I just posted recently about how much I felt enriched by the introduction to a fabulous book, The Age of American Unreason by Susan Jacoby, by taking the time each week to tune into Bill Moyers program on PBS years ago.  Another epiphany came with a second book, The Limits of Power by Andrew Bacevich, who also appeared as a guest at a later point in the 2008 US Presidential election year–at the time, the election had yet to be held.  You can watch the complete interview in two parts, here and here

It was the first I ever heard of the phrase, American exceptionalism, and it continues to ring horribly in my ears because there are those who would still believe it after multiple military adventures in poor, primarily Islamic countries in the name of a War on Terror.  This is Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again”, painting a picture of a relentless army of angry, violent soldiers who will flood the world, including America itself.  Now, it is said that he probably isn’t REALLY going to do this, but do we really want to chance it?

The dilemma we continue to have in this country is beautifully summed up in this initial point made by Bacevich in this interview.  He says:

I think there’s a tendency on the part of policy makers and probably a tendency on the part of many Americans to think that the problems we face are problems that are out there somewhere, beyond our borders. And that if we can fix those problems, then we’ll be able to continue the American way of life as it has long existed. I think it’s fundamentally wrong. Our major problems are at home.

Ironically, he is pointing out something that really was recognized over 60 years earlier by none other than FDR, when he proposed his Second Bill of Rights.

What most people would like to think is that all can be good and it won’t cost anything in terms of taxes or other money, and I think this is where Bacevich completes the vision of FDR because there would be some degree of sacrifice among everyone to achieve a nourishing society for all. It ain’t cheap. But I think we can do without relying on cheap, tatty goods to make up for poor education, poor healthcare delivery systems, poor wages for the majority once the extremely wealthy are paying into the services that so many people need. Occasional charity is insufficient, it does not really build a solid society that has truly vibrant exchanges of goods and services, one that is sustainable.  What flummoxes me is how people point to Henry Ford paying his workers well enough that they could afford to buy his automobiles, and yet going into paroxysms of indignity to think that a school teacher earns more than $40,000 a year to start.  Seriously?  These teachers are often paying for school materials because the district budget has no money for them.

I will doubtless return to this topic when I can, it is too important to ignore.