Mistrust of government and the tensions between segments of society have been intentionally constructed and aggravated.
But
to me the refrain feels more like judgment than explanation—one implying that
we the American people are the problem: We’re just too
close-minded, insulated, uninformed and prone to violence to come together for
solutions.
Angry
voices carried in news coverage of the anniversary of January 6th certainly
stoked the diagnosis. As does a frightening new Washington Post poll finding
that one in three Americans
“believe violence against the government is sometimes justified.”
But
framing our crisis as polarization is dangerous. It can serve as a veil, hiding
what should be in plain sight: the insurrection and continuing angry
accusations have emerged in large measure from a society not yet facing its
deep shortcomings.
It
skirts the truth that many Americans live in daily distress, fueling their fear
and distrust of government. Even before the pandemic took hold, nearly 80
percent of American workers were living paycheck to
paycheck.
The
polarization diagnosis also blinds us to our broad unity. Over 80 percent of
Americans agree that our democracy is not working well and believe our campaign
finance laws are inadequate.
A recent poll in
seven states also found widespread support for pending voting rights
legislation, and two-thirds of us back stronger action on climate change.
So,
what if polarization was best understood as a symptom, not a cause? The result
of a system guaranteeing the extreme accumulation of wealth, along with
deepening daily insecurities and indignities for the non-wealthy.
Note that America has become more unequal economically than over 100 countries, according to the World Bank. At the top, 745 billionaires hold five trillion dollars in wealth—two-thirds greater than that of the entire bottom half of U.S. households, reports the Federal Reserve. More than a quarter of American households try to survive on $35,000 or less in yearly income, according to the Census Bureau.
Compounding
this gross inequity is tax injustice: A 2021 study revealed that in recent
years the “Forbes 400” paid an effective tax rate of about 8 percent,
lower than what many everyday Americans pay.
Given
these realities, many sense our society is rife with unfairness, and from there
it’s easier to understand the resentment that makes people vulnerable to
conspiracy pushers.
Contrast
these truths with the long-and-widely held assumption that our country is the
world leader. No more. Americans’ self-evaluation has been sinking. According
to a 2020 poll,
almost a third of us see our government as corrupt, only 39 percent believe our
country promotes income equality, less than half view our government as
transparent, while only half view it as trustworthy.
To
make our poor standing among our peers real, consider the cost and quality of
one life essential—health care. We spend twice per
person what other wealthy countries do, leading to heavy medical debt, now our
number one cause of
bankruptcies.
And
for all we pay, what do we get?
Unnecessary
suffering. The death rate of our infants, for example, puts us near the worst
among our peers—33rd out
of 36 nations in the Organization for
Economic Co-operation and Development. Our rate of loss is three
times that of Japan’s.
And
what are the officials we elect doing to help turn the tide on these inequities
causing such needless suffering? Very little.
Why?
Too
many profit-seeking interests have their ears. In Washington, more than 20 lobbyists, primarily
serving corporate interests, push their employers’ agenda for every
congressperson we’ve elected to serve ours. Dependent on private wealth to keep
them in office, members of Congress spend 30 to 70 percent of
their time raising money to fund their re-election—not on furthering their
constituencies’ priorities.
Also feeding our democracy crisis is corruption of the public square—news and conversation that are the heartbeat of democracy. It, too, has been captured by private wealth.
Once the Reagan administration killed the
Fairness Doctrine—requiring broadcasters to offer multiple viewpoints—news
quickly became just another profit center. Rush Limbaugh became a
multi-millionaire, and fact-free, emotionally charged content caught fire.
Profits of inflammatory media—from talk radio to Fox News to
social media—soared, as lies spread six times faster
than truth.
Given
all this, we should not be surprised that America—long considered the world’s
democracy champion—now ranks 61st between
Monaco and Romania in Freedom House democracy scores.
When
our people suffer widespread economic insecurity due to the extreme unfairness
of our economy and legalized corruption built into our governance—along with
media profiting on inflammatory content—widespread despair, anger, and a need
to punish become understandable.
The
picture painted here rocks the soul. Yet solutions are within our reach.
We
can begin by courageously taking down the myth of opportunity belied by our
intertwined political and economic systems. Unless we clearly call out the
deep, systemic injustices, those struggling to get by understandably can feel
shame, and shame can fire angry blame.
To
move toward basic economic fairness, a keystone in democracy’s foundation, we
can insist on equitable taxation and reversing President Trump’s policies that
are harmful to labor.
The correlation between
the labor movement’s strength, economic equity, and democracy is strong.
We
can gain confidence that progress is possible by appreciating how other nations
prevent the power of private wealth from corrupting political life. For
example, one hundred and sixteen nations—68 percent—provide
direct public funding to political parties. Did you know that Jimmy Carter’s
campaign for the presidency relied heavily on
public funding? It is possible.
Language
is also critical. Just as “polarization” is misleading, also unhelpful is
suggesting we must “save” or “protect” our democracy. Why would Americans want
to save what’s causing them such suffering? Instead, we can cop to our nation’s
democracy deficits and frame our challenge as building a truly accountable,
transparent democracy.
Most
important, all who are terrified by the strength of today’s anti-democratic
forces can turn panic into action. Now is the moment. The Brennan Center reports that
in 2021, the Republican efforts to push state legislation to restrict voting
access was aggressive and successful—19 states passed 34 laws restricting
access to voting. We can each push our state representatives to act now
to protect our voting rights.
Today’s
immediate focus on voting rights is but one key piece of a rising people’s movement for democracy
system-reforms involving tens of millions of Americans—potentially strong
enough to reshape governance to be accountable to all of us.
Very
personal self-interest can serve here us, too. Appreciating our broad
unity—belying the polarization frame—can unleash hope, as does action itself.
And hope is tonic for the soul.
Frances Moore
Lappé is the author of nineteen books, beginning with the
acclaimed "Diet for a Small Planet." Most recently she is
the co-author, with Adam Eichen, of the new book, "Daring Democracy: Igniting Power,
Meaning, and Connection for the America We Want." Among her
numerous previous books are "EcoMind:
Changing the Way We Think to Create the World We Want" (Nation
Books) and "Democracy's
Edge: Choosing to Save Our Country by Bringing Democracy to Life."
She is co-founder of the Cambridge, Mass.-based Small Planet Institute.
