1 week Ago
These are testing times, not only for our nation, but for the stability and economic well-being of the world. There is also the more parochial question of what happens to the world’s largest Christian denomination after the loss of its charismatic leader. Tuesday marks the end of Donald Trump’s first 100 days in his second term as president.
It has been a frenzied, chaotic period of errors, blunders, and mixed messages that has shaken the economy and world order. Through it all, he has managed to rake in millions in “campaign contributions” as consumer prices rise. Can it get any worse? The overriding worry is whether or not the United States can hold together if its system of government falls apart.
We’re down to the wire in testing the resilience of its three branches. Congress is presently useless. The executive is controlled by a man who behaves like a Mafia don, reckless and unrestrained.
The judiciary is trying to curb him by insisting that the Constitution be obeyed. Will the executive branch bend to the judiciary? Are we a nation of laws or not? We’ll find out soon enough. How did it come to this? The answer may be that democracy and capitalism are incompatible.
They have co-existed in tension since the nation’s beginning, with capitalism gaining the upper hand early on and dominating a mostly servile federal establishment: “The business of government is business.” That conviction fell apart in the Great Depression. As the nation struggled to recover, it did so by concentrating on the economic health and welfare of the common citizen.
And taxing the haves to help the have-nots. The tax rate on those earning a million or more rose from 25% to 63% in 1932, steadily climbing until it reached 94% in 1944. From that peak it slowly declined until the 1980s, when the top marginal rate suddenly dropped from 73% to 28%.
That was also when the wealthy began a campaign to convince voters that government is the enemy. What made it work was the election of Ronald Reagan, a genuinely likable movie and TV star who was a convincing speaker, but who knew almost nothing about government. The country was effectively run by James Baker, Edwin Meese, Michael Deaver and other dedicated staff members.
The finest account of Reagan’s remarkable rise is told by Max Boot, one of his partisans, but a thoroughly honest biographer. ”Reagan: The Life and Legend” is a granular, but compelling account that is fundamental to understanding how wealth began to re-assert control of the country. The other bookend of that story is “Lucky Loser,” by Russ Buettner and Susanne Craig.
It, too, is a richly detailed account, this one of Donald Trump’s Improbable rise to the presidency and with it, what may be the triumphant return of money’s dominance of government. Among the many books, pro and con, of Trump’s life, this one sticks to the facts, following the money. Chapter 27 is an eye-opener.
The thread that runs through these accounts is the critical role money has played in undermining a nation built to serve and protect the individual citizen. The deep, libertarian core of the conservative GOP has always considered Social Security, Medicare, and agencies that regulate industries for public safety an offense against capitalism’s standards of self-government. Capitalism isn’t about ethics; it’s a system of pricing: supply and demand.
If you want to discuss morals, turn to religion. Yesterday, a pre-eminent religious leader, Pope Francis, was interred at St. Mary Major Basilica in Rome five days after his sudden, unexpected death on Monday.
The man now temporarily in charge of the Vatican is Irish-American Cardinal Kevin Farrell, who became the Pope’s close friend during his 13-year tenure. Francis appointed Farrell Camerlengo in 2019. That’s the title given to the one overseeing the transition period between popes, including verifying the death of the current pope, supervising the Novemdiales, the traditional nine-day period of mourning, sealing off the papal apartments, and organizing the conclave to elect a new pope.
In order to oblige the thousands who wished to pay their respects, Francis’s body lay in state at St. Pete’s Basilica for three days while over 90,000 mourners filed by. His burial at St.
Mary Major breaks the tradition of popes being buried in St. Peter’s Basilica. He specifically requested a simple tomb in the Earth, without decoration, and marked only with his name in Latin: “Franciscus.
” Now, attention focuses on the Conclave which will choose his successor. And that’s what is causing unease among the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.
Francis was different, more a pastor than a Pope. He struggled to change the tradition-encrusted Curia, reform the Vatican Bank, and turn the monolithic Catholic Church into something closer to Jesus’ teachings. The hope among average parishioners — and the fear among traditionalists — is that the cardinals, most of whom were appointed by Francis, will elect someone who will continue to push for change; in particular for a return to St.
Paul’s willingness to give women positions of leadership. The “Bell, Book, and Candle” faction has a hard core of American bishops and wealthy laymen, who will probably be joined by some African prelates, all wanting to undo the changes initiated by Pope John XXIII and furthered by Francis. The Catholic Church can change and has over the millennia, but it’s a centuries-slow process.
It took a thousand years to eliminate married priests and women in position of power. Going back to basics is going be hard. The root of the problem is institutional structure.
How is the church to maintain its strength if it abandons its Medieval rituals and practice of top-down rule? Serving the poor and welcoming the stranger are at the heart of Jesus’ teachings, but the accumulation of material wealth and power is not easily abandoned. It’s far easier to profess one’s faith than it is to practice it. Some rich, conservative Catholics have long mourned the loss of the Latin Mass and the array of rituals that arose in the Medieval church.
They also want to restore the absolute control they think the church should have over its members’ lives. It’s ironic that some wealthy citizens find appropriate in religion that which they adamantly oppose in secular government. Don Wooten Don Wooten is a former Illinois state senator and a regular columnist.
Email him at: [email protected] . Get opinion pieces, letters and editorials sent directly to your inbox weekly!.
