“We want them [the states] to do [virus testing]. We [the federal government] are not going to be running a parking lot in Arkansas.” President Donald Trump, April 15
“I said the one issue we need help with is testing. He said . . . ‘I don’t want to get involved in testing, it’s too complicated, it’s too hard.’ I know it’s too complicated and too hard. That’s why we need help. I can’t do an international supply chain.” N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo, April 17, after asking Trump for testing help
“The future will take care of itself.” Mitch McConnell, Dec 1, on his responsibilities related to Biden’s win
Only anarchists and extreme libertarians would abolish all government. Most of us understand and respect the importance of local and state government: we expect to get a pothole fixed, to enjoy the protection of police and fire departments, to revel in the parks that make pandemic life more bearable. Perhaps most importantly, we count on schools to educate and care for our children.
But what if a problem is too big for a state or local government? Immigrants created the United States to deal with larger problems. The need for cross-country travel gave birth to the federal interstate system. When too many aged people were without savings or support during the Great Depression, the federal government established Social Security. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941, it was the federal government that responded, not the city of Honolulu or the state of Hawaii.
Currently, we face two national crises. The first is the coronavirus which continues to devastate those 65 and over (80% of all deaths) and our economy, and overwhelms local health facilities. After nearly 10 months, there is still no coordinated national strategy for testing or limiting transmission. From the very beginning, the Trump administration rejected responsibility for addressing a complicated national crisis, refusing to “run a parking lot in Arkansas.”
This approach created national chaos: states competing against one another for essential supplies; some states allowing events which contributed to surges far beyond their borders; basic health protections (masks, social distancing) up for personal debate among neighbors and strangers on the street. Now, the country is ravaged by a predicted, catastrophic wave that could have been lessened with strong national guidelines, backed by the president and others.
When faced with the most essential reason for a federal government to exist — a crisis threatening all Americans and extending beyond the capabilities of local and state governments — the Trump administration turned its back, abdicating its responsibility for leadership, and promoted chaos instead. Today, it’s often up to untrained individuals and families to figure out what’s best for them and their communities.
Our second crisis is democratic and Constitutional, and the administration has taken the same approach. After the inauguration, it’s likely that nearly one-third of all voters, over 50 million, will believe that Biden’s election was not legitimate and involved election fraud. This belief appears unshakeable, even after Trump supporters begged for any evidence of widespread fraud, with no success.
President Trump promotes chaos in seeking to overturn the election, but Republican officials, led by McConnell, could help stabilize the country by stating the obvious. Again, they have turned their backs. If the future is left to “take care of itself” without principled leadership, it will probably include the same agonizing Congressional gridlock and angry, divided communities of the last few years, but with millions now lacking belief in our basic democratic process.
The federal government is the only entity large enough to address national and international issues: environmental and climate crises; energy production and use; paying workers a living minimum wage; a health-care system paying a third of its staggering costs for paperwork; regulating banks and investments to prevent another Recession; reducing systemic racism in voting, housing, hiring, and education.
I believe the true movers-and-shakers of the less-tax, less-regulation, less-government movement are the upper 1% in wealth and power. They are content to see Republicans let the future “take care of itself,” even if it involves a severely-divided nation in constant, internal conflict.
Small, limited, or ineffective government can’t deter their attempts to consolidate and increase their already disproportionate share in controlling our society. Societal chaos favors the tiny, and often amoral, elite whose goal is simply retaining and increasing their own power, with no interest in the great people — Republicans and Democrats — and values of the United States.
Allen Woods is a freelance writer and author living in Greenfield. Comments are welcome here or at awoods2846@gmail.com.