Malice Aforethought

  So the WaPo published this editorial last Tuesday.

It’s just one of a series of social-commentary opinion pieces that the Post and other major news outlets have published over the past few weeks. The laudable goal seems to be twofold: to encourage us to think that “we can do better” or even that “we are better than this…” despite the clear evidence, both historical and contemporary, that “we” are not actually “better than this,” and that it is harder and harder today to do what is necessary to “do better.”

In this particular example, the author points to the need for Americans to better inform themselves about things in the face of a socio-political crisis that threatens to tear the country apart at the seams. In other editorials, we hear about how the current spirit of hatred and fearmongering coming from the GOP does not reflect “American values” so we’d better stop it and engage with the real spirit of America.

I have to take issue with this and other opinion pieces, because they unwittingly exemplify precisely how the WaPo and so on come to be called "liberal elites." I get it: the intention is a positive one. You don’t solve any problem without first seeing it as it truly is. 

I’m going to take up the points in this particular article, but lots and lots more could be said about others…maybe another time. 

In a nutshell, commentators like this apparently have not noticed what is actually happening to people living near and below the median income in this country. (Remember: the median is the point exactly in the middle, so we’re talking about literally half of the country.)

The thing is, little of this has to do with “American values” or “social values” or whatever the terme-du-jour is today. Rather, it has everything to do with cold, hard economic realities.

Being a competent citizen does require time and effort to commit to informing yourself. There’s no question that that is true. An informed citizenry is an indispensable prerequisite for democracy — without it, the whole project can be undermined by anyone who is willing to commit enough resources to obfuscation. 

And that is exactly what has happened over the past 40-odd years. And it is still happening.

Americans, especially in red states, are working more and earning less than at any time since the Great Depression...they are living on debt to a shocking degree, not because they are irresponsible, but because they need it to survive…productivity is up, way up, but wages and salaries have been flat for a generation…three rounds of tax cuts have been rammed up the economy’s rectum since 1980, and the benefits have accrued almost exclusively to the top 10% or so of the economy.*

You see, the very people who most need a reality check are overwhelmed with paying their bills.** 

They’re too busy making ends meet to devote the mental energy needed to understand what is really happening to them. This requires more than simply following actual news. Just turning off Fox News won’t do it. At this point, the weeds are so thick it requires a machete to get through them. Who has that kind of energy? 

And this ain’t no accident. Of course.

It is calculated malice that has made it so. It's a perfect storm of ruthless plundering of the economy, the undermining of public education, and a full frontal assault on "social values"...set to a drumbeat of fear. A toxic cocktail designed to vitiate the spirit while energizing outrage and directing it at everyone but those who are actually responsible.

People are angry. People are afraid. And they’re tired…tired of being cheated and yet too tired to think through it all.

And I don’t blame them. "30 minutes a day" is wonderfully aspirational, but....



* Some charts:
Median household income in the 21st century.
The puzzle of real median household income.
Median household income trends.

** Oh, and here's a song about it.