesson for Republicans. However, I’ll vote for him, because he’s far from the worst we can do at this point.