America's Government is a Problem and the Solution

Over the last fifty years or so, America has been living under a federal-level regime of thought and policy known as Neoliberalism. While the movement towards deregulation, 'trickle-down-economics' and a general "government is bad" philosophy began emerging throughout the 1970s, these trends entered American reality in-force during the 1980s and 90s. In his inaugural address in 1981, President Ronald Reagan stated unequivocally, "In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem." The president was speaking to the supposed ills of deficit spending, allegedly high taxation and the rampant stagflation and oil shock which had impacted Americans during the back half of the 70s. This line from President Reagan, more than possibly any other sentence from any other speech during his time in the White House, has guided the trends and policies advocated for by both major parties in the United States, yet particularly the Republican party, over the last half century or so. Many of the largest financial and economic problems in our world today are the direct result of this line of thinking taken to its logical extreme.

In the same inaugural address, President Reagan continued, "It is my intention to curb the size and influence of the Federal establishment and to demand recognition of the distinction between the powers granted to the Federal Government and those reserved to the States or to the people. All of us need to be reminded that the Federal Government did not create the States; the States created the Federal Government." While this statement is supremely disingenuous in the way is construes power granted by the Constitution, the impact of these words have proven far more insidious than simple political posturing. In effect, the president was advocating for what would become known as 'originalism' in the interpretation of the Constitution, which claims to interpret our founding document in the manner the Founders would have intended back in the 1780s. This philosophy combined with religious zealotry and corporate greed has led the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, allowed unrestricted corporate donations given to political campaigns, granted states increased authority to restrict who can vote, restrained the powers of federal agencies ranging from the EPA to the IRS in protecting the American people, curbed the power of labor organizations and much more. While Reagan drastically increased government spending rather than cutting it as promised, the federal government began systematically dismantling many of the institutions carefully built up over decades while the rich and politically connected began a huge and sustained upswing in their influence and wealth which would last to the present day.

Since the supposed 'Taxpayer Revolt' of the 1970s and notably since the ascension of President Reagan in the 80s, America has embarked on a project of abject crony capitalism advertised as free-market, supply-side economics. Over the years regulatory agencies have lost much of their funding and power to enforce national standards, impacting the health, safety, financial security and overall well-being of nearly all American citizens. Deregulation of a variety of markets has allowed and resulted in the merging of companies within media, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, airlines, eyewear, food production and more to create massive corporations which have an unprecedented amount of power over their respective fields. For example, only three companies control the vast majority of chicken production and distribution. Four corporations control the lion's share of American media, down from around thirty firms back in the 80s. Only three companies dominate internet provider services, and six control the sales and prices of nearly all patented pharmaceuticals. The so-called 'free market' model of Neoliberal American politics has actually created a series of oligopolies which artificially control the supply of products and services while setting their own 'what the market will bear' prices throughout the nation.

The dramatically increased cost of housing, higher education, medical care and health insurance, food and gasoline, telecommunication services and more, contrasted against stagnating wages and weakened labor power, are all the result of these Neoliberal policies. The increasingly unequal, unfair and corrupt United States we see today is the true result of decades of so-called limited government, deregulation and trickle-down-economics. Instead of the promised rising tide lifting all of our living standards, this political regime has become a proverbial albatross around the neck of average Americans, only raising the cost of living and decreasing our buying power more dramatically with every passing year. Rising homelessness, neglected mental health programs, and poorly-funded drug-use rehabilitation combined with the largest prison system in the developed world spearheaded by corrupt and profit-motivated private prisons all contribute to a cycle of poverty, crime, gang membership and general hopelessness for many which the ruling elite of the Neoliberal system has proven uninterested or incapable of repairing. At some point we must acknowledge the system is at its very core corrupted and stands in need of changing.

Neoliberalism has failed America and the wider world which we influence. In the UK, Australia, Canada and other US-adjacent nations, lighter yet still impactful Neoliberal policies have led to incredible wealth accumulation for the leisure and investor classes while buying power of the middle and working classes has seen similar stagnation just as predictably. The current political regime is a massive, tangled web of a system which ultimately siphons productivity and economic gains to the top, leading to the reality we live in today wherein the wealthiest 10% of Americans hold more value than the lowest 76% of American citizens put together, an unprecedented statistic. Not only has nearly all inflation-adjusted economic gains gone to the top 10% over the last several decades, but the rest of America has actually been losing ground, leading to a declining working class and growing number of working poor. While a sizeable chunk of middle-class Americans have risen into the top 20% or so of wealth-holders, becoming a primary example used by the elites of our society as a defense of the Neoliberal system, the overall result is Americans not in the top 10% collectively losing ground over the last several decades while a small percentage have successfully treaded the metaphorical waters to become only slightly better off compared to past decades. These facts show the argument made by corrupted elites to be the weak and disingenuous propaganda that it is. Neoliberalism created a system by the rich and for the rich, and it's become ever less apologetic for this reality over time.

Perhaps fortunately, the Neoliberal regime is slowly coming apart. What comes after, however, is still unknown and may not actually be better than what we have now. The Republican party has been under assault from pseudo-fascist Nationalists often labeled 'Trumpists', while the Democratic party remains firmly in the hands of pro-establishment Neoliberal types. While there is a growing and determined wing of New-Deal-style Progressives wielding increasing power and influence within the Democratic party, their ascendance is not in any way pre-determined, nor will it be an easy transition. This brings us to the modern choice before Americans, that between stagnation and continued corruption through trust in the decrepit Neoliberal system, our regression and fall into infighting between increasingly radical White and Christian Nationalists fighting to impose their will on the rest of the American people, or we stand and demand greater freedom, equality and prosperity like that which built our nation up after World War II. It would seem the Progressive option is the obvious choice for most of us, yet it remains to be seen if we can reach enough of our fellow citizens in time to correct the ever-faltering ship that is modern America.

Back in 1938, with America still recovering from the Great Depression which was itself largely caused by the corrupting influence of massive wealth accumulation of the elite during the Gilded Age, President Franklin Roosevelt gave an address to Congress stating there were two simple truths about freedom in a democracy. "The first truth is that the liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is Fascism—ownership of Government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power." He then continued, "The second truth is that the liberty of a democracy is not safe if its business system does not provide employment and produce and distribute goods in such a way as to sustain an acceptable standard of living." Both of these statements are just as true today as they were over eighty years ago, and America once again finds itself in the thrall of extremely powerful monied interests which control a huge subsection of American life.

In other words, government is at times a problem, notably when it is unduly influenced by the wealthiest of Americans as it is today, yet when used properly it is a powerful tool of the People. In fact, the federal government was intended as a weapon of the People, to use as protection not only against foreign threats and invasion, but as a means of 'promoting the general welfare and securing the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.' If modern 'originalists' such as President Reagan were being truthful and following through on their claims, they'd acknowledge the federal government was not created by the states, yet was instead ratified and given ceded sovereignty by the states to protect, regulate and represent the greater whole of the American people. Government, when used as intended, is our solution. This is an empowering realization, one which has been purposely hidden from us and which many Americans should embrace more thoroughly. The United States needs a healthy injection of progressivism and social democracy into its mainstream thought and practice.

So, how do we move away from the corrupted Neoliberal system and towards something better? Well, first we need to cut the greatest sources of corruption from our system. Get big money out of political campaigns, force politicians to place their assets in blind trusts while in office, stop allowing mergers of large, industry-controlling companies, forcefully trust-bust overly consolidated industries to promote competition, protect labor organizations through sectoral bargaining, raise taxes on the wealthy, redistribute wealth to the most vulnerable in American society, invest much more in education, transportation, infrastructure, mental health care, drug rehabs, affordable housing and jobs programs, implement profit margin caps on necessities, and impose proper regulations of industries which abuse their power. We can also reform our government, ween ourselves off of oil use more quickly, guarantee basic necessities of life for all Americans, decrease defense spending, eliminate subsidies given to already-wealthy industries such as oil producers, double down on democracy by ensuring all eligible citizens are able to vote easily and are incentivized to participate in each election, and build out the sort of social safety net which northern European nations such as Sweden, Denmark and Norway have enjoyed for decades.

While the process may seem daunting in the face of such opposition, America has been through worse and emerged on the other side stronger than before. We can do it again, and we have the tools and knowledge to make it happen. We need to organize, educate and agitate, and we cannot stop until we tear the reins of power away from neo-fascists and Neoliberals alike. We must restore the People to their proper place of power granted by the Constitution, spreading the promise of freedom, equality and prosperity to all Americans for generations to come. As President Roosevelt also explained to Congress during his 1938 message: "We believe in a way of living in which political democracy and free private enterprise for profit should serve and protect each other—to ensure a maximum of human liberty not for a few but for all." Truer words have rarely been spoken.

References:

1) https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/inaugural-address-1981

2) https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/message-congress-curbing-monopolies

3) https://newrepublic.com/article/155970/collapse-neoliberalism

4) https://financebuzz.com/us-net-worth-statistics#:~:text=The%20top%20ten%20percent%20of,just%201%25%20of%20all%20wealth

5) https://progressivereform.org/

6) https://www.whitehouse.gov/build/

7) https://www.redalyc.org/journal/5340/534057807003/html/

8) https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/05/07/america-is-becoming-a-social-democracy/

9) https://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/social-democracy-in-america

10) https://www.americanprogressaction.org/article/what-is-sectoral-bargaining/