“Call me what you will, but when Mr. Trump said “Make America Great Again” those words resonated with me. I could not agree that America was already great. How can you call a country great with such a high rate of incarceration, a high rate of crime, a high level of wealth inequality, a high level of diverse groups sharing little more than mutual hatred? Not many countries, save those in central Africa and Latin America, as dysfunctional as ours.
My good friend Stephen Schwartz might disagree, I’m afraid that no matter who wins the election there will be no peace. Violence will break out or, at least, some form of civil disobedience. If Mrs. Clinton wins, Texas voters may try to secede. If Mr. Trump wins, minority groups could riot or there will be increased violence against Hispanics and Muslims.
I honestly don’t know, but the success of Mr. Trump has revealed that what has led this country for so many years has finally broken down. I knew it was breaking down for some time. It started back in the late 1980s when I read a lot of gloomy predictions, starting with former Governor Richard Lamm’s “America in Decline” articles. One reason I did not go to law school was that there was a “lawyer glut” that I didn’t want to add to. I only thought about going because my father wanted me to go to law school, and I had no clue what I wanted to do with my life.
Call me what you will, but when Mr. Trump said “Make America Great Again” those words resonated with me. I could not agree that America was already great. How can you call a country great with such a high rate of incarceration, a high rate of crime, a high level of wealth inequality, a high level of diverse groups sharing little more than mutual hatred? Not many countries, save those in central Africa and Latin America, as dysfunctional as ours.
We might still have all this high minded blather about our constitutional republic and democratic traditions, but these things are not innate. If we don’t exercise the maturity needed to live in a democratic state we will drift into anarchy. Americans are not a mature people. We were at one time because we had to, but we let our creature comforts define us so we are no longer mature. We are no longer capable of self-government. It’s dictatorship or anarchy. Those are our choices. Do you want a right wing one or a left wing one? That’s your choice.