A record number of Americans say that the federal government has too much power, Gallup has just reported. At the same time, trust in key agencies of the government is declining, and more Americans than ever before say that neither Republicans nor Democrats are doing a good job, so we need a third national political party. That last point – a third party – is now supported by almost two-thirds of Americans, the poll says.
It all sounds pretty messy – like an entire system in decline, I’d say. And if you take a long view, you have to wonder how this could be: As a nation, we are more prosperous than ever before. Even the most impoverished among us fare better than the poor did generations ago. We could be (should be) less distressed, you would think – not satisfied with things as they are, because humans are always striving for better. But it is not a given that we should be so upset with our government, so untrusting of our political system.
One cause is surely the huge wealth gap in America. Seventy percent of the nation’s wealth is held by the top 10 percent of families, while the bottom half holds just 3 percent of the wealth. People just don’t think they can get out of their financial stress, and for most folks, that’s probably true.
But there’s more going on here than money worries – or, at least, the concern is broader than paying bills. Edelman, the global public affairs firm, has for 25 years surveyed people globally about their trust in institutions – 33,000 respondents in 28 countries. And this year’s study revealed a widespread sense of grievance – that is, a belief that the system is unfair, and that business and government make things worse rather than better – and that the media and non-government organizations do, too. And there’s a growing willingness, the study found, to take hostile action to bring about change – steps like threatening or undertaking violence, attacking people online, spreading disinformation. In fact, 40 percent of people say they’re fine with at least one or another of those hostile tactics.
People are mad because they don’t think these institutions are working for them – which is, after all, what they’ve been told for decades. As a young man, I worked on Capitol Hill in the years after the Watergate scandal. And then I witnessed Ronald Reagan’s presidential campaign. His memorable phrase on one issue after another was, “Government’s not the solution; government is the problem.”
Of course, it was government that brought us Social Security, cleaner water and air, and a strong national defense. Government gave us safer workplaces, better roads and bridges, food for the poor from our nation’s farms, schools and universities unparallelled in the world and scientific research to better our lives.
All of that is now under attack by the administration of Donald Trump, which is carrying the anti-government crusade launched by Ronald Reagan to a nearly unimaginably radical level. He has cut 300,000 federal jobs, and gutted programs in the Education Department, FEMA and the EPA. He has cut billions of dollars of scientific research and financing for America’s universities. Jobs in the sciences are being lost, the next generation of scientists is being cut out of training, innovations are being buried.
Yet even as he disables the good work of government, Trump’s exercise of executive authority is usurping power from citizens and private institutions at an unprecedented level. That’s what has prompted the “No Kings” movement, of course. How ironic that the party that sought to tear down supposed government over-reach is now wholly aligned behind such outrageous executive over-reach.
And people are worried about it: At the time of George W. Bush’s presidency, only 39 percent of people thought the federal government had too much power; this year, with Donald Trump exerting authority as no president ever has, disregarding acts of Congress and even defying the Constitution, 62 percent of Americans worry that the government is too powerful.
We are left, then, with worry about government over-reach on the one hand and, on the other, an initiative outside the constitutional legislative process to force under-performance of government’s useful and essential response to our needs. No wonder people are unsettled, untrusting, and feeling a sense of grievance.
So we must rebuild. It has to start locally, with good-hearted people engaging in civic life, embracing the positive work underway in their communities, reaching out to neighbors, participating in the political process – crucially, on behalf of candidates who want to build our capacity and support our empathy, not tear it all down. This will require our creativity and, especially, our energy: And in that regard, I have to say that I don’t think we need a third party as much as a second wind.
Rex Smith, the host of The Media Project on WAMC, is the former editor of the Times Union of Albany and The Record in Troy. His weekly digital report, The Upstate American, is published by Substack.
The views expressed by commentators are solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of this station or its management.
