XXXXIX. The Road to Renewal: Fixing America's Democratic Flaws

Before we start, did anyone notice how bright the moon was this week? Not only did I see similar observations on Facebook, but a cousin in Missouri took a photo about the same time I did. The wonders of nature and the world. Never stop searching the stars.

The 2024 presidential race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump has brought to the surface our constant problem of “kicking the can down the road.” These are issues considered too big to tackle or small enough to ignore that fester and cripple a participatory system like ours. The United States, for better or worse, continues to be the trendsetting nation in the world of today, yet we have not conquered racism, economic inequality, religious zealotry, or the debasing of facts and science for political gain.

Now we are faced with a rise of fascist talk and dark solutions not voiced since pre-WWII America, and it makes it more important than ever to address six key areas once this election is over.

1. The Zero-Sum Mentality

Modern American politics often resembles a winner-take-all battleground, where victory at any cost overshadows the greater good. This mentality has reached new extremes with the false narratives repeated by Trumpism.

A 2022 Pew Research Center survey found that 72% of Republicans and 64% of Democrats viewed the opposing party as "more dishonest" than other Americans. This mutual distrust fuels a cycle of polarization that threatens effective governance and the truth. That we have witnessed a day of violence in our capitol, also spun as a peaceful gathering or love fest, urges us to take this divide seriously.

Solution: To break this cycle, we must consider alternative voting systems less reliant on funds and a two-party system. Ranked-choice voting, written about in Issue 38, is already being used in Maine and Alaska and allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference. This system encourages candidates to appeal to a broader base and can lead to more moderate outcomes. It will directly challenge the current money and marketing system. As someone who ran for office, I am confident that such a system would result in better candidates for office.

2.  The Blurring of Journalism and Entertainment

Avoiding facts does not create a new truth. What it creates is enough doubt to avoid the truth. The rise of partisan media has muddied the waters between news and entertainment and enhanced the division in our country. Fox News, founded in 1996 by Rupert Murdoch, exemplifies this trend with its conservative-leaning coverage. A 2022 study by the Reuters Institute found that only 26% of Americans trust the news most of the time, highlighting the erosion of faith in media to deliver honest assessments.

The recent interview of the Vice President by Fox News is a case in point. The interviewer attempted to pin the candidate into a corner with no context, instead of engaging in substantive dialogue to inform the viewers. When the network intentionally presented a shortened clip to make a false point, the Vice President caught it in real-time. You can watch the entire unedited interview here:

And for the clip the interviewer and Fox News purposefully used, this piece includes the full clip they didn’t show:

Fox is not the only moneymaker in the political spectrum. The proliferation of partisan news sources to entrench ideology over truth has made it increasingly difficult for voters to separate fact from fiction.

This is a big problem.

Solution: We must reinvigorate support for independent, fact-based journalism. This includes:

- Increased funding for public broadcasting and journalism. If you do not yet make routine contributions to outlets such as NPR, PBS, the BBC, and ProPublica, do so now. It has never been easier to promote false stories quickly to wide audiences. The best measure against that is supporting organizations not based on profit, but in substance.

- Promoting media literacy in schools. Since most youth today are getting their news from social media, teaching kids how to discern between fact, fiction, and opinion must be part of the curriculum at an early stage, probably at the middle school level.

- Encouraging consumers to seek diverse news sources. If you are a routine reader of The Porcupine, you know we source from a wide variety of journalistic efforts. Studies have found that people who actively seek news from various sources are more likely to have an accurate understanding of current events.

It makes for better conversation as well.

3. Civic Responsibility in the Modern Era

The current election has highlighted a growing disconnect between citizens and their civic duties. Voter turnout in the 2020 presidential election was 66.8% - a high mark by recent standards, but still leaving a third of eligible voters disengaged.

Solution: To reinvigorate civic participation, we must:

- Emphasize the importance of community involvement and volunteerism. People who are engaged in the community are less likely to fall into the bubble of misinformation.

- Expand civics education in schools. The days of school journalism and school papers need a comeback. Make it stimulating and fun.

- Create more opportunities for local engagement. States like Florida have recently mandated civics education in middle schools. Some universities require a certain amount of volunteer hours in admissions. Early results suggest efforts like these lead to increased civic knowledge and engagement among students.

4. The Fine Line Between Faith and Fanaticism

Religious beliefs have long played a role in American politics, but the current election has highlighted the dangers of uncritical devotion to political or religious leaders. Historical examples, like the Salem witch trials, the KKK, Hitler, and McCarthyism, demonstrate the perils of blind faith and manipulation to support authority figures.

Religion can become a cult in the absence of thought and make citizens more prone to conspiracy theories. A 2021 PRRI survey found that 15% of Americans believe in the core tenets of the QAnon conspiracy theory, showcasing how susceptibility to unsubstantiated claims can undermine critical thinking.

Solution: To address this, we must:

- Promote religious literacy and critical thinking skills. The only blind faith we should have is in policies that support lifelong education and the pursuit of happiness.

- Encourage interfaith dialogue. Respect for various journeys of faith is integral to personal and cultural growth.

- Emphasize the importance of questioning authority. Programs that foster understanding and critical thinking about religion and its role in society are as important today as they have ever been. While we must always strive to have the best educators and systems available, we must also encourage continued questioning of authority to avoid entrenchment of beliefs that harm the public.

5. The Erosion of Public Decorum

The 2024 election has brought issues of public behavior and decorum to the forefront. Debates about the importance of civility in politics have been sparked by the contrast between the candidates' communication styles. The Pew Research Center found that 85% of Americans believe the tone and nature of political debate have become more negative in recent years. This coarsening of public dialogue often overshadows substantive policy discussions. Trumpism has promoted rudeness as being tough, and loud for being right. It is the “shoot first and ask questions later” mentality that promotes action over thought, no matter how wrong the act is.

Solution: To restore civility to our public sphere, we must:

- Hold our leaders accountable for their words and actions. This will be difficult to do. While censorship should not be taken lightly, it is important to deny tax and license protections to organizations and individuals who make money promoting falsehoods.

- Promote debate formats that encourage substantive discussion. As a two-time candidate, I lamented the candidate forums that offered no genuine opportunity for issue depth. I say give all candidates a microphone with longer opportunities for direct engagement, though it will ultimately remain with voters to reward politicians who engage in respectful and substantive dialogue.

6. The Consequences of Educational Disparities

The polarized nature of the current election has highlighted significant educational disparities across the country. A 2019 National Assessment of Educational Progress found that only 24% of 8th graders were proficient in civics, raising concerns about the state of civic education in America. We know of the man-in-the-street interviews that ask questions of random citizens that typically get the most obtuse and wrong answers. While immigration has been exaggerated as a bigger problem than it is, I doubt that the average American can pass the immigrant naturalization exam.

Solution: To address civics for all, we must keep investing in education at all levels:

- Increase funding for schools. While there have been efforts to increase funding, there has also been a ramping up of efforts to undermine public schools. Increased funding is often offset by a school voucher model that sucks those increases away. Both must be addressed together.

- Emphasize critical thinking skills, media literacy, and civic education in curricula. The education model must always be more about how to think, not what to think. We need much more weighty classroom discussions, even as we have transitioned to individualized and remote-based educational access.

- Support lifelong learning initiatives. Countries like Finland, which consistently rank high in educational outcomes, prioritize critical thinking and civic education from an early age and throughout life. We can learn from these successful models that support efforts to keep citizens engaged in substantive issues and pursuits. Whether a plumber or a professor, access to education needs to be inexpensive, high quality, and available.

In conclusion, by addressing these six key issues, we can strengthen American democracy and create a more informed, engaged citizenry. Trumpism may be the current threat, but it won’t be the last.

• I would certainly like to see the American Bar Association work on ethics and public service when it comes to attorney obligation to our judicial system.

• A good summary of the history of public schooling, the separation of church and state, and the perils of the school voucher initiative.

• Instead of getting cynical, get active. New books like this pave the way for what you need to know.

I didn't know Dr. McGuire, but this Q&A is well-thought-out. Universities should uphold free speech without discrimination. They are also places where you encounter unique experiences and viewpoints. I always say that if you don't change your opinion on anything after going to college, ask for a refund because you weren't challenged enough. If civics and American History are just checkboxes in education, we miss the entire point. Remembering a few dates and figures isn't enough; there needs to be debate and back-and-forth for things to stick. A good teacher is crucial in this process.

This is a quick read that clarifies the role of universities. Politics can silence voices. True freedom exists when universities stay true to their purpose. The essay suggests that groupthink is human nature, but a single, well-informed dissident can break the conformist mindset.

American roots come from non-conformists.

Love this piece from people in different areas and experiences writing together on something they are passionate about. More efforts like this build a real community and will break through the wall of anger and denial that is keeping and feeding division.

The voucher program has been notably successful from a particular ideological perspective. However, it represents a divestment from the public sector in favor of private profit with minimal regulatory oversight. Public schools have historically served as a cornerstone of community cohesion, and the proliferation of the voucher system has contributed significantly to the erosion of this community fabric.

Rather than being abandoned, public schools require comprehensive reform. The program appeals to parents' natural desire to secure the best educational opportunities for their children, yet it ultimately undermines the long-term integrity of community bonds. This situation exemplifies the adage of obtaining one's desires without fully understanding the consequences.

As an addendum, here’s a piece from a scholar who studies the issue and portrays it more as the Christian Nationalist movement. An authentic example occurring today is the effort to protect the Constitution and the Bill of Rights from zealous forces at work in Oklahoma. See the similarity between these efforts and those of the Taliban in the next piece.

When I first read The Handmaid’s Tale, I remember having a hard time getting into it because I could not picture it occurring. This was probably twenty-five years ago or so. Now, I could see a path that the wrong people at the wrong time would be in favor of such an approach. My thinking was along the lines of no advanced nation would work to subdue its women yet I failed to consider that there are countries that do exactly that in the world today. Someone once said you can judge a country by the way it treats its women, and there has long been a correlation between women’s health and their levels of poverty. If you give women the same opportunities as men, they take it and thrive.

While I see no lesson of history that will justify our sojourn in Afghanistan as anything but a blunder, I hoped that our time there would have at least set their women free and back on a path they were on before the rise of the Taliban.

It’s not going to happen.

Be careful what you wish for when it comes to Christian nationalism. The freedoms you think of a government turned more toward a very specific God or authority figure, whoever is in power may have a very different view of their God and the use of power, and be more than willing to act “in his name.” Remember, first they burned the books…..

It is important to actively defend the separation of church and state in the United States, while also finding ways to assist women in Afghanistan, even if it requires being covert. After all, American blood has already been spilled. It needs to account for something. As we know, women are the backbone of life.

And Now….

Hope to see you next time. All around the world, wherever you are, keep reading, keep questioning, and keep making good trouble.