So many people have vested interests in maintaining the status quo that change is difficult at best. Depending on the magnitude of the change, it can be nearly impossible. Take, for instance, America’s body politic before Trump.
Our government had, for all intents and purposes, ceased fulfilling its mission: the governing of its people. The interaction of its two warring factions had ground all progress to a halt. One side, in pursuit of equity and fairness, became mired in its own status quo and did not see what was happening. The threatening neoliberal economics, pursued by the other side, was intent on small government and less regulation.
A similar disfunction occurred in America during the 1920s, culminating with the stock market crash of 1929. The ensuing global economic ruin was so catastrophic, so completely shattering the status quo, its instability caused World War II. The election of FDR began 50 years of unprecedented progress of, by, and for the people of America. Rebuilding in the aftermath of WWII produced Europe today. Never, in the history of the world, has there been a time where the needs of the many outweighed the wants of a few.
The gridlock in our system has produced Trump, the epitome of unrestrained capitalism with utter disregard for wealth disparities. He is breaking our governmental status quo with a wrecking ball. Moneyed interests are crushing liberal ideals aimed at equality and inclusion. Momentous change, in America, is at hand.
Never let a crisis go to waste
No one knows exactly what lies before us. There is both hope and dread where we stand. In the 1900s, under the stress of egregious wealth, we economically wandered into disaster. This time great wealth is intentionally, knowingly, imploding the status quo while ignoring history’s tendency to repeat itself. We are heading toward economic catastrophe.
It took the forces of greed 5 decades to recover from their last debacle. The elections of Reagan and Thatcher started the neoliberal revolution culminating with Trump, Vought, and Project 2025.
The current wholesale destruction of the status quo may still avoid complete economic failure, if we manage to stop the Trump Regime in time. We must prepare for the window of change and transformation that is at hand. If Trump is stopped before complete financial collapse, Europe will survive the destabilization emanating from us, and America can break away from the neoliberal economics that dominates us.
Unlike 100 years ago, we already possess monetary tools proven to work. These tools kept England from complete failure in WWI and provided the framework for governments in America and Europe that better meet the needs of the many. The successful economic policies of John Maynard Keynes can be summed up in one phrase: government must do what private enterprise will not.
Capitalism, by its nature, creates profitable ventures. It will not provide economic stability, will not stop inflation, will not stop boom and bust economic cycles, will not control market forces, will not provide equality of opportunity, will not deal with racism, will not care for those in need, will not employ everyone. Its single-minded focus on profit will not allow it.
This is what we must do
There is a singular solution for all the things capitalism will not do. FDR tried and failed to enact this. It has been successfully, but temporarily, tried by India and Argentina. It has been proposed as a solution many times, most recently by Pramila Jaypal in 2020. It is a solution that will beat back the forces of oligarchy and greed: A Federal Job Guarantee.
It is the road not taken like the one conceived by Robert Frost, published in August 1915.
“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.”
It is time to embrace the ‘road not taken.’ It is time to make a difference. It is time for a Federal Job Guarantee.
