08-03 Democratic Decay

Can you imagine running for high office? Now that US political nastiness is the new normal you’d need skin like a rhino to survive. And what’s the prize? Just asking this question is awful. We should treasure our cherished democracy but we don’t.
When I was a child I remember that my father would “pray for our leaders”. That must have come from his roots as a British subject who, during difficult times, would pray for their sovereign’s guidance and grace.
Look how we treat our leaders today.
We expect superheroes. Virtuous men like President Carter. Not men who smoke crack or enjoy the strippers. On the other hand we don’t want men who are weak like President Carter. We want strongmen like Putin and China’s President Zi. Except we don’t want strongmen that are dictators.
Remember when President Bush declared Mission Accomplished after conquering Iraq and teaching those pesky Arabs a thing or two about American might? And when President Trump declared Mission Accomplished after raining missiles into Syria teaching those pesky Arabs a thing or two about American might? And when the leader of Lebanon’s Iranian-back Hezbollah group declared Mission Accomplished after their recent success in their elections teaching those pesky Jews a thing or two about Arab might?
As the media has gone from news to entertainment, so has politics. But both news and politics affect us and our children in the most significant ways.
Remember George W. Bush defeating Al Gore during the Hanging Chad incident? That to me was when polarization developed into something ugly. And so many Hollywood activists threatened to move to Canada? And when Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton becoming President after losing the popular vote? And so many Hollywood activists threatened to move to Canada.
I live in a Canadian Province that has such massive debt that we set international records for our horrid fiscal management (a third of a trillion and counting). And when our leader prepared for re-election she promised billions more! After Education and Health, Interest on Debt is our provincial government’s next highest cost.
What is the endgame? Will the next generation of voters chose better leaders? Will they expect more of our leaders? Or will they give up and live inside their social network? Which takes me back to my original question. Can you imagine running for high office?
As the decay continues the elites will consolidate their control. No politicians will mess with our beloved Titans? The cash reserves of these players is telling. Buffet is sitting on well over a hundred billion and Apple has close to three hundred billion. As their wealth grows the public debt explodes.
What if institutions or nations stop lending Western government’s money? Then we have a real problem. They can print more money but that just creates other problems. Or like Canada, they can sell off all their gold reserves but eventually they’ll run out of things to sell. Maybe America will stop spending two thirds of a trillion dollars a year on its military? However this plays out, it will not be pretty for the West.
It is interesting that Russia has an extraordinary modest national debt. Not sure what that means but I think it means something. And China is creating a massive national debt. Again something to think about since they are the West’s bankers.
Like my father, we can pray for the next generation of leaders hoping they will save our democracies. No easy task. As Mitt Romney was heard telling his supporters (paraphrased): “A democratic president starts off with a huge 50% advantage. These are people who pay no income tax. So our message of low taxes doesn’t connect. Their message will be to tax the rich.”
All we can do is participate as much as possible in our democratic institutions. By studying political science, planting signs, voting for common sense leadership or running for office ourselves.
We get the leadership we deserve.