Making Sense of the Crisis

I have been struggling to make sense of the Trump presidency and place it in the context of the political and economic crisis that has been developing over the last forty years.  It now seems clear to me: We are in the midst of a long-term, conscious assault on democracy that is well on its way to an oligarchy of the very wealthy.  Trump, for all his outrageous behavior, is only the latest iteration within a decades-long process.

I'm neither a political scientist nor a pundit. I’m not a politician nor do I have an axe to grind. I’m simply a citizen overwhelmed by the deep assault on American democracy that Trump’s presidency represents. But I must say that I am not surprised.  Over the last thirty-five years I have watched our political deterioration, and it is now greater, I believe, than at any time during the last century and perhaps before.  Until now, I have not known how to respond. But ... I am a writer and can offer this blog as at least some partial response to the current craziness.

I believe we need a deeper understanding of Donald Trump’s impact on our democracy than that which dominates our media.  It is not only his confused and reactionary policies, not only his coarsening of the debate, and not only his narcissism and paranoia.  They are also critical to deal with.  But what I am concerned about more is the fundamental impact upon the very democracy of our country, our trust in government (without which a democracy cannot function), and also the dangerous trashing of the norms that have served our democracy since its founding.

For the time being, at least, I am not creating a comments section.  My online conversation with readers of my previous Alzheimer’s blog was for me a great source of satisfaction and inspiration.  What I wrote there, however, was not controversial.  My writing here, I’m sure, will be.  I would be eager for a conversation here, too, but I’m afraid I don’t have the stomach for the usual vitriol that fills the comments sections of the columns I read.  I have a pretty thin skin.  

For those of you who don’t have the time or inclination to read as obsessively as I do, much of what I write will be observations and ideas from other writers.  But I hope also to interpret and synthesize these ideas, to put them next to one another and to use them as jumping-off places for further exploration.