The state of the national conversation
A September 2024 piece by ABC News included statements by Kamala Harris and Donald Trump on what they would do to fight inflation and reduce the cost of living.
Harris served up a word salad calling for cooperation and everyone working together on the problem, the equivalent of Rodney King’s “Can’t we all just get along.” plea to solve poverty and race problems. It was an information-free statement of hope, good will and community.
Trump, in one of his more grounded remarks, said that energy costs had to be brought down as energy underwrote everything. Trump’s statement was unspecific but at least he spoke a simple critical truth and ABC News actually published it; two exceptional events.
Normally, in order to assure coverage of his remarks, Trump resorts to salaciously reckless claims which seem completely unhinged to those not impacted (and possibly profiting) from the myriad problems experienced by a large proportion of the public over the past 4 decades.
For instance, Trump called for nations not meeting their NATO defense spending commitments to be left open to Russian invasion, a suggestion greeted with shock and amazement across the mediaverse. The point though, was that the USA had been carrying slackers on its back for decades and it had to stop.
But Trump can’t say that directly or no one would cover it. In order to make the point publicly he has to wrap a kernel of truth (or hot button) in an outrageous suggestion knowing that the corporate media is compelled to hype it to demonstrate what a complete fool he is. And, let’s face it; making extreme and boastful claims well suits the personality of a narcissistic loose cannon like Trump.
Haitians eating the pets off people porches is a classic example. The media leaps to the defense of Haitians with the notion that Haitians never eat cats or dogs. This is likely untrue as these domesticated animals are eaten widely around the world. This includes in Canada. The author has eaten dog in South Korea.
The media have their victory in trouncing Trump’s statement as baseless and racist. Trump has his victory as he has linked an incoherent immigration policy to a distasteful practice and reminded his base that their problems are being ignored and dismissed by the ruling elites who regard them as deplorable and unworthy.
There is method in Trump’s madness and his often ridiculous statements. Trump is using the mass media to connect to the large number of people who were cut loose from the public policy debate decades ago. They have witnessed their personal fortunes and those of their families and communities crater. Disenfranchised by mainstream media and politicians they have looked for someone who acknowledges their problems and speaks to their root causes.
Trump made himself into that individual. He is the mix of money, moxie and pure showman needed to break the embargo on the public discussion of a host of critical social issues. And that highlights the problem.
The national conversation, so critical to the healthy functioning of a democratic state, has taken the form of hidden messaging, extreme statements and saccharine assurances. Which is to say, it has no substance, information or real communication. No one hears the other side.
Anger messages play to an outraged demographic while empty assurances speak to the hopeful and fearful.
Social learning no longer takes place and a common basis for discussion has vanished. The national conversation no longer binds the nation together. It is now a completely polarized discussion features no engagement between the two, mutually phobic sides, just repetition of boilerplate points to assure their respective bases they are right.
A severely polarized and limited national conversation reduces the effectiveness of any elected government. Their policy initiatives will be narrow, subject to a drawn out passage procedures and supported by only a portion of the public.
A nation can’t function any smarter than its conversation and its democratic institutions can’t deliver competency and representation unless the nation is a community speaking with itself.
To function, the national conversation has to be a smorgasbord of ideas and voices with a common aim of well-being and progress rather than a Hatfield or McCoy binary choice. As long as word salads and steak tartar remain the only two items on the menu, democracy, in its current form, will continue its slide into failure.
** Steak tartar – uncooked ground steak topped with a raw egg. In finer establishments, this can be had with a side of cod eyes, raw of course. The point? Steak tartar is the polar opposite of salad and is, for many people, a revolting offering of unpalatable ingredients compared to the jumble of feel-good and righteous elements of a salad. Both can be healthy.
John Erik Meyer