Can Our Democracy Survive This?

[_beastie]

I’m not talking about surviving a Trump presidency, which, of course, has threats specific to that in particular. I’m talking about surviving the disease of which Trump is lately the most visible and frightening symptom.

To me, simplistically, the disease boils down to two main elements:

1. Radical tribalization as a reaction to globalization
2. Erosion of trust

Radical tribalization as a reaction to globalization has two fronts. One is the economic globalization which has dramatically increased wage disparity world-wide. Part of this is due, in my layperson’s opinion, to the fact that globalization increases the opportunity for a few individuals to make massive amounts of money, vast amounts of money that dwarfs the riches of the past. Initially, this is not due to any plot or maliciousness – it’s just the nature of the beast. However, money and power begets the desire to protect money and power and accumulate even more money and power. It also begets tremendous opportunity to do just that. So the unbelievable enrichment of a few via the natural mechanisms of capitalism played out on a global scale results in the equally natural desire to protect and enrich oneself even more, with very effective tools to achieve that end. Of course not all vastly wealthy individuals fall prey to this, but enough do that it does become a sort of figurative (not literal, no strawmen please) conspiracy – the natural conspiracy of the incredibly wealthy to protect and increase that wealth no matter how, frankly, ridiculous that accumulation inevitably becomes.

The result is a visible and painful income disparity. People do not clearly understand how and why this came to be, and are vulnerable to charismatic individuals or parties who convince them that it is the fault of some foreign tribe, whereas, in reality, these pockets of the ultra-wealthy exist across all nations, races, genders, religions, etc. Globalization is complicated, and there are no easy or obvious solutions. Hell, I’m not even sure I’m right about this, either, but it’s what makes the most sense to me. Some would say I’m a victim of radical tribalization as well, with the ultra-wealthy as the other tribe. Obviously, I think my explanation makes a lot more sense than to accept that the existence of some undocumented workers laboring at nearly slave wages, doing menial labor many Americans refuse to do in the first place, is the cause of this income disparity.

The erosion of trust – well, where to begin on that one. The roots of that disease is a Gordian knot to untangle. But, to cut to the chase and simplify my point, the loss of trust in the press in particular is damaging. It’s damaging because a healthy press is crucial to a healthy democracy. I think this problem bloomed (after seeding for centuries) as a reaction to the 24-hour cable news cycle. Suddenly, instead of three stations accepting that their news programs would not be money-makers, and relying instead of commercial entertainment to create the money to sustain the essential news, now news had to become the money-maker in order to survive. So news had to become sexier, filled with click-bait no matter what the format. And this resulted in many news programs losing even the vague semblance of impartiality. Add to this the fact that many politicians acted like the Mormon church in practically brainwashing its adherents to be wary of and automatically distrust any news from any source other than the sanctioned source, and the end result is a lack of trust. Now we have fake news added to the mess, and it is an ungodly mess.

Yes, many news sources are NOT worthy of trust. But on the other hand, some still are. I despair to see some posters lump news sources like Fox and MSNBC in with NPR. NPR, in my opinion, is one of the FEW news sources that still makes a strong attempt to be impartial. Of course it doesn’t always succeed, but it doesn’t deserve to be lumped in with Fox and fake news.

When we have a populace that is already gravitating towards radical tribalization, and we add the inability to believe or trust any news source except one sanctioned by people or groups with other agendas, and we have a serious problem.

I am not certain that democracy can exist under those circumstances. Yet I, personally, see no solution.

Of course, we’re screwed anyway due to global warming (which, ironically, will only increase the radical tribalization as a reaction to increased migrations from the poorest countries that are going to bear the brunt, at least initially, of global warming), so I’m veering towards George Carlin’s stance. Just an observer, folks, just an observer.

But lord, it is painful to observe.

[_beastie]

I'm sad no one is commenting on this. I could really use some feedback. Am I being too pessimistic?

[_Themis]

I'm sad no one is commenting on this. I could really use some feedback. Am I being too pessimistic?

Radical tribalism is unfortunately on the rise. I think part of the problem is that we have so many sources for news we pick the ones we like that usually tell us what we want to hear. This means for most they only get one narrative, and usually one that is wrong and radical. One of the other big problems is fake news and Putin pushing this to inspire radical tribalism in Europe and the US to destabilize these areas for his groups benefit.

I'm not sure democracy is ready for the internet. People are mostly ignorant and easily manipulated by those who are not friends to democracy. I know people who get on the internet and then tell me all sorts of things you would think they should know is not true. The internet is wonderful for all the good information you can find in seconds, but it also means every nut job and more importantly, groups who want to manipulate the population, can get their message out. I'm not sure what the solution is, if one exists that allows democracy to survive long term.

[_EAllusion]

I'm not sure. I think you identify two of the major problems that are deeply troubling for our system of government. Hyperpartisanship, especially on the right, and loss of trust in any US institution other than the police and military is extremely troubling. Over recent decades, this combination tends to portend the fall of democratic governments. You also identified the most important cause: the rise of cable news media and its online equivalents. That cause isn't going away anytime soon. The tribalism you are talking about isn't an issue of wealth per se, but cultural identification that has been, among other things, successfully used as a branding tool to advance the interests of a group of politically active wealthy people.

I'm not sure how much of the Republican party that won't put power over even basic small "d" democratic principles is even left. The situation is bad. The Democratic party hasn't similarly fallen apart, but you got to believe they will be pushed to fight fire with fire at some point, and then I'm not sure where that leaves us.

When you see what's going on in places like North Carolina, you especially got to feel we are losing the republic bit by bit.

[_Bach]

I'm not sure. I think you identify two of the major problems that are deeply troubling for our system of government. Hyperpartisanship, especially on the right, and loss of trust in any US institution other than the police and military is extremely troubling. Over recent decades, this combination tends to portend the fall of democratic governments. You also identified the most important cause: the rise of cable news media and its online equivalents. That cause isn't going away anytime soon. The tribalism you are talking about isn't an issue of wealth per se, but cultural identification that has been, among other things, successfully used as a branding tool to advance the interests of a group of politically active wealthy people.

I'm not sure how much of the Republican party that won't put power over even basic small "d" democratic principles is even left. The situation is bad. The Democratic party hasn't similarly fallen apart, but you got to believe they will be pushed to fight fire with fire at some point, and then I'm not sure where that leaves us.

When you see what's going on in places like North Carolina, you especially got to feel we are losing the republic bit by bit.

EA, with the utmost respect and sincerity, may I ask: What do you do for a living or profession?

[_EAllusion]

I'm not sure. I think you identify two of the major problems that are deeply troubling for our system of government. Hyperpartisanship, especially on the right, and loss of trust in any US institution other than the police and military is extremely troubling. Over recent decades, this combination tends to portend the fall of democratic governments. You also identified the most important cause: the rise of cable news media and its online equivalents. That cause isn't going away anytime soon. The tribalism you are talking about isn't an issue of wealth per se, but cultural identification that has been, among other things, successfully used as a branding tool to advance the interests of a group of politically active wealthy people.

I'm not sure how much of the Republican party that won't put power over even basic small "d" democratic principles is even left. The situation is bad. The Democratic party hasn't similarly fallen apart, but you got to believe they will be pushed to fight fire with fire at some point, and then I'm not sure where that leaves us.

When you see what's going on in places like North Carolina, you especially got to feel we are losing the republic bit by bit.

EA, with the utmost respect and sincerity, may I ask: What do you do for a living or profession?

I'm a director in an agency specializing in mental health supports for cognitively disabled adults. My job is a mix of supervising supervisors, communications, and authoring programs. I directly oversee a budget in the 7 figures.

You pretend to be wealthy for the purposes of trolling. This makes your attempt to portray me as unemployed amusing.

[_Bach]

EA, with the utmost respect and sincerity, may I ask: What do you do for a living or profession?

I'm a director in an agency specializing in mental health supports for cognitively disabled adults. My job is a mix of supervising supervisors, communications, and authoring programs. I directly oversee a budget in the 7 figures.

You pretend to be wealthy for the purposes of trolling. This makes your attempt to portray me as unemployed amusing.

On the surface that's an admiral contribution to people. But what is it? A hospital? A psyche ward? A rehab center? Do folks like you have to have a professional or medical degree? Are you a degreed professional?

Can I assume (at least from my background I gather from you) that it is 100 percent funded from the govt? If not, who funds your paycheck?

If it is a private venture - what is its name, venture or equity sponsors (and if you can't say - I accept).

But you seem to have this doom and gloom for a Trump admin. If your employer/organization is not dependent upon taxpayer dollars, provides quality services - why you animosity towards Trump?

[_subgenius]

Every week the world is ending because of some new reason that is because of Trump.
Are there any adults posting on this board ?

[_Jersey Girl]

I'm sad no one is commenting on this. I could really use some feedback. Am I being too pessimistic?

I read your post when you posted it. I didn't respond mainly because I'm feeling very jerked around by the very news/media influences that you so wisely identified.

I don't think you're being overly pessimistic. You sound reflective to me.

[_Jersey Girl]

Every week the world is ending because of some new reason that is because of Trump.
Are there any adults posting on this board ?

More to the point. Are there any responsible journalists reporting the news?