Government is not the solution to our problem. Government is the problem.
– Ronald Reagan, 1981
Good government matters.
– Barack Obama, 2020
There have been times throughout history when the United States government was hailed as our source of support and our salvation. Especially during times of war, disease, natural disaster, or financial collapse, our government could be counted on to provide the critical support and expertise needed to handle just about any crisis. Additionally, the United States was widely accepted as the leader of the “good guys” in the world, giving help to rebuild other countries decimated by war and natural disaster and protecting at-risk populations throughout the world.
Yet since at least Ronald Reagan’s tenure as president during the 1980’s, Republican leaders have sought to portray our once proud government itself as a wicked force in our lives. The legions of career government workers once hailed for their dedication and competence are now derided as the “deep state.” Contempt for government has become a political rallying point.
As a result critical government departments have been disbanded or hollowed out. Scientists and experts bearing unwanted truths are simply silenced or let go. Protestors take to the streets to demonstrate their resentment of government’s role in their lives.
As George Packer says in The Atlantic,
When the virus came here, it found a country with serious underlying conditions, and it exploited them ruthlessly. Chronic ills — a corrupt political class, a sclerotic bureaucracy, a heartless economy, a divided and distracted public — had gone untreated for years. We had learned to live, uncomfortably, with the symptoms. It took the scale and intimacy of a pandemic to expose their severity—to shock Americans with the recognition that we are in the high-risk category.
You don’t know what you’ve got until you lose it
But sadly, ignoring the truth doesn’t make it go away. As the Trump administration bungles through its pathetic response to the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, it is obvious that the “deep state” is exactly what we need now. Government departments staffed with experts in their field would have foreseen the scope of the impending calamity, anticipated the critical needs, and implemented the complex logistics needed to prepare – and forestall the deadly pandemic.
As former president Barack Obama said, “This crisis has reminded us that good government matters, facts and science matter, rule of law matters. That having leaders who are informed and honest and seek to bring people together, rather than drive them apart — those kinds of leaders matter. In other words, elections matter.”
What’s next?
Surely we are facing a period of great uncertainty. But uncertainty can be transformative.
If we are smart, this current extreme episode in American life may force a reappraisal of the value of science, expertise, competent government, military mission, safety net programs, universal healthcare, the “deep state,” and more.
As former president Obama says, there is a need for real structural change, a renewal of the “spirit of looking out for each other,” a surge of activism, and a focus on the greater good. “We need scientists, experts, and the military, who actually know how to run the government, and a fairer, more just, more equitable society,” he says.
University of California Santa Cruz Sociology Professor John Hall, a former Kentuckian, foresees how much of this could happen.
“There needs to be less focus by the military on armaments and war and more on logistics. Our government could transfer the huge sums of money spent on military hardware, some of which is never used, and spend it on what people actually need.” As an example, the Army Corps of Engineers recently built field hospitals in New York, Detroit, and other communities in dire need of emergency facilities to treat CoVid-19 patients.
“What’s more, this episode has exposed the faults in our healthcare system,” Dr. Hall says. “Here we have the most advanced medical treatments in the world, and yet there is a huge mismatch in our capacity to deliver care. That has to change,” he says.
No doubt the pandemic will generate fundamental changes in everything from meat processing and food delivery to Federalism and states rights. In three short months, online work and learning have become embedded in our way of life, and we look forward to watching our favorite TV reporters broadcasting from their kitchens.
As “stay-at-home” mandates have brought about a radical reduction in auto usage, air pollution has cleared in parts of China, and even in Louisville the skies are visibly bluer. On the flip side, the price of oil has dropped below $0 per barrel.
We have unexpectedly had a defining moment in history thrust upon us. This pandemic has shown us that our beloved country has lost its way. Now it is up to us to lead it back from the wilderness.
–30–