![]() ![]() Legal corruption has had a field day ever since. ![]() In effect, the Court legalized bribery in America. Then came the tipping point in 2010, when the Supreme Court, in its Citizens United decision, opened the floodgates of private funding of public elections. Capitalism has been triumphing since 1989, at the expense of government, and balance. How ironic that the very problem that brought down communism in Eastern Europe has since been bringing down democracy in America, just on the other side of the political spectrum. Soviet communism collapsed under the dead weight of its own imbalance: public sector government was far too powerful. In 1989, the year that Ronald Reagan left office, the Berlin Wall fell, an event described by pundits at the time as “the triumph of capitalism,” even “the end of history.” Hardly so, on both counts. As has become so common in the country, he took change to excess. There were excesses to be corrected, for sure, but he didn’t stop with correction. No longer, thanks to three fixes that have been breaking America.įirst, in the 1980s, the Reagan presidency weakened government while decimating the unions. This used to be the United States: consider the welfare programs after World War II, in a flourishing economy. How did the great American dream-democracy of the people, by the people, for the people-come to this? A decent society maintains protections for its citizens, supplied significantly by government, with economic opportunities for advancement, supplied significantly by business. He has, after all, given them voice, even if, as president, not much more. Hence, those who feel betrayed join those who are just-plain-angry to support Donald Trump. ![]() Who can blame them for asking why, as their country gets richer, they get poorer?Įconomists tell them about rising tides that lift all boats what they see instead are the yachts rising ever higher while their dinghies, anchored below, are getting swamped. Even many in the middle class have legitimate worries-for example, about losing their job or incurring unbearable health care expenses-while many just struggle every day to make ends meet, as food costs and mortgage rates rise. As for the angry, some of them are just-plain-angry, for whatever reason, even if they are well-off, while others have reason to be angry: they feel betrayed by a system that has been stacked against them, sometimes from Day 1. Some of them don’t bother to see past their entitlements, while others do care about this divide. The comfortable do well, and live well, no few beyond what they contribute. I may not share much of Nikki Haley’s political views, but this concern pales in the light of America’s current crisis.Īmerica suffers from a dangerous class divide, not between left and right so much as between the comfortable and the angry-essentially those who feel part of the status quo, from which they benefit, and those who resent it, including some who also benefit from it. It’s mainly because America is in deep trouble, desperately in need of a change of course, and she is more likely than any other candidate to be able and willing to do that. It’s not just because she is decades younger than these men, and maybe smarter too, which could bring some fresh air to the White House. It’s not about “anyone but” Donald Trump. Here is why my vote for 2024 would go to Nikki Haley. Had I been voting in America, it would probably have been straight-up Democrat. I am Canadian who usually votes literally Liberal.
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