Amidst the growing political turmoil we see about us, I am sinking into a sense of ennui, if not outright despondency. I have often noted that the world into which I was born had horrendous challenges. A World War was raging. Genocide and mass murder were facts of life around the globe. We had legal apartheid in the U.S. even as we touted the grand principles of democracy and opportunity for all.

And yet, as a young man, I believed things would get better. I had a visceral hope that my generation would lead the way toward a more inclusive and just society. After all, we were the emerging generation of hope in the aftermath of a global conflict. We would spawn a generation of change agents … the freedom riders, a youth that overwhelmed Kennedy’s Peace Corps with willing recruits, and idealists who opposed a senseless war on the other side of the globe. Surely, we would realize the so-called American dream when we took control of things.

When I became an adult (doing and teaching public policy), I found that principles are one thing while practice is quite another. The meme above has remained my core mantra throughout my life. Strip away all the nonsense, and this simple principle constitutes my core values, my most fundamental spiritual core, and my essential politics. It is a bit like the lesson attributed to Christ … spirituality is all about love and kindness. Nothing more!

Designing and implementing the apparati through which to achieve our noble goals, however, is quite another thing. There are challenges everywhere with unintended consequences and tradeoffs dogging even the most well-intentioned reformers at every step. Yet, our aspirations never dimmed, nor our hopes for a better world. At least, not until now. The devil is in the details. No question. But our aspirations must never erode nor fade.

Fast forward several decades and what do we have. About half of the states have separatist movements that advocate a political disconnection from the national government. A movie is about to be released (Civil War). It depicts the breaking apart of the U.S. into warring factions. The producers rushed it into production since they feared that reality would overtake art, making their work an historical piece as opposed to a morality tale. (Note: I personally believe that Lincoln’s dream of a United country may be over.)

We have a nation divided in two utterly distinct halves that cannot understand one another. A Trump supporter being interviewed recently unabashedly asserted that he wanted to hang all Democrats from the highest trees. I wish I could claim that is an isolated opinion.

Our divide across values and politics continues to widen even as we fail as a workable society. The litany of American shortcomings is too long to list here. A few examples must suffice:

* We have experienced a growing hyper inequality since 1980. While worker productivity has grown by some 70 percent over recent decades, their pay has stagnated for the most part while compensation for those at the top has skyrocketed.

* We have the most expensive medical system for providing health care in the world, yet mediocre (at best) health outcomes. We have some 40,000 amenable deaths annually because people cannot afford care or essential medicines. No other advanced country presents their citizens with such draconian choices.

* We are the world’s shooting gallery. In excess of 100 gun related deaths per day occur in the U.S. Again, no other advanced nation comes close to such self-inflicted carnage. A number of our peers have fewer such deaths in a year.

* In the past, we have been the defender of democracy and Western values in a world under threat from totalitarian regimes. Now, we are in danger of becoming one of those regimes. The Republican candidate for President openly supports anti- democratic strongmen and promises to give the worst of them (e.g. Putin) free reign if elected. Oh, and he intends to stay in office no matter what. Democracy be damned as inconvenient to his narcissistic aspirations.

* We spend endless amounts of time debating athletic contests or the fate of the Kardashians while the existential threats associated with global warming and the AI revolution loom.

The most discouraging fact about our contemporary situation is that a major party endorses this national failure, what can only be described as a collective insanity. I mean, really? We have a Republican base that devoutly adheres to the most insensible and outrageous conspiracies. No, Hillary Clinton does not run a pedophilia ring out of a string of pizza parlors. And no, the solar eclipse yesterday did not mean the Rapture was about to commence. OMG!

I look at the MAGA base today with disbelief. I could understand the Republican Party of my youth. Eisenhower was a fine man and a good President. Even Nixon espoused some excellent policies though he was flawed as a human being. But the party of today is dominated by people I cannot pretend to understand nor with whom any constructive dialigue is possible.

Nothing, however, is more incomprehensible than those claiming to be Christian while devoutly following the worst example of a human being possible. The meme below captures my total confusion on this matter completely.

What astounds me is that we have learned so little from the historical record. We seem to have forgotten the lessons hard won from our own prior experiences. Do we not remember the bitter conflicts to defeat Fascism or to face down Communism? Have we already forgotten the pain suffered by minorities simply hoping to use public transportation,to vote, or to live without fear?

If we have forgotten such things, I’m not shocked. The old saw that those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it remains instructive today. On occasion, I have seen interviews with young people who cannot answer the simplest questions like who fought in our Civil War. They may be great digital gamers but stunningly ignorant about the great questions we face. I can remember spending hours upon hours in college debating what kind of society we should construct. I taught at the University level for many years. I seldom witnessed the same intensity among my students.

Now, I look about me and see societal and political failure everywhere. It is as if we’ll have a collective form of mass amnesia. But is that surprising? After all, the right wing is desperately trying to whitewash our historical record, ban the classics of literature, and erase any hint of past struggles for a better world. Who else did such things. Oh yes, totalitarian regimes on the left and the right.

Perhaps it is time for another book. It won’t help the world, but it might do wonders for me. A good rant might just be what the doctor ordered, if one could actually get a doctor’s appointment these days.