Pendulum Politics

The pendulum in politics has swung dangerously far to the right. A change is coming. Every citizen must be vigilant. If we do not return our nation to its more progressive heritage, we may loose our rights and freedoms as the ideologues fight to retain their power.

A brief look at history reveals a pattern of regime changes in our country. The first pro-corporate era began around 1870 shortly after the Civil War. This was the era of the Robber Barons, when corporations controlled our government and many aspects of the lives of average citizens. Many of the flagrant abuses of the Robber Barons were curtailed by trust busting initiated by Theodore Roosevelt. This was the first progressive era beginning in 1901 and lasting until about 1922. During this period, women got the right to vote, and we began directly electing our senators. Maximum hour laws and child labor laws where passed.

Warren Harding and Herbert Hoover handed control back to the corporations and began the second corporate regime, which lasted from 1923 to 1933. The inauguration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt marked the beginning of the second progressive era, The New Deal. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the Peace Corps, unemployment insurance, civil rights, student loans, OSHA, EPA, FHA, HUD, USDA, the Marshal plan, women's rights, flood control programs, rural electrification, the GI bill, and the veterans administration began during this period.

The third corporate era began when Ronald Reagan was elected in 1981. Some hallmarks of this regime are NAFTA, CAFTA, the WTO, and the IMF, and the Patriot Act and the Military Commissions Act. This era is beginning to crumble. We see it in the huge inequality of wealth. We see it in the unsustainable national debt and trade deficits. We see it in the dissatisfaction of the people with their government. The good news is that the pendulum has swung to it's limit and that something is about to change. The bad news, is that we cannot be sure the change will come in the form of a more responsible and progressive government. If we fail to vote for progressive change in overwhelming numbers, we may loose democracy itself and the change may come in the form of Fascism. Our future depends upon how many of us will be awakened to the reality of the situation and are inspired to do something about it. We have that opportunity on November 7th.