The Republic is at Risk
“A republic, if you can keep it.” Attributed to Benjamin Franklin
We are living through the deepest crisis in recent memory for the nation. It is not just a public health emergency, but also one of governance, This is a result of decades of attacks by the far right on expertise, the civil service and the size and scope of the federal government. It is, in fact, an attack on federalism itself. At this point, the essential question is whether the nation itself will survive? We are already seeing signs that states are acting to protect their people, and talk of Californians or Kentuckians is taking precedence over that of Americans.
The structural problems with the system that was stitched together in 1789 are manifold. For example, the winner takes all system in the Constitution, and the Electoral college, are less democratic than proportional representation. They were easily exploited, and when you add the patrician idea of Citizens United that money is more important than the individual, it leads to a crisis. It’s not a new one, and it took decades of attacks and retreat by the federal government. Most of these attacks came from far right-wing libertarian Neo-Confederate reactionary forces that do not trust that federal government. They never have, because it is that same government that interfered in the caste-based, white supremacist society they prefer.
