Relax, People. America Is Not 'Tearing Itself Apart'.

 

I have to shake my head in wonder every time I read another British or European headline about the alleged threat of ‘America tearing itself apart’ or a mind-numbing essay about the ‘Two Americas’. I’ve got news for the author of that particular tome. There are far more than two Americas. Calm down people. Stop hyperventilating. America is – always has been and God willing always will be -- a big, sprawling country filled with contradictions.

 Even without the loud, gaudy showmanship of someone like Donald Trump America presents the polar opposite to the relatively small, relatively well controlled, relatively discrete countries of Europe where one never, ever brags about his own wealth and certainly never drives around in a pick-up truck with deadly weapons carried on a rack behind the driver.

 Of course there are deep cultural differences between various parts of the country. Not too many New Yorkers familiar with the canyons of Manhattan want to swap them for the real canyons and mountains of the wild west. Fortunately there’s enough room for everyone to find a place suitable for the life-style of his or her choosing. You want to live the life of a mountain man high in the Rockies? Be my guest. The thought of venturing west of the Hudson River causes you to break out in a cold sweat? Stay home. Be my guest. No one is going to stop you.

Scary. But how representative?

 What most European commentators seem to miss about the coming ‘cataclysm’ in America is just how superficial most of the noise really is. Yes, pictures of wild demonstrations and  guys with guns and motorcycles make scary pictures. God knows, you can find them in America – just like you can find just about every sort of clan, tribe, cult, freak show you can imagine. But, and this is a big but, just how much of the total society of more than 360 million people do they represent? Not much. Occasionally some of these groups do break out in violent, bloody actions like the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 where members of a militia group bombed a federal building killing 168 people. What was overlooked in the aftermath was the universal condemnation from all segments of the allegedly fractured society. The show of unity was far greater and longer lasting than that one deranged incident.

 My advice to foreign commentators looking for evidence to support their pre-formed opinions is to look deeper. Go beyond the blaring headlines and political follies of Washington and see how the country works and why it will most likely stay together. One of the immediate observations will be just how de-centralized the system really is. Unlike most of Europe decisions of the central government do not control or even heavily impact what is important in most people’s daily lives.

 It is precisely everyday issues like schools, roads, local taxes that people in the thousands of communities across the country – not the central government – decide. Just look at the difference in how communities in Europe and the United States are funded. In Europe well over 90% of funding for local communities comes from the central government. With that funding comes central control over what is done in local communities. In the United States the situation is reversed. More than 90% of any town’s budget comes from that town, from property taxes on homes and businesses. When I was starting as a rookie journalist I covered these towns and I can assure you the locals were determined to keep control. Offers of state or federal funding were often rejected because of the strings attached. Town councils spent days agonizing over budgets and how much property taxes would have to be increased to pay for schools, police, fire departments, libraries, health care etc. This also explains the huge differences and inequalities in education systems. Wealthy communities like Greenwich, Connecticut can afford the best schools money can buy. Rural communities have trouble scraping up money for math teachers let alone fancy after-school programs.  I often witnessed unlikely scenes where a bearded, heavily tattooed, Hell’s Angels member and a country club matron would join forces to argue for increased school funding. After all, Hell’s Angels have kids too.

Town meetings decide critical local issues

 The point is that in these communities where issues critical to people’s everyday lives are decided there is very little room for political identification as a Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Moon Worshipper or anything else. People are forced to work together. Pot holes aren’t Republican or Democrat. They’re just pot holes that need to be fixed – by the people of that town not some distant figure in Washington.

 So whatever happens on Election Day this week just relax. Put your feet up, have a glass of wine confident that one day – post-Covid of course – you can visit America and not have to worry about getting caught in the cross fire of a civil war.