The United States is still a broken country
Six months later, America is battling culture wars and an ever-darker future
There is always a little madness in America's high summer. But this year it is hard to ignore dark trends at work in this country, and to wonder why the future looks grimmer than even six months ago.
Consider some of the environmental, political and social challenges this season, and what they say about the state of the United States as it emerges haltingly from the contagion.
It is historically hot in some places. Temperatures in the far west in recent days are among the hottest on record. Lake Mead, which was created in the Great Depression, is at its lowest level since the 1930s. There is conflict among farmers and Native Americans over water.
The forests are burning in Oregon and California, again. Drought and fire force the question: Is California, the wealthiest and most populous state, still a sustainable place to live? No wonder more people are leaving the state than arriving, an unprecedented reversal.
This isn't just about demography. The promise and bounty of the “Golden State” has defined the self-image of the U.S. No longer.
But that's not what's focusing the minds of Californians this July. No, instead, they're debating recalling their governor, Gavin Newsom. It's silly, a distraction, what columnist Ezra Klein calls “a farce.” It's democracy run amok and ultimately, it will fail.
But California is not alone in its delusions. The Texas legislature has reconvened in a melodramatic special session to pass laws restricting voting. This mirrors efforts in 17 states where Republicans have enacted 28 laws making it harder for visible minorities — who traditionally don't support them — to vote.
The broad effect is to emasculate the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The only response is federal legislation, which, of course, Congressional Republicans will block.
They have persuaded enough folks that the last election was stolen and next time they intend to steal it themselves, fair and square. The threat to the Republic is so great — conservative commentator David Frum calls it “fascism” — that President Joe Biden went to Philadelphia Tuesday to address the assault on voting and ask Republicans: “Have you no shame?”
The big lie about the “big steal” is about pleasing Donald Trump. He threatens to run again, and even without his social media platforms, he encourages a genteel autocracy.
Up to now, this view of America has always been seen as dystopia. But religion holds sway in large parts of the country, and a growing movement wants to create God's Kingdom, a theocracy. That the U.S. long ago separated church and state no longer matters to them.
Margaret Atwood created “Gideon,” a religious, misogynist republic, in The Handmaid's Tale. This was once far-fetched. In a frothy, agitated country detached from its history, led by a coterie of self-interested renegades, it is now not unthinkable. And, more imminently, under the right conditions, nor is armed rebellion.
This country no longer agrees on much. In Texas, state officials have prevented historians from speaking at a state museum challenging the conventional wisdom about the siege of the Alamo.
As the right continues to wage a cultural war denying the importance of slavery to the American story, it cannot abide any skepticism of the heroic mythology on race.
Fraught? Americans bought more guns last year than any in decades. They're scared of civil unrest, “defunding the police,” and whatever the fearmongers tell them.
Something has broken in this country. The republic endured the threats of Trump, his attempt to steal the election, the insurrection of Jan. 6. In electing Democrats, Americans tried to restore balance. With that, there was hope.
What has changed since the inauguration of Jan.
20 is that America has not changed. Despite economic recovery and an ebbing pandemic, it has not lost its anger and anxiety. As many refuse the vaccine, they deny the legitimacy of their president.
Americans are in the grip of a high fever this summer, careering toward the greatest challenge to their country since the Civil War.