early October 2020 • gary e. davis • berkeley


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	early October 2020 gary e. davis	Oct. 5, 2020

I’m realistic (jaded, actually) but not fundamentally cynical. I believe that “democracy” in America is doing well, given that social conflict is what happens in good societies that are facing critical issues and resisting authoritarian tendencies. If ‘democracy’ is understood fairly, relative to prevailing interest in progressive practices, we’re doing alright. There is goodG government, for the most part.
In particular, Trumpism has been largely impotent.

“For the most part” is a qualifier that belongs to the evolving condition of “devel-oped” societies, the U.S. in particular: full of vigorous contests, some corruption (but far less than some east European nations, Russia, some Asian nations, and some Arab nations), and harboring lots of capitalist predation against good government.

But the current election season hallmarks that “America” “works,” since Trump-ism is nearing its deserved end; and with that, our political system is prevailing against authoritarian appeal.

We can be a beacon to other peoples struggling against authoritarian trends in their own nations: There can be fair electoral processes. We can do it, the rest of the world will soon see. Parliamentary government (i.e., our bicameral version of that) does work against authoritarian trends.

At the moment, that may not seem obvious. But the November election will be a milestone and bellweather. The Biden administration and the Democratic Con-gress will quickly undo the harm of the past several years, which have actually constrained the reality TV salesman who plays president like he’s the CEO of a market nihilistic company. There is a “deep state” of professional integrity and fidelity to law in U.S. government which has walled in Trumpist impunities and
his self-serving displays.

The Trumpist days are ending. A covid-19 vaccine will be well-distributed by mid-2021. The global economy will continue its slow recovery (and predatory capitalism will continue to properly worry about itself). Authoritarian trends in other nations will wane.

But global warming won’t soon wane. Poverty and hunger won’t soon wane.
The human condition will continue to be as it was in 2019.

But all of that will fail to occlude a stark and inspiring reality: New generations of global collaboration are emerging. And the Biden administration will bring political renewal.

In the meantime, I enjoy prospecting political virtue.