‘Punctuated Evolution’ in politics
The cascade of social change in the last few weeks has been startling for politically jaded activists who have come to expect progress to come in incremental steps, if at all. Biologists refer to the phenomenon of ‘punctuated equilibrium’ to describe the rapid and dramatic changes that occur in the transition from one geological era to the next. The process of gradual, almost imperceptible evolution occurs in a stasis that seems nearly eternal from the perspective of biological time. And then massive system change occurs, virtually overnight.
Who could have predicted a few years ago that the Catholic Church would be at the front lines of the environmental movement, marriage equality is now the law in all fifty states, the Confederate flag is finally heading for the museum, and that the Greek people would defy the capitalist austerity agenda of the IMF?
The ideological wall of obstruction that has met every initiative in the Obama Administration has come to define the ‘new normal’. We certainly have not looked to the Congress or the Supreme Court for relief and have come to assume that the political trench warfare that has characterized this era was an immutable fact of life. And then, suddenly, the structure shifts and society makes a quantum leap on the historic arc of justice. This bodes well for the future.
We need to start thinking bigger. We can open the lens of our imagination to the vision of a regenerated American polity that has fully committed to healing the planet and using our vast wealth to finally end the cycle of poverty in this country and raising global standards in healthcare, family planning, environmental sustainability and governance. I can visualize that.
The long awaited progressive political transformation in America now seems within the scope of possibility. What seemed out of the question under current conditions could shift in one progressive wave election. We’re talking FDR levels of electoral shellac. Given the unprecedented gerrymandering of the House districts to favor the Republican Party, this may take a couple of electoral cycles until the demographics finally catch up to the politics. With House and Senate super-majorities, the House Speaker could pass the core of the progressive legislative agenda over a long weekend and have it ratified in the Senate within a week, after the dead-enders had exhausted their filibuster challenges. The last time we had such a rapid and consequential reformation was under FDR, so that prospect has an historical precedent.
The most amazing sea change in global opinion has been the emergence of the Catholic Church as a standard bearer on the critical issue of climate change. Pope Francis’ Encyclical on the environment, Laudato Si, is unequivocal on the topic: “The climate is a common good, belonging to all and meant for all. At the global level, it is a complex system linked to many of the essential conditions for human life. A very solid scientific consensus indicates that we are presently witnessing a disturbing warming of the climatic system. The same mindset which stands in the way of making radical decisions to reverse the trend of global warming also stands in the way of achieving the goal of eliminating poverty.”
Michael Brune, the executive director of the Sierra Club, stated: “Pope Francis’ guidance as a pastor and a teacher shines a light on the moral obligation we all share to address the climate crisis… this Encyclical underscores the need for climate action not just to protect our environment, but to protect humankind and the most vulnerable communities among us.”
The key feature that the Pope’s Encyclical has brought into focus is the fundamental moral correlation between the rapacious destruction of the environment and the ruthless logic of ‘free market’ capitalism: “As long as the problems of the poor are not radically resolved by rejecting the absolute autonomy of markets and financial speculation, and by attacking the structural causes of inequality, no solution will be found for the world’s problems…” he wrote. It’s not just about saving polar bears now; it’s about saving our souls.
On the local front, some progress has been made. The county of Sonoma, under the leadership of the Board of Supervisor’s chair Susan Gorin, passed a modest down-payment on a county living wage standard. The advocates for the Living Wage Ordinance had called for a broader measure that would have extended the $15/hr benefit to all 3,900 IHHS (In-Home Healthcare Services) workers. The alternative proposal that was passed unanimously was to extend the living wage to county contractors, which would cover about two hundred workers. I know that the community advocates were not pleased with this decision, but I can understand the political calculus of the Board. This vote came shortly after the decisive defeat of the road tax measure and it would have been difficult to justify a substantial increase in the county payroll.
My unsolicited advice to the activists is to break out of the box and start a public examination of the county budget as a whole. You will find that, much like the U.S. military budget, public safety and criminal justice administration consumes the lion’s share of the county money. That’s where the money for expanding the budget box for the IHHS workers can be found.
