The Tyranny of Low Expectations

At his Bracing Views blog, retired lieutenant colonel and historian William Astore asks a basic question of America: "Why is the money always there for Wall Street and wars and weapons but it's rarely if ever there for workers and students and children?" For me, Biden's $1.9 trillion bill represents rare actual help, but why, all these years, has there been no more than this for a society that's grown historically unequal? Tom

"We often hear the USA is the richest, most powerful, most advanced, nation in the world. We also hear much talk about freedom and democracy in America, and how exceptional our country is. Given all these riches, all this power, and all this freedom, shouldn't we have high expectations about what our government is able to accomplish for us?

"Yet I've run across the opposite of this. I've come to think of it as the tyranny of low expectations. I see it most often when I criticize Joe Biden and the Democrats. I'm told that I expect too much, that Joe is doing his best but that his power is limited as president, and that I should wait patiently for party insiders to move the Biden administration ever so slightly toward the left. And if I keep criticizing Joe and Company, I'm dismissed as an unreasonable leftist who's helping Trump and his followers, so the effect of my criticism is bizarrely equated to far-right Trumpism.

"Here are a few items that I believe the richest, most powerful, most advanced nation in the world should do for its citizens in the cause of greater freedom and democracy:

A living wage of at least $15 an hour for workers.
Affordable single-payer health care for all.
A firm commitment to ending child poverty.
A firm commitment to affordable housing for all.
A firm commitment to affordable education and major reductions in student debt.
A Covid aid package dedicated to helping workers and small businesses.
A government that is transparent to the people and accountable to them rather than one cloaked in secrecy and open for business only to the rich.

"These items seem reasonable to me. They don't seem "left" or "right." They're not too much to expect from the richest, most powerful, nation, the one that boasts of its exceptional freedom and its strong commitment to democracy.

"The money is there. A trillion dollars a year is spent in the name of national defense. Trillions have been spent to bailout Wall Street and to wage wasteful wars overseas. Why is the money always there for Wall Street and wars and weapons but it's rarely if ever there for workers and students and children?

"Why do we persist in setting our expectations so low for "our" government, whether the POTUS of the moment is Trump or Biden or someone allegedly more competent and focused on "ordinary folk," like Obama?

"Warning to ideological warriors: This is not about Trump, or Biden, or your particular party allegiance. This is about creating a government that actually listens and responds to the needs of everyone, but especially to the weakest among us, those needing the most help in their pursuit of happiness.

"Too simplistic? Too idealistic? I don't think so. Not once we overthrow the tyranny of low expectations.

"Somewhere I've read about a government of the people, by the people, for the people. We had better find it or reinvigorate it before it perishes from the earth."

https://bracingviews.com/2021/03/13/the-tyranny-of-low-expectations/

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