The U.S. Is Suffering From Political Debt.

Political debt is like technical debt:

a concept in software development that reflects the implied cost of additional rework caused by choosing an easy (limited) solution now instead of using a better approach that would take longer.

And technical debt is like financial debt: it's a claim against future wealth or productivity to be able to accomplish a little more now.

The problem with debt, though, is accruing interest. In technical, and political, debt, it is deferred maintenance that accumulates with time.

Political debt in the United States has several elements. Off the top of my head:

• The unholy alliance forged by the GOP in the 1970s between white nationalist former Southern Democrats and the Evangelical Fundaentalist Christian movemets, to secure votes.
• The Democrat's betrayal of Labour and rural Ameica,.
• An exceedingly poorly considered abandonment of ethical media standards, including the Fairness Doctrine and a fundamental respect for truth.
• Continuation of 300+ years of systemic racism and cultural genocide.
• The utterly corrosive nature of money in politics, most especially the Citizens United case.
• Adtech.
• Social Media.
• The disaster that is Shareholder Value.
• An economy premised on asset inflation rather than production and well-being.
• Neoliberalism.
• Libertarianism in the von Mises / Ayn Rand / Murray Rothbard vein promulgated by the Koch Brothers, Atlas Network, and Mont Pelerin Society.
• A century spent ignoring the impacts of fossil fuel carbon dioxide emissions.
• Agnotology: corporations not only lying for private gain, but distorting cultural knowledge and understanding of critical concepts: global warming, leaded gasoline and paint, tobacco, mobile phone use in cars, asbestos, CFCs, mercury, acid rain, nuclear power, petroleum, economics, capitalism, fabricated political wedge issues, the lie of "rugged individualism", the vital importance of common weal.
• The GOP's open embrace of fascism, white nationalism, and religious extremism.

Undoubtedly others.

That debt must be paid down. Now.

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