Recently, I have found myself realizing that certain ideas that I hold are neither original nor all that useful, particularly when it comes to the ideas that you recount in this article. Instead of offering a diatribe about how polarization is bad for umpteenth time in my fledgling intellectual career, I would like instead to launch into a diatribe about the dearth of those who know how to pull the levers of power.
I definitely think it would be worthwhile to start considering concrete solutions to polarization and the frustrating tendency for American politics to toss the concept of federalism out the window in favor of a passionate love (and hate) for the federal government. It's as if "states rights" was some sort of dirty word, only to be associated with Jim Crow and slavery. As Americans who are politically motivated, we need plans, backup plans, and "never-see-the-light-of-the-press" plans. Without these, our discussion is severely handicapped. As of right now, we are apparently cognizant of the fact that we are chained to a wall and that we cannot see what lies before us, but no one has even dared to dream of what they might do (1) if they were free and (2) how to actually become free. Maybe it's just that I'm not caught up on the most avant-garde political rhetoric the internet and what old dusty library books have to offer. I doubt it though.
To get back on point, what I so often hear, from both intellectual elites and garden-variety partisans, is that we need more of "x ideology" as a solution to almost any problem. It's quite maddening. Some of my most high-powered classes in terms of guest appearances have boiled down to establishing what most of us already know in a way that bloats our language but doesn't stimulate our problem-solving skills. The ability to formulate, consider, and ask questions is an invaluable skill, but I can't help but notice that planning, answering, and advocating seems to have somewhat fallen by the wayside.
Most importantly, I want to state this: the status quo got us here, and our planning should at least in part recognize this. I want to recognize and affirm the beautiful achievements of liberal democracy and free market capitalism, but at the same time, we Americans are headed for an iceberg, and none of the helmsmen currently available to the electorate seem able to yank the wheel far enough in the opposite direction to stop us from making contact. We ought to act quickly before any solution at all becomes too radical. Unfortunately, our government was not designed to act with efficiency.
Recently, I have found myself realizing that certain ideas that I hold are neither original nor all that useful, particularly when it comes to the ideas that you recount in this article. Instead of offering a diatribe about how polarization is bad for umpteenth time in my fledgling intellectual career, I would like instead to launch into a diatribe about the dearth of those who know how to pull the levers of power.
I definitely think it would be worthwhile to start considering concrete solutions to polarization and the frustrating tendency for American politics to toss the concept of federalism out the window in favor of a passionate love (and hate) for the federal government. It's as if "states rights" was some sort of dirty word, only to be associated with Jim Crow and slavery. As Americans who are politically motivated, we need plans, backup plans, and "never-see-the-light-of-the-press" plans. Without these, our discussion is severely handicapped. As of right now, we are apparently cognizant of the fact that we are chained to a wall and that we cannot see what lies before us, but no one has even dared to dream of what they might do (1) if they were free and (2) how to actually become free. Maybe it's just that I'm not caught up on the most avant-garde political rhetoric the internet and what old dusty library books have to offer. I doubt it though.
To get back on point, what I so often hear, from both intellectual elites and garden-variety partisans, is that we need more of "x ideology" as a solution to almost any problem. It's quite maddening. Some of my most high-powered classes in terms of guest appearances have boiled down to establishing what most of us already know in a way that bloats our language but doesn't stimulate our problem-solving skills. The ability to formulate, consider, and ask questions is an invaluable skill, but I can't help but notice that planning, answering, and advocating seems to have somewhat fallen by the wayside.
Most importantly, I want to state this: the status quo got us here, and our planning should at least in part recognize this. I want to recognize and affirm the beautiful achievements of liberal democracy and free market capitalism, but at the same time, we Americans are headed for an iceberg, and none of the helmsmen currently available to the electorate seem able to yank the wheel far enough in the opposite direction to stop us from making contact. We ought to act quickly before any solution at all becomes too radical. Unfortunately, our government was not designed to act with efficiency.