It seems like Americans have never been so politically at odds with one another, with the right and left completely at each other’s throats. But wouldn’t it be great if everyone were to join hands and strive to have a common goal, like the hope that our country’s name brings about? Why are our citizens and politicians together always in disharmony instead of harmony?
David Smick, the producer behind Stars and Strife, sheds light on this question in his new documentary ‘America’s Burning’. It is an important question to be considered, however, there is one issue in this line of questioning, There is a huge risk for the US institutions and their entire system of governance due to the sole ongoing gripping right-wing fascist political party, it is currently the only working party in the country and it completely dismisses the constitutional obligations. Let’s put it this way; both sides are not equal in this case. By suggesting that you put forward a poorly defended position.
Images take center stage in America’s Burning to the detriment of reason, blame-perfectly injustice the real and deep philosophical differences that existed drastically between the two parties, and only the culpable temper of contesting individuals is advanced for angered only for such a difference. I most insistently disagree. I agree that it is horrible if there is such a word that it is anything more than incendiary, but the why and the how, not to mention the what to do about it, is far more complicated than what it appears here to be.
Michael Douglas, a veteran actor and producer (he’s also a producer here), Makes mince meat of the finger-wagging way showcasing the current systemic culture and media espousing a lack of civility in the day-to-day functioning of government. He’s not wrong, these are all terrible in this 21st century of ours, but, again, the scolding ignores the contrasts in behavior from certain ideologues. If someone wants to deny you health care or the right to exist, it is understandable that such a concept of taking offense in order to defend oneself would appear. Sure, why not, how great it would be if everyone could just be friends. Quite, but this is naive in the face of bad faith.
Much of this feels like Capra corn, a term used to tarnish the films of the classic Hollywood director Frank Capra, whose films I actually quite like and enjoy. In his works such as Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and It’s a Wonderful Life, Capra spoke up for the little guy against capitalist avarice. These stories paint you up, but the way they explain how the world actually functions is pretty poorly done.
Such startling perspectives, like the ideas about a new civil war or imagining the unification of a divided country under a president, are greatly aided by the text Smick displays on various slides as well as his illustrations of our previous crises. I fail to comprehend how a person can even equate Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama using the fact that both men spoke about the unification of Americans, does it not stand out as utterly ignorant of you to do so and to treat such a lack of understanding as self-evident? Listening to such people is pointless since they are clearly unable to comprehend the basic policies each of the two men embrace.
It was Ronald Reagan, after all, who introduced tax cuts for the rich, who were looking to dismantle the New Deal and in doing so, began taking steps to dismantle the middle class a fact for which Shmick is a credit, but he fails to explain the provenance of middle class fragility being such a massive issue today. Emblematic of right-wing thrift is The Atlantic’s Arthur Brooks, formerly with the American Enterprise Institute, the one that Smick showcases to illustrate the supposed Reagan-Obama nexus.
The commentators here tend to be centered Democrats who would presumably also find the ‘No Labels’ party appropriate, which currently is deficient. Ian Bremmer from the Eurasia Group as well as David Ignatius from The Washington Post, along with ‘Tiger Mom’, Amy Chua, James Carville, and Niall Ferguson from the Hoover Institution to make the cut. Perhaps the most offensive of them all can be cited as Ken Langone, a billionaire investor and a staunch republican advocate who opposes any form of government assistance. He will likely be the first to lecture about politics on social media. This dynamic stands for various strands of democratic practice or understanding of the current social structure.
A handful of course, including Hawk Newsome, a social activist related to Black Lives Matter often quote them, though in general, the tone is patronizing. Again they are right in saying that the system needs fixing. But when one side seeks to overthrow the bitter democratic order or change laws to erase key civil rights that have been won over the last 60 years, asking everyone to behave is decadently rich.
If only Smick extended his range of talking heads beyond the right-wing circle, he could’ve refrained from offering offensive remarks, just as he could’ve avoided Kumbaya moments if only he featured more than a select few young people. He also mentions some of the causes of our possible apocalypse without any research, and it would have been better if he consulted more on where American tyranny might stem from. There’s no point in throwing a bunch of lies on with an already burning America. But we are indeed on the verge of something big.
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