Is America Outgrowing Donald Trump?
Do societies outgrow their mistakes?
by umair
Right about now, something remarkable’s happening in America. It appears to be outgrowing Donald Trump. Appears, because these are early days yet. And yet there’s no mistaking the sudden sense of momentum changing, and the feeling that Trump’s campaign is on the ropes. Will he drop out, people ask? No, others reply, the Supreme Court will just fix it for him. There’s a growing sense, in all these sentiments, that his chances are imploding.
Why is that? This is what happens societies grow. America’s having a growth spurt right now. Of course, much of it’s thanks to the joy and acceptance of the Kamala Harris and Tim Walz campaign, which, as we’ve discussed, is making Americans feel loved for the first time, perhaps. And yet people themselves, it seems, might be beginning to change.
Let me try to explain all that a little bit.
How Societies Outgrow Their Mistakes
Do societies outgrow their mistakes? By “growth,” I don’t mean economic growth. Not at all. I mean advancement, evolution, maturity, of attitudes, sentiments, values, preferences. Towards more sophisticated ways of being. Even that’s a mouthful, so, hold on, here’s an example.
Over the last week, something a little bit jaw-dropping happened. The Democrats surged ahead of the Republicans when it comes to the economy. That’s quite amazing for reasons that go way beyond superficial. It’s the Number One Issue, and always is, in America. But more deeply than that, Republicans have been ahead on the economy more or less since polling began.
In other words, Americans have never trusted Democrats on the economy more. Perhaps the last time was in FDR’s days. Since then, though? Nope. And that in itself is troubling, because…it’s out of touch with reality.
Conservative economics don’t work. All the theories and ideas are ideologies, which have failed in the real world, time and again. The wealth didn’t trickle down. Letting the rich go from super to mega to ultra rich didn’t benefit anyone else. No, unfettered predatory hyper capitalism isn’t a magic bullet that creates a prosperous and fair and stable society for all—it implodes, ultimately, into fascism, by way of despair, loneliness, and rage.
That’s not my opinion, those are just facts that we can observe in the real world, which are backed up by everything from economic research to the visible success of Canada and Europe compared to America for the average person.
But Americans haven’t learned this lesson yet. The reason for that, too, is straightforward. Who’s teaching it to them? Nowhere do Americans encounter the lessons I’ve told you above, not in mainstream media, not on CNN, not in the NYT, etc. Joe Stiglitz is America’s best economist, and to point out that predatory capitalism implodes into fascism he has to give interviews to European, Australian, and Canadian media. Americans, meanwhile, are bombarded by a sort of ideological machine, made of thinktanks, crackpots, pundits, and propagandists. This process of not learning the lesson has gone on for decades too long by now.
Yet now, finally, things appear to be changing. Like I said, Americans now—finally—trust the Democrats more on the economy. That should give Republicans nightmares, because it’s the biggest sea change in attitudes we’ve seen in America in modern history. And yet it’s so far just nascent. Will it endure? Prevail? Will Americans learn the lesson of reality, in this arena?
That’s what it means for a society to grow. Here, Americans are challenged to discern the truth in a more realistic way. To sort out facts from Big Lies. To mature as people, and not just fall prey to silly ideologies, which have obviously failed, to the point the rest of the world wonders: why don’t Americans have thing like healthcare, so their athletes, for examples, aren’t staggered that at the Olympic Village, there’s plenty for all?
When Do Societies Grow?
All that should indicate to you that social growth is hard. It doesn’t come easy. Societies, meaning people, must reckon with their follies, errors of judgments, mistakes, and they must do so collectively. At the same time, leaders must appear, who are willing to be courageous enough to guide and teach them—which is where Harris and Walz are coming in. When all that comes together, at last, the impossible finally becomes possible.
This is where America is right now. It appears to be outgrowing Trump.