State of the Union

For those of us paying close attention, we already know the state of the union. We do not need the sitting president to tell us; certainly not this president. Given his penchant for spin and outright lying, there isn’t much we can gain from his reports, written or spoken.

That leaves us to other sources for information. Our options are many: academic within many different fields of study (political science, history, sociology and anthropology to name but a few), serious media organizations known for their research and policy studies, as well as trusted reporters within well-funded and quality journalism companies.

Interdisciplinary approaches to understanding current issues is yet another resource to tap. Recognized writers and thinkers produce commentaries on their findings and conclusions. Daily we can read their work. We can actively form our own independent conclusions while using all of these resources. That’s what serious minded people do.

My read on the state of the union is summarized thusly:

·        International Affairs: upset relationships in most arenas. Fake treaty with North Korea opens US to more intrigue and failure in years to come. Russia relationship worst in years; they have cheated on most of their treaties with the US; they flaunt it; then accuse the US of doing the same; Russia is untrustworthy under Putin. China flexing her muscles in ominous ways while stealing technology patents and intellectual property from anywhere they can find it, especially the US. Middle East is a hot mess made worse by the meanderings of both the Bush and Trump administrations. South America ignored. Both Canada and Mexico insulted by our president.

·        Economy: the collapse of the American Economy was at hand when Obama saved it and rebuilt its monetary and regulatory infrastructure to provide sound platforms for growth and stability. That worked wonders. Current president tweaking it dangerously towards destabilization. Growth of income disparity will create political upheaval for years to come. Hidden unemployment and massive underemployment are ticking time bombs.

·        Arts and Culture: alive and enormously expressive. Fear and suffering will produce amazing expression of inner truths and discoveries of self.

·        Education and Research: public schools under increasing attack by privateers and elitists intent on dumbing down public education while boosting advantage from families with money. Not a good thing for access to quality education for all. Same with research; privatization builds monopolistic ownership of technology that sells to the highest bidders. Good for the privates but bad for the public.

·        Science and Application of Science: with massive doubters of science, public research expense is reduced. Corporate owners of technology parse their advances into products and services with higher price tags while lower income people are left in the dust. Think pharmaceutical prices. Think medical cures avoided so medical sales and treatments can continue to make money.

·        American Ideal; support of: we’ve become the land of the wealthy to increase the war between the Haves and the Have Nots. “Let them eat cake” is hardly an American Ideal.

·        Body Politic: a divided nation becomes a nation at war with itself. Never a good sign of things to come.

Most of the above is not good. Two years ago, it was good. Room for improvement. Fresh air in which to continue searching for better outcomes. Especially, we had the potential to grow and prosper. The base was in place to do that. But now? Where do we go from here?

Platitudes don’t cut it. Slogans don’t either. Propaganda destroys what is possible. It’s time for a reboot. And serious leadership.

February 7, 2019