It’s More Complicated, Caitlin
I wrote this as a comment to Caitlin Johnstone, who was ranting on about how rotten the American two-party system has become. I put it here because I spent too much time ranting on, myself.
Caitlin does a good job of describing much of the political landscape in America right now. So much of it is faltering because the politics, and especially the politicians of both parties, have become disconnected from the actual demographics of America, and the world.
America, and the rest of the world, is now confronted with a completely new set of difficulties, and yet our politicians still can only offer solutions to the older set of problems. That’s why none of the solutions work.
Take healthcare as an example. Twenty-five years ago, if you got cancer, you only knew it because you had lost weight and were in some pain. The doctor would say,”let’s try this,” and most likely, you were dead within a year. Now, if you get cancer, you find out because of new screening methods that can find a malignancy due to changes in your blood and spots on MRIs. Then they have all kinds of new therapies that are getting newer and better every six months. Proton therapy, immunotherapy, T-cell regeneration, all kinds of stuff. It can keep you alive for twenty-five years, or until they actually find a cure.
But guess what? It’s very expensive; much more than it was twenty-five years ago. So yes, healthcare for all is certainly a morally justifiable thing to do for any nation that wants to “promote the general welfare” of it’s people. But, it behoves it upon the people who want to bring healthcare to everyone to explain how much healthcare, what the cost will be, and how is everyone going to pay for it. No politician has done that. They either gloss over what you get, or they skip how much we all will have to pay.
And, no one comes close to dealing with the other healthcare problem, which is where does all of the money go — to machines, to doctors, to insurance companies, to hospital organizations, or to AI computers that will be doing all the diagnosing and treatment planning?
These are the big problems that no politician wants to bring up, because they are too complex for many people to understand in a 90 second commercial, and most politicians themselves have no idea what they are talking about. That’s how Trump can getaway with saying “I am going to make health care beautiful.” That’s what everyone want to hear, and he has no idea what he’s talking about. Not even a clue.
The same is true of almost every other “issue” that is being discussed, such as immigration, jobs, climate change, trade and dealing with Iran. They are very complex issues. If you focus on one aspect — “they are bad” you skip the other parts — most solutions will make things worse.
The even bigger problem is that most of the real problems are not even recognized and therefore can’t be discussed. One of those is that our new technologies have changed our lives in such a way so that humans now need a totally new set of skills to survive and thrive. We need better educations, better social skills, and better communication skills. We need more empathy and understanding because we have all become so closely interdependent. No politician says that — well maybe in China, but that’s not what we want.
North Korea is an example. What the fuck do they want? We don’t really know because for years we have judged them by old nation-state standards. But they are a left-over state from the cold war. They don’t know who they are or who they want to be, and so everyone else has always treated them as an enemy. Now they act like an enemy, and they went out and made an old fashioned solution, a nuclear bomb. Everyone has been using the wrong paradigm.
Yes, multi-national corporations rule the world, and they come in conflict with crazy fascist leaders who want more power. It is not yet clear whether “the people” have the will, the stamina, the finances, and the skill to demand that their government, any government, pay attention to their wants, needs and lifestyle. A large group of the people have been sucked into being racist and xenophobic, a small, but powerful group is intent on making as much money as they can, another sizable, but still a minority, are screaming for equality and justice, and a huge number of folks just want to do their job, relax, have a drink and get laid.
So, I’ll vote for the Democrats, but only for the ones under 45 years-old. They seem smarter and more aware of what’s going on in the world. We all have to choose. We all have to vote, or else we all really lose badly. Sure, be angry, pay attention, campaign for your hopes, vote in the primaries, and you may get what you want. If you don’t this time, vote for the least toxic alternative and keep working. If you walk away, things will get worse and you’ll lose your chance forever.
