The American Experiment at 250 - Rob Horowitz

Rob Horowitz, MINDSETTER™

The American Experiment at 250 - Rob Horowitz

As we are poised to mark the 250th anniversary of our nation's founding, most of us are troubled by the state of our country and are in no mood to celebrate. More than 3-in-4 (77%)  American adults today say the founders would be disappointed if they saw how the country turned out, a substantial increase from the less than half (42%) who said so 25 years ago, a Gallup survey documented.  No wonder, only about 1-in-3 American adults are “excited” about the occasion, according to the AP-NORC Poll.

 

It is the case that Americans do recognize that we have made significant progress towards our founders’ aspirational goal of a “more perfect union” over the past 250 years.  “About seven in 10 Americans say the nation has had a great deal (20%) or a fair amount (49%) of success in achieving the ideals on which the country was founded,” reported Gallup.

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For most Americans, however, the moment we find ourselves in is particularly fraught. The negative perceptions of the economy today are driving pessimism about our economic future.  Only about 1-in-3 Americans today believe that the American Dream, “the belief that if you work hard, you’ll get ahead,” still holds true, according to the AP-NORC poll.  There is also a sense of a growing wealth and class divide; about 8-in-10 Americans (81%)  believe there is more that divides than unites “the wealthy from the not-wealthy,” a new NBC News poll reports. Similarly, nearly 7-in-10 (69%) Americans strongly agree that in the United States, wealthy people can often avoid consequences that ordinary people would face for the same actions,” according to the same poll.
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Still, the heart of today’s discontent and real worry about our nation goes beyond economics. It is a valid concern that the fundamental pillars of our democracy are seriously threatened by a president and administration that embrace and act on an authoritarian view of governance, more inspired by autocrats like Viktor Orban than our founders or previous American presidents. As I wrote in a column a couple of months ago, three respected international and human rights organizations recently sounded the alarm on the deterioration of American democracy  Human Rights Watch put it this way, “The administration’s racial and ethnic scapegoating, domestic deployment of national guard forces in pretextual power grabs, repeated acts of retaliation against perceived political enemies and former officials now critical of him, as well as attempts to expand the coercive powers of the executive and neuter democratic checks and balances, underpin a decided shift toward authoritarianism in the US.”

 

While there are many Americans who may not agree with all the specifics referenced by Human Rights Watch, more than 3-in-4 believe that our democracy today is under serious threat, according to a series of national polls. In fact, nearly 6-in-10 American adults (59%) believe that President Trump “is a dangerous dictator whose power should be limited before he destroys American democracy,” according to a new Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) poll.

 

The good news, however, is that his power is increasingly being checked and limited. The courageous protest and witness of the residents of Minneapolis, as well as the related rejection by the majority of Americans of the unjustified and violent actions of ICE and border control agents, forced a change in the administration's immigration policies.  Federal judges are also ruling against administration overreach in case after case, including the arbitrary stopping of previously approved and nearly completed offshore wind projects and the prosecutions of political opponents without evidence of real crimes.  Additionally, the law firms, universities and governors who refused to cave into the administration’s threats, bullying and arbitrary withdrawal of funding are not merely persevering; in the main, they are thriving.

 

The ultimate check on Mr. Trump’s power is public opinion--and it has decidedly turned against him.  Only 40.5% of American adults approve of his job performance, while 57.5% disapprove, according to the RealClearPolitics average of national polls.  And by and large, Americans reject his crabbed blood and soil view of the country, still believing one of our unique strengths is that we remain a nation of immigrants best defined by our founding ideals--not ethnicity, ancestry, or race.  As Ronald Reagan remarked, “You can go to live in France, but you cannot become a Frenchman. You can go to live in Germany or Turkey or Japan, but you cannot become a German, a Turk, or a Japanese. But anyone, from any corner of the Earth, can come to live in America and become an American.”

 

In the face of the threat Mr. Trump and his administration poses, our democracy is demonstrating its resilience and the constitutional design constructed by the founders is mainly showing its mettle. While the damage Mr. Trump is inflicting on the home front and to perceptions of our nation around the world in his second term is considerable, most of the progress we’ve made over the past 250 years remains intact.  The United States remains the world’s leading economic power, fueled by a strong entrepreneurial spirit and the best colleges and universities in the world.  The overwhelming majority of Americans still believe in the essential values of freedom, and equality of opportunity.

 

Of course, the future is never guaranteed.  George Washington’s words in his first inaugural still ring true today: "The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the republican model of government, are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally staked, on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.”

 

Throughout our history, previous generations of Americans have faced tough challenges. It’s our turn to meet our responsibilities as citizens, standing up for enduring American values and countering the authoritarian threat.

 

That said, when I look at the American Experiment at 250 through a broad lens, I remain optimistic about its future and see much to celebrate. And most importantly, I know that it is in our hands.

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