The prime political delusion

The Vintage House is sponsoring an eight-week series (through February 25) entitled “Diminished Democracy,” presented by lecturer David Peritz, visiting professor at Sarah Lawrence College. He offers a political science scholar’s perspective on the history and deep themes in American political life. His academic even-handedness is admirable, almost to a fault. This is not a partisan perspective, but a deep dive into the roots of our current political dysfunction.

The theme of ‘democratic decay’ was brought into focus by a recent Princeton University study that tracked the relationship between legislative outcomes in Congress and the policy preferences of each income stratum in American society. I was not surprised by the finding that the policy views of the bottom 90 percent of the population, by income, has no (zero) statistical effect on the policies adopted. Within the top 10 percent, the views of the upper 1 percent had the highest correlation to policy outcomes. To put it bluntly, if you are not a high net worth individual, your political values are essentially worthless. You have the freedom to express your views and sign petitions, write letters to the editor, engage in electoral activity, etc., but no matter how often you pull that lever, nothing happens.

That sense of political powerlessness is not just your imagination. It is a fact. Yet is that growing recognition of the lack of political agency of ordinary citizens is at the root of the insurgent campaigns within both parties in this presidential primary.

One topic of discussion has been the desire for a more edifying and meaningful political dialog in American society. For most of the audience, who grew up during the heyday of the American Empire, the recollection of a better time when it was possible to achieve political consensus on basic civic issues seems like a sentimental memory. We are no longer merely having disagreements on the size and scope of various governmental functions. We have reached an impasse on the purpose of government itself.

Even more troubling is the lack of a generally accepted body of facts on which we can have those discussions. I have had an interesting dialog with Professor Peritz during the Q&A sessions, in which I challenged his assertion that the current state of our political discourse represents continuity with previous eras in American history. My statement was: “I question the conjecture that there have been no radical shifts in American politics over the last t25 years. The rise of a vast right-wing messaging network (Fox News and nation-wide hate talk radio) has created a media environment in which there are no facts. They dismiss expert and scientific testimony and circulate clearly falsifiable narratives every day, which are never challenged within the media. We now not only have political differences on the role of the state, but we have a fundamental epistemological divide. There is no generally accepted narrative, even on the basic facts.”

It’s clear to progressives that ‘We’re not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy.’ There is an enduring longing among many American citizens for a return to sanity, a sensible middle ground that would allow the normal functions of government to proceed without the constant cliffhanger drama that is a chronic feature of contemporary politics. Sadly, this is now the prime political delusion. There is no ‘Magic Middle.’ That ground has been scorched by the increasingly unhinged discourse that right-wing media has forced into the mainstream.

In the words of scholars Norman Ornstein and Thomas Mann in their seminal essay, “Finding the Common Good in an Era of Dysfunctional Governance,” “The Republican Party has become a radical insurgency — ideologically extreme, scornful of facts and compromise, and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition.” The basic assumption of the Founders was that elections would confer legitimacy and a constitutionally limited scope of action by the governing administration, whose policies could be reversed by subsequent elections. That formula is defunct. It’s not ‘both sides do it.’ The Tea Party faction that dominates the Republican Party has become inflamed Neo-Confederate insurrectionists who are willing to destroy the country if they can’t be in charge. The fundamental social contract of democracy cannot function without this basic agreement.

The key to defeating the Fox News/hate radio monster that is poisoning our politics is not by going after them directly. They are immune to shame or logic. We need to go after all the little mainstream media lackeys who prop up the pretense of parity instead of calling them out for their constant stream of lies, distortions, and political hostage-taking. That’s where the action is now.

Mark your calendars for a critical and timely lecture sponsored by the Praxis Peace Institute, “Economy and Psychology: Real Depressions, Real Solutions” with husband and wife presenters Richard Wolff, New School of New York economics professor, and Harriet Fraad, a psychotherapist in private practice in Manhattan. This event is scheduled for Sunday, February 14, 2016 at 2 p.m. at Vintage House, 264 First St. E, in Sonoma. They explore the relationship between the breakdown in marriages and personal relationships, and the deteriorating levels of mental health in children as a function of the protracted economic crisis that began in 2008 and continues to this day for the vast majority of the American population.