American Failure

America has a President who wants to be a dictator.

I think some people are happy with that.

So were a lot of Germans in 1933.

Weimar and 1930s Germany interested me so much as a history student that I moved to Germany in my mid-20s, learned the language, studied a year, and then kept up my language skills and relationships in Germany all the years since.

The authoritarian tool set hasn’t changed much. Paint a fictitious past, offer simple answers to complex issues, create scapegoats and villains to tell people stories they want to believe, push the boundaries of legality past any recognizable limits, lie repeatedly and often, dominate opposition with intimidation, legitimize violence by supporters, and use all the tools of the executive to attack institutions and individuals who might challenge.

Goebbels would have loved to have had social media, to target and control what people see and hear and believe. X and TikTok would have been great tools for him.

It works in modern states, too. Orban in Hungary, Putin in Russia, Modi in India, Chavez and then Maduro in Venezuela, Bukele in El Salvador; these are all contemporary examples and models for the current President of the United States.

I don’t know what will happen here. But I do know that this country is not immune to authoritarian impulses. They have always been part of the American mix. But they have never been so powerful, or dangerous, in our history.

The Constitution doesn’t provide much protection when the other institutions don’t act to stop illegal power grabs.

Today, bad economic decisions are being made that threaten our prosperity. But if, despite those bad decisions and the ongoing destruction of our domestic institutions, somehow the economy still thrives, the American experiment will be over. I think people will be ok with a dictator.

Don’t think it can’t happen here. It is happening, in plain view, for the whole world to see.

I read and listen to news and opinions in German and Spanish. I know what people are thinking and saying about us all over the world, as this horror unfolds day after day.

This is a very sad time to be an American.

Inversions 1 and 2

I have recently been creating new works on wood panels. It’s a bit more demanding and time-consuming, but I like making these more durable pieces that do not require the protection of frames.

A few weeks ago, I snapped a few pictures of a really interesting sky. In short time I had turned that material into these pieces, which are available separately or together as a set.

Travel

March 15 I leave for a week in San Juan, Puerto Rico with my friend Juan Natal. Juan is an awesome trainer who has gotten me in the best shape of my life. And he is a native of Puerto Rico who now lives and works in Washington DC. I’m looking forward to seeing Puerto Rico for the first time with Juan, and expect to write about the trip in my April blog.

It looks like I may spend some time in Peru in May. Stay tuned!

March Mailer

For those who are accessing this blog from the website only, below is this month’s mailer:

I cannot be silent on current events. Here are some harsh realities.

Wrecking the international security systems we built after World War II, and dividing the world into spheres of influence with the two autocracies of Russia and China, won’t make us safer. It will force other countries to acquire nuclear weapons to assure their own security.

Wrecking the monetary and trading systems we cultivated over the past 80 years won’t make us more prosperous. Those systems created more wealth, for ourselves as well as others, than at any time in human history. Destroying them will make us poorer and less secure in a world more hostile to us.

Decimating our medical research base will make us a less healthy and prosperous people. This research, which has empowered so much of our economic growth as well as progress in fighting disease and improving our health, is a national treasure we are literally throwing away with the cuts and disruptions of recent weeks.

Not vaccinating children, and promoting scientific illiteracy, will make us dumber, sicker and poorer.

Destroying our regulatory systems will not make us more prosperous. Uncertainty over regulation will make it difficult for companies to invest. The rule of law provides a regulatory framework for business decisions and investments. It appears those decisions over the next four years will be made not based on merits, but on proximity to power.

Empowering an autocratic presidency won’t make us more efficient, prosperous or powerful. Again, distortions are being introduced that will harm research and investment decisions and make us a less efficient and prosperous economy.

Tariffs are taxes that will be paid mostly by consumers. They disproportionately affect those less affluent, as do other forms of sales taxes. That means the economy will be less vibrant and have less potential for growth.

Economies require an expanding population to grow more wealth. Immigration creates far more wealth than it costs, wealth that increases exponentially over time. We need the workers being threatened with deportation, and losing them will mean less money for everyone.

China currently owns the future of green technologies. In the South American cities I have visited over the past few months, Chinese autos dominate sales, both gasoline and electric, which are accelerating everywhere. The world is moving on without us.

Throwing away our own values won’t make us stronger. It destroys the power of our influence and example that provided the opportunities you and I have taken for granted our whole lives.

Every day I read and watch news from all over the world, in three languages. The world is horrified by what this country is becoming. I hear from friends abroad every day, as well; they see the American tragedy for what it is. They know the American era has ended and are fearful of what will come.

Exploiting legitimate economic grievances and pure social bigotry may may be profitable for the cynical Elon Musks and Peter Thiels of the world, but it won’t improve anyone else’s life.

I am a gay man who spent a lifetime trying to be treated equally in this country. I don’t want other gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered children to suffer what I suffered growing up being treated the way I was by society and the government.

I am not going anywhere. I will fight for this country and for equality; and against bigotry and intolerance.

If you are part of the 30% or so of this population that chooses to live in the ignorance, disinformation and denial of the right-wing media ecosystem, shame on you.

America First was the slogan of American fascists in the 1930s. It’s a slogan today of ignorance, arrogance and, ultimately, American failure. The only beneficiaries will be Putin and Xi.