{"id":25108,"date":"2023-02-09T13:19:48","date_gmt":"2023-02-09T21:19:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=25108"},"modified":"2023-02-09T13:19:50","modified_gmt":"2023-02-09T21:19:50","slug":"that-was-no-ordinary-state-of-the-union-it-was-an-historic-moment-for-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2023\/02\/09\/that-was-no-ordinary-state-of-the-union-it-was-an-historic-moment-for-america\/","title":{"rendered":"That Was No Ordinary State of the Union \u2014 It Was an Historic Moment for America"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"umair<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>umair haque<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feb 8, 2023 (sand.co)\u00b7<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The President\u2019s Manifesto for America\u2019s Next Revolution \u2014 And Why It\u2019s a Good One<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\/
Image Credit: Saul Loeb<\/em><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So. The State of the Union. Did you watch it? How do you feel about it? Was it consequential, meaningless, or just meh? I\u2019m going to try to keep this short and sweet, and I\u2019m not going to mince words. Americans probably don\u2019t get it yet \u2014 but that was an historic State of the Union.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Right about now, you can bet the world\u2019s leaders woke up today, and watched Biden\u2019s speech, desperately, several times over, then sat down and debated it with their advisors and cabinet ministers. Because that was a State of the Union that will go down in history. No, I\u2019m not kidding. Enough with the eye-rolls whenever someone brings up Biden \u2014 that\u2019s the feeling I get that Americans have these days, and let me say it loud and clear. That\u2019s wrong<\/em>. The entire is beginning to recognize Joe Biden as one of America\u2019s most consequential Presidents for decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So why aren\u2019t Americans<\/em>?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ll come back to that. First, like I said, suspend your judgment, because you need to learn, and I use that word in a precise way, learn, just why this an historic State of the Union.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What was it about? Biden covered many, many topics and issues. Many more than a usual State of the Union. But at the core of this State of the Union was a very, very specific, very certain, and very precise idea<\/em>. A theory, if you like. Even a model. That means: a set of relationships made of causes and effects. The world\u2019s leaders are waking up today in a panic precisely because Biden\u2019s model of how the world works \u2014 and what America\u2019s place is in it \u2014 is the most dramatic sea change to happen to global politics and economics in post-war history<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No, I\u2019m not kidding. We\u2019ll discuss, shortly, whether that sea change should be thought of as a good thing, but the first thing Americans need to understand is that Biden just outlined a manifesto that\u2019s more or less revolutionary, and again, I\u2019m not kidding<\/em>. Why do I say that? Especially as someone who was critical<\/a> of <\/em>Biden?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The model of the world, and America\u2019s place in it, that was at the core of that State of the Union went like this. America was once a place of broadly shared prosperity, which created a thing called \u201cthe middle class.\u201d But as jobs went offshore, the middle class began to collapse. Even going that far would be a big change for American politics \u2014 in which both sides have long supported the ideas of \u201cglobalization\u201d and \u201coffshoring,\u201d hell, invented<\/em> them both together. It was under Reagan that this set of ideas began \u2014 and under Clinton that they accelerated out of control. Both sides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Biden went further than challenging this old orthodoxy, which both sides created \u2014 offshore, globalize, and America will be just fine. Much <\/em>further. He recognized that the gains of this model of organizing the global economy \u2014 which is what America still does \u2014 flowed mostly to the rich, which is how they became super and then ultra rich. And he went even further than that \u2014 making an absolutely critical link, that no American President, let alone politician, really, except maybe Bernie and Liz, have made before. That hollowing out of the American middle <\/strong>led to a loss<\/strong><\/a>, as he said, of pride<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once-thriving cities and towns became shadows of what they used to be.<\/p>

And along the way, something else was lost.<\/p>

Pride. That sense of self-worth.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Now. He meant that in a certain American way. But we can also put it in a much more formal one. A loss of confidence. Optimism. Trust in institutions. In each other. Among social groups. A sense of fatalism. Despair. The growing sentiment that life would never get better. Pride.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biden did something incredibly important<\/strong><\/mark>. <\/em><\/strong><\/mark>I don\u2019t use the word \u201cincredibly\u201d lightly. He made the link between politics \u2014 one model of organizing the global economy, in which America\u2019s middle class was effectively sacrificed to cheap labour \u2014 and economics \u2014 that led to widespread stagnation, and a fall in living standards \u2014 and society.<\/strong><\/mark> <\/strong>As a result of this political ideology, the economy went south, and that led society itself to grow impoverished, in a deep way. In terms of social bonds, ties, trust, optimism, self-belief, self-confidence, self-efficacy. But how is self-governance<\/em> possible without all those?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No American President has made this set of links. Not since Hoover or maybe Eisenhower. No American President has linked politics, economics, and society. Instead, in the post-war era, most Presidents have assumed that American society \u2014 and I mean that in a deep sense, as in, how society\u2019s doing, its sense of optimism, confidence, self-belief, social bonds, ties \u2014 is a thing divorced from politics and economics. That it\u2019ll weather any set of blows aimed at it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that\u2019s not true. What do we know? What\u2019s the single biggest lesson<\/a> of 20th century social thought? Sudden slides into impoverishment produces waves of fascism, precisely because societies lose their \u201cpride,\u201d their confidence, optimism, self-belief, and thus become easy prey for demagogues, who blame a people\u2019s woes on scapegoats. That\u2019s the story of the Nazis turning Weimar Germany into a killing machine \u2014 but it\u2019s also the story of America from about 2010 or so, its own authoritarian-fascist wave surging, and still right there<\/a>, battering away at the doors of democracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biden did something radical. Revolutionary, even. There are many on the left who style themselves as radical and revolutionaries \u2014 you know the type \u2014 and they\u2019ll object to my point. But that doesn\u2019t make them any less true. Being radical in this age isn\u2019t just about, I don\u2019t know, having a poster of Che in your bedroom and still hoping for the revolution. It\u2019s about actually challenging failed systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My economic plan is about investing in places and people that have been forgotten. Amid the economic upheaval of the past four decades, too many people have been left behind or treated like they\u2019re invisible.<\/p>

Maybe that\u2019s you, watching at home.<\/p>

You remember the jobs that went away. And you wonder whether a path even exists anymore for you and your children to get ahead without moving away.<\/p>

I get it.<\/p>

That\u2019s why we\u2019re building an economy where no one is left behind.<\/p>

Jobs are coming back, pride is coming back, because of the choices we made in the last two years.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Let me put it more formally. Biden launched a quiet revolution last night. In it, he repudiated the governing ideologies that have led America to the brink of collapse \u2014 all of them<\/em><\/strong>. He didn\u2019t call them out by name, because of course this isn\u2019t a grad school seminar. And yet to translate the SOTU in a far more concise way would be to say something like: \u201cNeoliberalism\u2019s done. It didn\u2019t work. It led to economic stagnation, which led to social degeneration, and that produced MAGA Trumpism. But MAGA Trumpism, of course, doesn\u2019t work either \u2014 it doesn\u2019t solve anything. And neither does the old-school conservatism \u2014 nobody should have healthcare!! Insulin!! Everything should be run for maximum profit \u2014 that aligned so neatly with 90s era neoliberalism. These ages of American politics are <\/mark>done<\/em><\/mark>. They are over. They have failed. We are going to try something <\/mark>new<\/em><\/mark>.\u201d<\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, too many of you lay in bed at night staring at the ceiling, wondering what will happen if your spouse gets cancer, your child gets sick, or if something happens to you.<\/p>

Will you have the money to pay your medical bills? Will you have to sell the house?<\/p>

I get it.<\/p>

\u2026You know, we pay more for prescription drugs than any major country on Earth\u2026Every day, millions need insulin to control their diabetes so they can stay alive. Insulin has been around for 100 years. It costs drug companies just $10 a vial to make.<\/p>

But, Big Pharma has been unfairly charging people hundreds of dollars \u2014 and making record profits.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Let me say that again, so that it\u2019s really, really clear. In that SOTU, Biden very, very firmly repudiated, rejected, even scorned America\u2019s governing ideologies for the last five decades or more. All of them<\/em>. From neoliberalism to drown-government-in-a-bathtub-conservatism to MAGA Trumpism, their hateful bastard offspring. All of them<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether you like it or not, that\u2019s radical. And it\u2019s revolutionary, too. It\u2019s not revolutionary in, say, the French sense \u2014 France just nationalized its main energy supplier, because, well, hello, climate change. Possible in France \u2014 not in America. For America, though? This was, make no mistake, revolutionary, incendiary stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you don\u2019t get why, think about how\u2026the entire city of\u2026Washington DC\u2026.feels this morning. It\u2019s waking up, too, in bleary, confused, panic. The lobbyists are baffled. The pundits are bewildered. Did America\u2019s President just say\u2026all our ideologies for the last\u2026five decades\u2026haven\u2019t worked<\/em>? Where does that\u2026gulp\u2026leave us<\/em>? You can see why all these folks \u2014 from lobbyists to media \u2014 hate Biden so much<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a simple example, American media hates Biden so much it spends more time telling him not <\/strong>to run<\/strong><\/a> <\/strong>again<\/strong><\/a> than covering any of the above. <\/strong>That\u2019s not its job: a media isn\u2019t there to tell a President not to run, except in cases of abuse of power. It\u2019s covering reality<\/em>. But America\u2019s media hates Biden because he is doing the one thing they can\u2019t abide, hate, loathe, despise, think of as contemptuous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\u2019s becoming a radical. And that leaves them in the lurch, because, well, then, instead of dumb horse-race style coverage, from which they earn cushy sinecures, they might actually have to do the hard work of investigating reality, and asking tough questions, like: is Biden right<\/em>? Is that why the entire world is now listening to him? Why Europe\u2019s scrambling to copy him<\/a>? Why nations like France\u2019s and Germany\u2019s leaders are inspired by<\/em> him?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Americans don\u2019t hear those stories, and so they don\u2019t see Biden for what he is. American media needs to create characters \u2014 cliched, derivative ones \u2014 to sell their hackneyed, trite narratives.<\/strong> The character they\u2019ve tried to create for Biden is \u201cthe doddering old man.\u201d Just as for Steve Bannon, LOL, it was \u201cthe great intellectual\u201d \u2014 remember that? Or for Trump, it was \u201cthe firebrand\u201d \u2014 thus legitimizing and normalizing fascism. But Biden isn\u2019t a doddering old man. Ask Macron. Ask Trudeau. They will tell you that he is becoming the most radical American President in the post-war era. Otherwise \u2014 well, why would they be intimidated<\/a>, trying to copy his moves<\/a>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is that quiet revolution? For the first time, Biden actually began to describe it in concrete terms. I\u2019ve discussed it quite a bit<\/a>, but this was the first time Biden himself has connected all the dots. What made America different before the five decades of ideological failure? Well, it used to make stuff. Stuff the world admired, wanted, needed. Made in America used to be words that meant something. That\u2019s not just a nostrum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In those days, America was a net exporter<\/a>. And as a net exporter, it was a much, much healthier economy and society both<\/em>. It had a middle class that was robust and vibrant, because there were plenty of stable jobs. Inequality was far lower, because the rich weren\u2019t basically arbitraging cheap Chinese labour. And all that meant that, despite America\u2019s problems, society was far more bound together, healthier, more confident. In his words, there was more \u201cpride.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biden laid out a manifesto for a revolution<\/em>. Now let me describe it in detail. <\/strong>America\u2019s to become a net exporter again. Of stuff the world needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where is it written that America can\u2019t lead the world in manufacturing again?<\/p>

For too many decades, we imported products and exported jobs.<\/p>

Now, thanks to all we\u2019ve done, we\u2019re exporting American products and creating American jobs.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

As that happens, three effects unfold. Number one, the middle class roars back to life, because now there are stable jobs at a social scale once again, not just rampant inequality and downward mobility. Two, that puts enough back in the public purse to begin funding advanced public goods. Biden didn\u2019t quite fully say this part out loud, but he clearly understands it, thinks it \u2014 that if you can get the economy back to where it was way back then, during America\u2019s post-war Golden Years, then you can offer Americans European-level public goods, like childcare and healthcare and so forth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three, all of that begins to rewrite the social contract.<\/strong> An America like that, with a robust middle class, a stronger public purse, less inequality \u2014 it\u2019s also one that doesn\u2019t have to simply accede to predatory exploitation for things like insulin, right down to connectivity, because it\u2019s powerless, <\/em>the ultra rich holding all the money and power. Now, people have self-confidence, belief, \u201cpride\u201d again. Because they have real power again. Economic power, social stability, financial security, social ties and bonds, a sense of community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is seriously radical<\/em>. I\u2019m sorry if that offends some people, because, certainly, it will. But it needs to be said. <\/strong>We have never heard an American President speak this way. Not even JFK, for all his many historic accomplishments, made these links \u2014 stagnation, a loss of confidence, the erosion of democracy, the degeneration of society. Biden\u2019s revolution is about restoring the fortunes of the average American again \u2014 in serious ways, not just superficial ones. Giving them fundamental things that democracy relies on. It\u2019s a manifesto about security, stability, and prosperity for the average person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why is that radical? Well, who\u2019s preached anything like that \u2014 let alone begun to do it? Every American President for the last fifty years or so, with the exception of Carter, has basically told Americans that their problems are\u2026.their fault<\/em>. They don\u2019t work hard enough, they don\u2019t save enough, they\u2019re not thrifty enough, resourceful enough, imaginative enough. Self-reliance and rugged individualism are the mantras that unite everyone Clinton to Bush to Obama. Hey \u2014 stand on your own <\/em>two feet. (If you don\u2019t believe me, skim some of these old SOTU\u2019s from Bush<\/a>, Clinton<\/a>, and Obama<\/a> and see the difference for yourself.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biden explicitly<\/em> rejected that philosophy of individualism, aggression, and atomization. <\/strong>Explicitly. Instead, he proposed a philosophy of cooperation, togetherness, and interdependence. Our fortunes rise together, he said \u2014 if we get back to making stuff again, then we\u2019ll have pride again, confidence, self-belief, and with that comes a stronger society, which can do the hard work of democracy better, too. It\u2019s the precise opposite <\/em>of the overtly mean every-person-for-themselves, the strong survive and the weak perish Presidential philosophies of the last several decades<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I ran for President to fundamentally change things, to make sure the economy works for everyone so we can all feel pride in what we do.<\/p>

To build an economy from the bottom up and the middle out, not from the top down. Because when the middle class does well, the poor have a ladder up and the wealthy still do very well. We all do well.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Now. That doesn\u2019t mean any of this will happen overnight. It won\u2019t, and that\u2019s the danger and the problem. Biden\u2019s revolution faces three challenges.<\/strong> One we\u2019ve covered \u2014 the media won\u2019t cover it, choosing to portray him as the character of the \u201cdoddering old man\u201d \u2014 and so Americans are more than a little confused by <\/em>it. Who is Biden \u2014 this bold guy proposing all this new stuff, getting stuff done \u2014 or the guy the media says is Uncle Goofy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second challenge is that all the above takes time, and Americans are impatient<\/a>. How long will Biden\u2019s revolution take \u2014 to deliver real-world improvements Americans can feel, point at and say, hey, this happened to me<\/em>? Five to ten years. A long time. But Americans need to understand that turning around a society as decrepit and broken and America isn\u2019t going to happen overnight. They need to be grown ups now, and understand that patience is key if they want a better country, that just writing all this off because it\u2019s not all<\/em> happening at immediate-gratification speed is foolish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Challenge three, and you could see it on flagrant, vulgar display last night is\u2026the GOP. <\/strong>They jeered, sneered, heckled, interrupted<\/a>. Fanatics like Marjorie Taylor Greene put on a gross show. Then came the bizarre official response, which was about\u2026LOL\u2026 \u201cwokeness<\/a>,\u201d the far right\u2019s favorite new scare tactic. There\u2019s a point there, which is that the GOP doesn\u2019t want any of Biden\u2019s revolution to happen. Any of it<\/em>. Precisely because to them, a frightened, desperate, anxious America is a divided one, which is easier to control, prey on, and profit from. An America whose confidence and optimism and \u201cpride\u201d is restored? That\u2019s the last thing the GOP wants \u2014 and the thing it fears most, because then, well, it\u2019s obsolete. So the GOP will do everything it can to stall, flame out, crash and burn Biden\u2019s revolution before it can really happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wanted to put all this in perspective for you, because today, I didn\u2019t read much good commentary about Biden\u2019s SOTU. The fact is \u2014 and you can take this to the bank \u2014 everyone from Emanuel Macron to Justin Trudeau to Antonio Guterrres is studying it, repeating it in their minds. Because it was and is an historic moment for America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An American President repudiated the direction the nation\u2019s governing ideologies \u2014 on both sides \u2014 have taken it for an historical era. And set forth a manifesto for a quiet revolution, that cuts through from politics to economics to society. <\/strong>Serious stuff. Era-defining visions. Global transformations. Yes, Biden\u2019s still no Bernie or Liz. But in his own way? He\u2019s becoming something I think even he never expected. Radical. <\/em>In the sense of fundamental transformations to the Big Stuff \u2014 economies, social contracts, how a nation works, what America\u2019s place in the world is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Doddering old man? Wrong. Biden\u2019s stepping up the plate. The question now? It\u2019s whether Americans will be wise enough<\/a> to hand him the ball, so he can score a touchdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Umair
February 2023<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

umair haque Feb 8, 2023 (sand.co)\u00b7 The President\u2019s Manifesto for America\u2019s Next Revolution \u2014 And Why It\u2019s a Good One So. The State of the Union. Did you watch it? How do you feel about it? Was it consequential, meaningless, or just meh? I\u2019m going to try to keep this… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25108"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25108"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25108\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25109,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25108\/revisions\/25109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}