The recent events in the Levant have exposed the sham that is "our democracy."
Can it be reformed, probably not, but let's pretend
Saving "our democracy" became an oft used term during the hearings investigating Trump. It was a silly construction then and would be exposed as even more ridiculous as the Donald regime gave way to the Biden administration.
The Biden administration promoted a proxy war in Eastern Europe that looted the American taxpayer to provide weapons and money to the Ukraine.
It was eventually reduced to its absurd when the administration defended continuing the tsunami of largesse bestowed on the Ukes while giving a pittance to the victims of the Maui conflagration.
Still it persists.
As the Hamas hang gliders descended on Israel, almost everyone associated with politics and government resorted to Twitter/X or whatever media to get on to condemn Hamas and support Israel.
The solons and talking heads seemed a chorus of trained seals.
The purpose of this post is not to praise or blame either side for the conflict, but to point out that such sycophancy only proves that the politicians serve those who fund them rather than those who elect them and the system of election needs to be changed.
Fortunately, my fellow countrymen and women, The Long Hill Institute has done the heavy lifting for you.
We will do this in two parts. Our next Substack will republish an article with a plan of reform.
Below is a column from the September, 2020 Sturbridge Times Magazine* discussing the problem:
Jumping the Shark in Real Time
By Richard Morchoe
As your columnist understands it, Jumping the Shark means when something iconic in popular culture reaches a point of irrelevance.
The term entered common parlance when in the series Happy Days, the character "The Fonz" jumped over a shark while on water skis. The Fonz was supposed to represent all that was cool in the world, but was ridiculous in the event and the series never recovered. I take this as true having never seen the episode, losing interest after the second season.
Jumping the Shark is not something restricted to long in the tooth TV shows. Sometimes, it can happen, even when no one notices.
We asked our official think Tank, The Long Hill Institute for the Study of Institutions Past Their Prime (The LHIftSoIPTP for short) for an example, unrelated to entertainment, of an institution that has gone on too long as we know it.
After a few belly laughs they looked at us with contempt and said "you have to ask." Seeing we were serious, they gave over and answered, "The American electoral system."
Ah yes, immediately there were visions of the electoral college being done away with and the popular vote deciding elections with nirvana ensuing.
We hope no one believes that.
That an election should be decided only by the majority of voters has an understandable appeal to fairness. This is true, but not exhaustive.
We have our concepts of democracy from a long history of trial and error in governing ourselves. Actually, that last sentence is wrong. Governance is usually worked out among an elite and the rest of us take what is given. Most Americans are not overly dissatisfied with the system except for the idea that a candidate can win with less than 50% of the vote, unless their candidate is the victor.
The attitude that anything other than a majority vote is unfair, period. There is little reflection on what happens after that and none on the drawbacks of democracy itself. During the congressional investigation of the president, we heard many times that "our democracy" was under siege because the commander in chief wouldn't give anti-tank missiles to Ukraine, a shining bastion of instability. If the polity would sink under the waves because of that, the problems are insurmountable.
Of course, it was absurd. That the incumbent was doing a quid pro quo for weapons that a foolish legislature wanted to give to an unreliable government was hardly a transgression of the peoples' will.
Most modern systems of government are a civil war without the war. Though in the 19th Century, we did have the civil war with the war. In Europe, the parties are more ideological and there are often several in the parliaments. Here, we have two. In the 20th Century, one was more or less center-right and the other center-left.
In the new millennium American politics have become more ideological and contentious. It did not begin in 2018 when Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) defeated traditional Democrat Joe Crowley, but that is not a bad reference point. Joe had most of the progressive positions down pat, but AOC went further with her Green New Deal and other programs.
There was a kind of wave of the future vibe about her and party leaders such as Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer courted her. Our own Ed Markey bestirred himself to get on board her program, and he has not been one of history's quickest bestirrers.
AOC and her comrades known as the Squad pushed the party left. It brings to mind the term from the French Revolution, Pas d'ennemis à gauche, or no enemies to the left. During the Revolution, those who did not dance to port quickly enough might have gotten a date with the guillotine. Not like Joe Crowley, who got a couple of sinecures down in DC and may feel himself better off.
It looked good for the Democrats. They were going after an opponent who saw a pandemic arise and bring with it mass unemployment. It should have been easy to come up with someone more palatable to the voters.
In the primary season, made difficult by the plague, things didn't go as well as one would hope. The man most to the left, Bernie Sanders, was again cheated and the only candidate willing to talk seriously about foreign policy, Tulsi Gabbard, was frozen out. The party leadership settled matters to their liking. The debates were theater and little else.
So, the powers that be have given us a candidate they can live with. Money is raised from corporate sources that will want something for the largesse if he wins. How would ending the Electoral College fix that? Still, it is clear, something needs fixing.
The Republican party is in disarray and has no idea what to do about it. In the last election, it seemed that Jeb Bush would be nominated and would lose with the appearance of dignity to the foreordained first woman president. He was too much of a non-entity to even accomplish that mission.
The establishment lost control of the party, because whatever the fault of Trump's message, it was a message. None of it has been realized, the wall has not been built nor the good paying jobs returned.
Journalist Christopher Hedges has captured the two candidates, if not perfectly, not unfairly:
"Joe Biden, a shallow, political hack devoid of fixed beliefs or intellectual depth, is an expression of the nostalgia of a ruling class that yearns to return to the pantomime of democracy. They want to restore the decorum and civic religion that makes the presidency a form of monarchy and sacralizes the organs of state power. Donald Trump’s vulgarity and ineptitude is an embarrassment to the architects of empire. He has ripped back the veil that covered our failed democracy. But no matter how hard the elites try this veil cannot be restored. The mask is off. The façade is gone. Biden cannot bring it back."
There is much in Mr. Hedges' August 10, 2020 article one can disagree with, but the paragraph above is well done.
Trump is still in the running and at first glance that seems absurd. He has not delivered for his base. True, but there is one thing they get and that is the class war aspect. The folks who see their standard of living deteriorate know that no one, as things are structured, is going to fix it. While they work a few jobs and wonder if their kid is going to end with fentanyl in his system, they know both parties care more about Wall Street than Main Street. Trump panders to their feelings while doing nothing while the Democrats think them "deplorable." Who would they vote for? Voting for Trump is not sending a signal, but a gesture and that is all they have.
At this point one might say something must change, but history is rife with examples of no one coming to the rescue and inertia may mean the system does come back or appears to. It has happened before.
Watch for our proposed panacea in our next Substack.
*The Sturbridge Times Magazine was a much loved regional publication that perished in the pandemic.
Love everything from The Long Hill Institute.
The article first appeared in our alma mater.