Ever since the election of President Donald Trump, we have felt that the U.S. was morphing into a different state with less resemblance to our democratic values and heritage. In the past, the citizens of both political parties had honored the Constitution, Congress, the press, and the courts. Now we are hearing cries of “fake news,” “dark conspiracies,” and watching “alternative facts” on the news. Trump, with his constant tweeting, ranting and complaining about specific ideas and persons, distracts and flails around, even as the Trump administration does little to alleviate the major problems of the day: the pandemic, the environment, immigration, imprisonment, infrastructure, the poor, the homeless, the sick. In fact, in many of these areas we are regressing – making life worse for our citizens and the planet. And now, as COVID-19 visits death and suffering on our most vulnerable citizens, we seem to have learned nothing. Frontline healthcare providers and essential workers are putting their lives at risk to serve the public. To add further concern, we have witnessed weeks of justified protest rallies against police behavior and racism.
What is happening to our democracy?
Our two political parties don’t talk to each other. Our companies continue to make profit but workers’ wages have stagnated since the 1980s. Our capitalism is good at creating billionaires but not advancing our workers’ lives. Technology has given us some new life changing innovations but is also replacing many jobs. Our health system is one of the most expensive in the world and not producing results - leaving many uninsured and without a safety net. Our education system is not producing students who can compete in math and science with other European and Asian countries. We are failing to educate students in the poorer neighborhoods of our cities and towns.
This book is a series of short articles trying to make sense of where we are. Among the topics are democracy, capitalism, automation, the growing income gap, populism, socialism, the universal basic income, unions, single payer health systems, immigration, infrastructure, incarceration, questionable products, income and wealth taxes, marketing and retailing, the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, world peace, and the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Losing our Democracy is written with Christian Sarkar. It is available as an e-book download on Amazon.com.