America needs a re-imagined governance vision for its future in the 21st Century. We have stumbled and fumbled over the past several decades and have lost our way politically and economically. The free market system has been demonized and the political system has been corrupted beyond recognition.
The national debt stands above 30 trillion dollars, inflation is currently at 8.5 percent, and the purchasing power of the U.S. dollar is about four cents versus the dollar in 1913, when the Federal Reserve was established.
The Past 70 Years Have Not Been America’s Best
The past 70 years have demonstrated that the national policies (domestic, economic, and foreign policies) of America, as crafted by the political elites, have fallen way short of their expected goals or objectives. For example, America has tried to win the minds and hearts of various nations by its attempts at nation-building and democracy sharing. We have learned at great loss of life and treasure that democracy is not understood by everyone, nor is it desired by every nation. And, of the greatest importance, many nations do not have the institutions in place to support democracy, vibrant or otherwise. As much as a few countries might want to emulate America, they find it difficult to copy us because we are unique. We started from square one as a constitutional republic and have evolved into a representative democracy of sorts. Most other countries do not have that advantage and thus transitioning to democracy is a challenge of the first magnitude.
We have also seen how terrible and misguided centralized power can be, whether it is the “guns and butter” programs of President Johnson in the late 1960s, the “Pax Americana” policies of President George W. Bush in the early years of the 21st Century, or the containment of the coronavirus in 2020 and 2021.
Localism Is An Idea Whose Time Has Come
I can distill a new governance vision for America into three phrases: Think Locally! Act Locally! Govern Locally! It is that simple.
America is best governed from the bottom, at the lowest possible level. Citizens at that level (small cities, towns, townships, counties) know what the best public policy is for their communities. The political leaders at the State and Federal are ill-equipped to understand the complexity and diversity of 50 sovereign states.
The Way Forward
I believe the only way forward for America is to devolve more and more power to the states and over time downsize the Federal Government. This transition will be the work of two generations. Let’s hope it is not too late and that we have the persistence and commitment to see it through.