Jonathan Kronstadt in Washington
The US is churning. Many domestic, international and global crises battle for our time, attention and resources – see Democracy, demise of; China, rise of; and Planet Earth, oops. We thought we were, but we now no longer seem to be, coming to the beginning of the end of a pandemic that has killed nearly 650,000 people, rattled the foundation of everyday life and blown a hole in any notion of all-inclusive US exceptionalism.
People are changing jobs, reassessing career choices, not going back to jobs that disappeared during Covid, but which have now reappeared, and as a result, nobody has a clue what the workplace of next week will look like. All we know is someone will burn microwave popcorn in the lunchroom. We have one major political party that has responded to this critical juncture in our nation’s history by fully detaching from reality, arguing that changing the past and denying the present is its only path to a successful future. At a gathering of the Conservative Political Action Conference (Cpac) – the Republican Party volcano’s molten core – the crowd cheered low Covid vaccination rates.
I like to think I have an expansive sense of humour, but I can’t find a relevant joke that isn’t far sadder than it is funny. A straw poll revealed Cpac attendees’ top issue priority is voter ID/election integrity – this after an election deemed by experts to be the most secure in US history, after which Trump and his allies lost 61 of 62 court challenges claiming election fraud. That’s like beating a dead horse with a dead horse.
Fortunately, the churn is also stirring up some good stuff. President Joe Biden, known throughout his 163year political career for his folksy moderation, has gone all rogue progressive, accepting a rare opportunity to elbow the arc of history a little closer towards justice.
Trump and the Republicans spent a couple of trillion lowering taxes for their already undertaxed buddies, but Biden and the Dems propose spending trillions to lift millions of children out of poverty, provide free pre-school and community college, reform the tax code so chief executives no longer pay lower rates than licensed practical nurses, and a host of other policies most liberal democracies realised the efficacy of decades ago.
The churn, as is its wont, has produced some unlikely relationship drama. For example, the Republican Party’s long-standing love affair with big business appears to be fraying. Major League Baseball, hardly a bastion of left-wing activism, moved its
All-Star Game from Atlanta to protest Georgia’s new, restrictive voter law, and Republican senators lined up to threaten the game with serious sanctions if it didn’t play ball. Baseball stood its ground. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told corporate America to “stay out of politics”, and corporate America responded with a statement opposing “any discriminatory legislation or measures” that would restrict ballot access, signed by hundreds of corporations and individuals, including Amazon, General Motors and the always-intimidating Leonardo DiCaprio. What Republicans apparently forgot is that corporations care a lot more about green than they do about either red or blue.
What Republicans forgot is that corporations care a lot more about green than they do about red or blue.
“I had to find a way to keep my hands busy after I quit knitting.”
The churn can be scary, as important stuff can fall through the cracks when there’s so much going on. But there’s an excitement to this churn as well, a feeling that potentially monumental change is afoot. The demographic changes that are making the US younger, browner and more progressive can’t be stopped, although powerful, entrenched and shameless interests are trying and they’re okay with keeping reality at arm’s length, especially if it involves maths or science.
It’s possible the churn will make the US not only a better, fairer place to live, but also one that’s a more reliable international partner than in our recent past – see Nato, denigration of; Kim Jung-un, Vladimir Putin, love affairs with; Paris Accord, withdrawal from; Prime Minister of Montenegro, shoving of; travel ban, Muslims; and World, generalised chaos production in. l