Zeitgeist

Vandals

We are witnessing the wholesale destruction of institutions that created the conditions of our prosperity.

The point is to dismantle. To vandalize. What are they trying to destroy?

A short list of the ideals and policy goals under attack:

Economic security for the aged and disabled
Fair terms of employment and safe working conditions.
Reduction or elimination of preventable diseases such as measles or polio.
Research and incubation of technologies needed for national defense and economic security
Confidence in the operation of financial markets by assuring the punishment of fraud
Standardization of primary, secondary and post-secondary education across the country and expanded access to the benefits of education.
Food and energy security and mitigation of the impact of natural disasters.
Stability in value of the US dollar and reinforcement of rule-based trade relationships to increase predictability of economic outcomes, which then fuels investment.

The allure of the US dollar, US universities, US technologies, the competitiveness of US companies, and indeed, the desirability of living in the US, have all rested on the substrate of 90 years of progress in the areas listed above. Look around outside our borders to see how exceptional the last 90 years have been for us.

No American would say progress has been uniform or perfect. We all know areas where the country has fallen short. Sadly, too many of us have little awareness of history to appreciate the context of the world around us today.

Sadly, we're now witnessing the wholesale destruction of institutions that created the preconditions of our prosperity.

Politicians exploit an ignorance of history and the true conditions within and outside our borders to spotlight a problem, real or imagined, and to use that as a pretext to destroy, disable or hobble the function of institutions they don't like.

That is vandalism.