I do not want to be Hari Seldon. A rant and a prayer for us.
Hari Seldon is the fictional character from the Foundation trilogy. Isaac Asimov, author of Foundation, made Seldon a scientist who created a new discipline called psychohistory. This is an algorithmic science that allows Seldon to predict the future. Seldon predicts the fall of the "galactic empire" and through his use of psychohistory, seeks to shorten the period of chaos between the establishment of a new form of government and when the empire collapses.
If you look at how things are going in the Republic, collapse seems possible or probable. The systemic destruction of institutions and political norms by 45 and his toady GOP is the final manifestation of a disease that began to infect the country in the 1980s. These institutions and norms, once shattered, are extremely difficult to repair. Some of the obvious signs that the disease
has spread
include
1)the constitutional protection of dark money. The equation that free speech is money has alienated the public from the process. Singular control over media markets by the Murdoch clan and the death of the fairness doctrine are also similar disease states
2) the systemic dumbing down of public education by private enterprise assaults such as crippling student debt and Devos is the obvious end stage. Intelligence and rational decision based thinking(such as an awareness of secondary consequences of actions) is considered unamerican.
The kid Rockification of the political process.
3) cheating or gaming the election process. The GOP has "won" two major elections by the electoral college, a process remote in time for over a century before its rapid appearance in the 2 recent elections. The gerrymandered congress has unaccountable elections. The widespread use of computer based gerrymandering so that minority voters and city based voters are diluted.
Voter ID and voter purgers and election " commissions" designed to further disenfranchise voters.
4) the infection of right wing rhetoric into all civil areas of life, the idea that Jesus was a member of the GOP and the Boy Scouts! (recently).
5) the coming and present environmental crisis that is climate change. Our governments inability to plan for, acknowledge and confront the growing threat that is obvious to the entire scientific community.
6) a shattered alliance structure, NATO, and a flight from the European democracies that will cause a vacuum to be filled by Russia and/orChina(see today's report on Russia supplying the Taliban with weapons that will be used to kill the troops and young girls who happen to want an education). Americans have forgotten that competition exists among nations and that our failure to have allies and support things such as mutual science funding have secondary consequences.
7) the demonization of immigrants and the eventual loss of a pool of talent to other countries and the hardening of the American soul (see GOP deathcare bills).
I know I have missed a lot but that just confirms my belief that structural rot is in the foundation of the country. So ,as a party,we must win 2018 to have some sort of urgent check on this widespread rot or le deluge.
This will require the best of our leadership to put forth a coherent plan that talks about these issues. It also requires us to fight for every vote and in every state. We will be fighting in gerrymandered seats with all the money of the Kochs and Mercedes and Aldesons against us, but if we lose this battle we will need to be Hari Seldon and plan to shorten the chaos of our collapse.
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