These days I frequently encounter people who claim to know what is going on in Washington. The problem is that half of them believe the U.S. is in a “Golden Age,” and the other half believe the end is near. Both are curious perspectives that remind me of an ostrich with its head in the sand because all I see is uncertainty seasoned with worry and pessimism.
There is a lot going on in America, of course, that is not politics. Those things may have more to do with uncertainty than the Trump presidency or anything else controllable in Washington. They include our climate. There’s “something happening” if you believe, as many scientists do, that climate change is making storms stronger, increasing heat in the summer, as well as increasing the risk of a catastrophic hurricane.
But more concerning than the weather is Artificial Intelligence, or AI. During a conversation with a friend last week, my friend corrected me when I speculated “how soon AI would arrive.” He told me, “It’s already here and most of us don’t know it.” By that he meant that the billions of dollars being invested in data centers, software development, and connecting AI to specific tasks is already bearing fruit. The problem is that we either don’t see the fruit or can’t figure out whether it is a threat or a blessing.
Another trend I see is a growing sense of powerlessness among young people. Not all of them, mind you, but enough to impact the economy and undermine the beliefs on which America has operated for decades.
For example, the concept that if you work hard, are honest, and respect others, you will succeed, monetarily and socially. Another example is the belief that democracy not only empowers us to control our future but also protects us from people and things that can and do hurt us.
Powerlessness leads to people seeing work as an unwanted and unfair obligation, not a responsibility and opportunity. And it also leads to political indifference, manifested in comments like, “They are all corrupt,” and “It really doesn’t matter who wins,” and “The rich control everything, so why bother to pretend that they don’t.”
The response of some of us is to suggest that if more people were religious, everything bothering us would return to normal. If this were true, I’d be in church right now.
Others believe that the key to “getting back on track” is to acknowledge that “our leaders” just need more power to get things done for problems to be resolved. (As President Trump has increased his power, at the expense of Congress and with the full cooperation of his party, things have gotten worse.)
Feelings of powerlessness, felt by people of all types, in my experience, open the door to conspiracy theorists. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CA) doubts humans ever walked on the moon. And a friend who is a Democrat swears that the Melania Trump often seen with the President is a body double. (Does it matter?)
The sea of uncertainty that we live in is growing. We can no longer trust our political leaders to tell the truth. When working with the financial services industry earlier in my career, a banker told me, “A business lie is not a lie,” meaning that anyone in business should expect to be lied to. Today, even the President’s strongest supporters shrug off the President’s statements as “just Trump being Trump,” even when the statements are obviously lies.
I won’t review “Trump’s lies” but note that both parties practice “political exaggeration.” Enough said.
The uncertainty surrounding us is not the fault of one party or the other, but of both. The rise of technology (AI), and the consequences of an oversized human-footprint on our small planet, maybe the biggest part of the problem, can’t fairly be blamed on one party or one group of people.
We live today in an age of uncertainty. What can we do about it other than try to be optimistic, honest, and respectful of others and the planet itself? I don’t know but I am working on it. Hopefully, you are too.
J.E. Dean writes on politics, government, goldendoodles, and other subjects. A former counsel on Capitol Hill and public affairs consultant, Dean is an advocate for democracy, sanity, and the rule of law.
