By Mike Matejka
Is the American glass half-full or half-empty? As we go into the Illinois primary, I wonder not only about our nation’s reality, but the perceptions of our reality, that are motivating primary voters.
Unemployment is down significantly; migrants from south of the border are also down; and, our economy is the most stable in the world. The housing market has returned and interest rates are low. If we think back to 2008 and 2009, when the U.S. economy was really collapsing and jobs and homes lost by the thousands, we are more stable now than we were then.
Yet to listen to the political rhetoric, you would think we were in the middle of the Great Depression. It is understandable that the out of the White House Republican Party would preach gloom and doom. It is fascinating to watch the Democratic contest, where Bernie Sanders has embraced the failing state rhetoric, while a Democrat occupies the White House.
The frustration is understandable. Wage stagnation is real; this is not a new problem, as American wages have flat-lined since the 1980s. Meanwhile, the wealthy continue to amass incredible fortunes. The Middle East, ISIS, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and threats to Israel continue to frustrate. Young people are going to college, but leaving with huge student debt. Jobs are available, but starting wages are low. Immigration remains an unsolved problem. And then we ice that cake with the State of Illinois stand-off, and voter frustration is very understandable.
The problem is there are no easy answers. Spouting rhetoric about building a wall at the Mexican border would be an incredible tax payer boondoggle. Promising to carpet bomb the Middle East would just create another angry population, ready to take revenge. Tax the rich sounds great, but at what rate? Part of our frustration is we are living through a period of accelerated and profound change, grappling with how to regain control of our lives and our nation.
Crafting answers in this swirling fog of a different world is not easy, nor are the solutions. I don’t know all the answers, but I do know that cheap and volatile rhetoric is not it.
Mike Matejka is the Governmental Affairs director for the Great Plains Laborers District Council, covering 11,000 union Laborers in northern Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota. He lives in Bloomington with his wife and daughter and their two dogs. He served on the Bloomington City Council for 18 years, is a past president of the McLean County Historical Society and Vice-President of the Illinois Labor History Society.
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