I didn’t expect to become so entrenched in politics this year, since for decades, I’ve absolutely abhorred the petty, partisan fights. But the past four years and the stakes of the 2020 election have made me realize I can’t take our democracy and democratic principles for granted. Though I grew up on the promise of a free and fair government and was raised to believe a democratic process is our inherent right as American citizens, I’ve come to understand it can be yanked from beneath us in the snap of a finger. Sinclair Lewis’ classic, It Can’t Happen Here, illustrated the shockingly fast rise to power of an authoritarian politician who coopted the military for his own personal gains. Unfortunately, that’s the trajectory our forty-fifth President has taken.
Though Biden won the election, and it appears that sanity, reason, democracy and science may reign once again, the election was extremely close - too close for my comfort, anyway. About half of Americans were that close to electing a narcissist/fascist man-child to four more years of power, democracy be damned. As a result, many columnists have pointed out the deep divisions in this country, as steep as the ones that divided us during the Civil War one hundred fifty plus years ago. The pollsters once again failed in their predictions that Biden would win in a landslide. Why?
To use broad paintbrush strokes, my understanding is that people on either side of the divide can be roughly categorized as this: On the one hand, Democrats, who for years more or less represented working class, blue collar Americans, are increasingly educated, middle to upper class citizens in America’s suburbs and cities who share liberal views about social mores, helping the poor and disadvantaged, improving class and race relations, seeking knowledge, truth, science, and diversity - hallmarks of the government our Founding Fathers created. Many people of color, regardless of income, fall into this camp, and other (but obviously not all!) immigrants and minorities.
On the other hand, Republicans are increasingly poorer, religious/dogmatic, under-educated citizens who live in rural areas and feel disenfranchised and perhaps robbed by a system that seems to have forgotten about them - so much that they wouldn’t care if Putin were in the White House, so long as he “stuck it to the man” and the unfair system they believe is keeping them down. These are also folks who would rather do their own thing and sacrifice nothing for their fellow citizens, even if it means hundreds of thousands perish as a result.
Now, I realize these are grossly general classifications, and obviously there are people in both parties who do not fit the neat “stereotypes” I’ve outlined above. However, in high level terms, I think there’s a bit of truth in the categories. That said, if people who would vote Putin into office, democracy be damned, are doing it because they feel so disenfranchised, what, really, is a sane solution to this crisis in our nation’s history?
If we assume, for now, that many Republicans are under-educated and live in rural communities, it’s easy to see how they may believe they’ve been left behind. Many manufacturing, industrial and mining jobs have moved overseas or disappeared altogether. Others who work in the service industry are barely getting by on minimum wage and may largely serve people in the middle to upper middle classes. It’s easy to see how they may feel forgotten and resentful.
To me, one hopeful solution to bridge the divide is through education. Now, I realize this is a thorny subject, as teachers are extremely ill respected and poorly paid in our country. It appears the majority in this country would rather pay lower taxes than create stellar educational systems like the ones in South Korea and Scandinavia. But precisely because teachers are so underpaid and undervalued, and education takes a back seat to sports and entertainment, the kids in America’s educational system suffer tremendously. Schools are not universally good across America. There are pockets of good schools in the more affluent areas, and conversely, in the inner cities and rural areas, more often atrocious schools whose administrators care more about scheduling football games than cranking out Calculus equations. (And don’t get me started on math; very few American teachers are trained to understand it, let alone teach it.)
What if, for a change, we encouraged better teachers in America, and motivated more people to make it a career, by paying them as well as we pay engineers, dentists, and scientists? What if we reinstated Clinton’s and Obama’s Teach America Peace Corps programs, and required many graduating college seniors to serve in the program by teaching for a year or two in America’s rural areas and inner cities? Good teachers and engaged communities can make tremendous differences in the lives of young students, inspiring them to learn for learning’s sake, go to college or a trade school - open their minds and explore new ideas and opportunities.
And then, there’s the equally daunting problem of creating new jobs and trades in under-served areas. I’m not suggesting we train ex-miners in West Virginia to become programmers, a proposal by the Obama Administration, which, while well meaning, went nowhere. In fact, programming is not an easy “trade” to learn, and assuming someone can be thrown into it after a few weeks of training is insulting to the software engineers who have taken extensive, rigorous math and computer science classes for years.
But what if we could encourage new jobs, offshoots of the Green movement to prevent/slow climate change? Medical jobs for administering vaccines, distributing PPE supplies, performing contact tracing? Electronic repair for all the smart appliances many homes have? Teaching jobs in primary, secondary schools and junior/tech colleges?
I know this isn’t a silver bullet, and it certainly can’t be solved by one administration, or perhaps not even in one lifetime. But I sincerely believe that by working to close the class divide and giving more people an equal, excellent education (and subsequently career opportunities), we can heal the ugly rift that Trump and the complicit Republicans in Congress have exploited. Yes, this means higher taxes. Yes, this means holding education in high esteem and rewarding teachers with excellent salaries. Yes, this means performing service work for a year or two. (“Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country!”) But compassion, generous donation of time and energy, and sacrifice are required to finally begin closing this huge divide and restoring our Democratic Values.