If you are a fan of the maxim “no news is good news” then
you are probably having a delightful summer.
Compared to the screeching vitriol of the summer of 2012 that preceded
the presidential election, this summer is one of the quietest I can remember. So
far we have had Morsi’s ouster in Egypt which, lets admit it, is little more
than a summer sequel to Egypt Spring: Bye-bye Hosni. Zimmerman’s acquittal in the death of Trayvon
Martin is the only thing people have been truly vexed about, and that is
because journalists (both accredited and faux) twisted the story in so many
directions that everyone was able to be furious about something. Then there was NBC’s recent lead news item: “‘Rip Van Roker’: Al
oversleeps, misses a show for first time in 39 years.” Yawn. Pun intended.
The lack of exciting news may, however, be an illusion. More, much more, may be going on than the
newsers know (or are capable of discerning).
A coup—albeit bloodless and silent—may be underway.
What is newsworthy and largely unnoticed by those who
continue to masquerade as journalists, is what is not happening in Washington DC.
Here I pick up on the themes and observations in my posts “American
Empire (?): The Way Forward” (December 27, 2011) and “The Re-emergence of
Personal Sovereignty” (June 25, 2012).
Evidence of what I described as big “workarounds” that, I argued, were
the key to the successful reinvention of America and Americans, is now
everywhere, except Washington DC. The
113th Congress is no better than the 112th, today’s
Supreme Court has proven a parody of judgment, and the Obama administration is
largely wandering about with a map that has no roads, no contours, nor even a compass
rose. The three branches of our Federal government are gnarled and withered—unable
to bear even the lightest load. And yet,
the rest of America is rising, slowly but steadily, from the peril that George
Packer so brilliantly illustrated in The
Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2013).
Most families, many communities, some cities, and a few
states have figured out their futures without the prospect of relying on the
Federal government. The Feds aren’t even
a part of the conversation (which should scare them to death if they had even a
modicum of awareness). On the fiscal
front, Americans (but not America) have cleansed their balance sheets of debt
and are re-establishing principles of self-restraint and prudence. The days of avarice are fading in the
rearview mirror. Self-reliance,
generosity, and community are verbs again.
Bloomberg reports “Americans … have more readily available funds to
cover what they owe. Household liquid assets—financial
assets excluding pension and insurance reserves—rose by $10
trillion in the past four years, and the ratio of coverage for liabilities is
2.43, the highest since 2000.”[1] In another comprehensive study by Bruce Katz
and Jennifer Bradley of the Brookings Institution, they find that
A revolution is stirring. In the face
of supersized economic and social challenges, American cities and metros are
stepping up and doing the hard work to grow jobs and make their economies more
prosperous. With Washington and many states mired in partisan gridlock,
networks of metropolitan heads – elected officials for sure but also corporate,
civic and university leaders – are reaching across partisan and jurisdictional
divisions to reshape their economies, remake their places and prepare their
workers for a more competitive world.[2]
Further evidence is found in communities all across America
where “Community Supported Agriculture” and “Community Supported Arts” are
generating even more “Community Supported _____” organizations that promote the
production and consumption of local goods and services.[3]
Unbeknownst to our national leaders and the media that
manically follow them, the same type of individuals Tocqueville celebrated in Democracy in America in the early 19th
century are in the process of reinventing America from the bottom up—at the
local level. They are the real and viable
alternative to the concoction of platitudes and vicissitudes our national
leaders spew to convince us of their indispensability. Those national leaders,
who believe they are the technocrats and plutocrats in whom we should trust our
welfare, might want to look beyond the Beltway.
When they do, they will realize they are being quietly subverted by a
once, and now again, powerful people.
People who march forward every day beyond the sightline of the
everywhere-yet-nowhere media.
[1]
Shobhana Chandra and Steve Matthews, “Americans
With Best Credit in Decades Drive U.S. Economy,” August 5, 2013, www.bloomberg.com.
[2]
Bruce Katz and Jennifer Bradley, “Embracing
the Metropolitan Revolution,” July 16, 2013, www.metrorevolution.org.
[3]
Randy Kennedy, “’Buy Local’ Gets Creative,” August 4, 2013, www.nytimes.com.
