Reading through recent proposals of various sorts, including but not exclusively the Better Way proposed by Republican legislators, this truth has become clearer and clearer.
It's not that there's anything egregiously wrong with the ideas there. They are, however, more of the same, at least for Republicans: Smaller government, less regulation, lower taxes. If there was a counter from the other side of the aisle, it would likely be more of their same as well. Or looking at different problems in their same way: more gun control, more unions, more government to resolve any issue. It's not like those have worked so far, either. At this point, every ordinary way to fix what's wrong - whatever you think is wrong - has been proposed, debated, exaggerated, sometimes implemented, usually ignored.
Soon, a moment of clarity will occur. It always does.
Everyone will realize that there's not an alternate interpretation of the Constitution that will fix it all. Congress won't pass some law that will resolve all major problems to everyone's satisfaction. The next president won't magically realize how to convince the nation to enact policies that have been previously proposed over and over again.
Everyone will realize that there's not an alternate interpretation of the Constitution that will fix it all. Congress won't pass some law that will resolve all major problems to everyone's satisfaction. The next president won't magically realize how to convince the nation to enact policies that have been previously proposed over and over again.
We the people probably know the answer already, a certainty that we each hold onto, nursing quietly, acknowledging the difficulty, the problems we will have to endure, that personal disagreement - perhaps with some minor part - that keeps us from shouting out what should be done.
In the early 1770s, options for taxation of the American colonies based on their representation in Parliament were brought up, debated, considered, sometimes approved, mostly ignored.
In the 1850s, there were multiple changes in how slavery was treated, sometimes in favor of the practice, sometimes not. Most of them satisfied few and antagonized everyone else, until the only solution was a war that effectively decided that slavery would no longer exist in the United States of America.
Today, different parts of the political spectrum propose what they consider appropriate ways to handle the economy, the role of government, the need for the populace to protect itself against the government, how the economy should work for the people, when the people should support the government...or not. Even if this isn't a problem that's well defined, it's clearly the case that a significant portion of the American people do not believe their government is helping them.
It's not relevant that the distrust of government is for different reasons, even antithetical ones. Trump supporters blame the Democrats, the elite, and immigrants. Sanders supporters blame the Republicans, the 1%, and banks. This fundamental distrust of existing institutions will eventually make it clear that the only resolution will come not from evolution, but from revolution - from a major change, not an incremental one.
There isn't a way out that will be painless, or perfect. What might have been proposed in the last year, decade, or half-century has already been debated endlessly. If it's helpful there's no agreement; if there's agreement, it has downsides; if it's perfectly safe, it doesn't resolve anything.
This inability to do anything will end the only way it can. At some point, the standard options that have been chewed up and spat out will give way to options that are new, unexpected, creative - dangerous - not standard at all. No more than it was a standard option to replace a British (but Catholic) king with a Dutch (but Protestant) one. Nor to say "we are leaving, you can't stop us, if you try it's war." Nor to fight people who had been countrymen a few short months before.
In the early 1770s, options for taxation of the American colonies based on their representation in Parliament were brought up, debated, considered, sometimes approved, mostly ignored.
In the 1850s, there were multiple changes in how slavery was treated, sometimes in favor of the practice, sometimes not. Most of them satisfied few and antagonized everyone else, until the only solution was a war that effectively decided that slavery would no longer exist in the United States of America.
Today, different parts of the political spectrum propose what they consider appropriate ways to handle the economy, the role of government, the need for the populace to protect itself against the government, how the economy should work for the people, when the people should support the government...or not. Even if this isn't a problem that's well defined, it's clearly the case that a significant portion of the American people do not believe their government is helping them.
It's not relevant that the distrust of government is for different reasons, even antithetical ones. Trump supporters blame the Democrats, the elite, and immigrants. Sanders supporters blame the Republicans, the 1%, and banks. This fundamental distrust of existing institutions will eventually make it clear that the only resolution will come not from evolution, but from revolution - from a major change, not an incremental one.
There isn't a way out that will be painless, or perfect. What might have been proposed in the last year, decade, or half-century has already been debated endlessly. If it's helpful there's no agreement; if there's agreement, it has downsides; if it's perfectly safe, it doesn't resolve anything.
This inability to do anything will end the only way it can. At some point, the standard options that have been chewed up and spat out will give way to options that are new, unexpected, creative - dangerous - not standard at all. No more than it was a standard option to replace a British (but Catholic) king with a Dutch (but Protestant) one. Nor to say "we are leaving, you can't stop us, if you try it's war." Nor to fight people who had been countrymen a few short months before.
Whatever this solution might be, there will be those who oppose it. There will be others who think it won't go far enough. When it is over, some will think the battle must continue. At the end, the predominant attitude may be relief that it has passed.
It might turn out that some of today's concerns are a distraction, a minor discomfort, a sign/portent that's not close to the real problem. A few people killed during civil unrest, environmental issues, overreaching by the head of state - important to understanding the problem, if you look at it with the right sort of squint, but not the source nor target of solutions.
And of course, a moment's thought brings a reminder that this has all been said before, and surely will be said again.
The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country.
A Fourth Turning is a point where there are no solutions available through appeals to history. Considering what They meant by how They set up the system will not help - whether that system was set up ten, twenty, one hundred, or five hundred years ago. Finding a solution will be the responsibility of today's living generations.
That's you and me.
That's you and me.
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