Consider the following as a candidate for “normalization” or
the “new political correctness.”
Globalization is inevitable. This inevitable globalization as inevitably produces
and exacerbates severe economic inequality.
No sane political actor can do anything about this rising inequality nor
should any sane political actor want to seriously combat this rising
inequality. The only legitimate subject
for debate is whether natural processes will ensure that some benefits
of globalization trickle down to less fortunate citizens (Republicans) or
whether some government intervention is necessary to ensure that most persons
enjoy at least some benefits of globalization (Democrats).
On the one hand, I do not think I will be thrown out of the
next faculty meeting, nor be allowed to renew my membership in the American
Political Science Association nor otherwise become a pariah if I question
whether government should not and cannot make efforts to combat the severe
economic inequalities caused by globalization. On the other hand, I am struck
by the way that a major effort was made to place Bernie Sanders out of the
mainstream in large part because he was the only candidate for the presidency
who questioned the above candidate for political correctness. As the opprobrium attached to "class warfare," issues of economic inequality have taken a back seat
when the subject turns to the present crisis of American constitutional
democracy.
The immediate constitutional crisis may be some combination
of the election of Donald Trump, who fails to meet any constitutional standard
for the presidency, save a technical victory under the rules governing
presidential election, and a Republican Party that combines Trump’s disdain for
basic science with a preference for code words as opposed to Trump’s more
explicit bigotry. The long term
constitutional crisis is that the United States (and many constitutional
democracies elsewhere) are experiencing levels of economic inequality that most
empirical theories suggest are inconsistent with the practical operation of
constitutional democracy.
Constitutional democracy functions best when the vast
majority of citizens have several characteristics. First, they are sufficiently well off that
life normally is not limited by the struggle to maintain a decent living space,
maintain a healthy diet and lifestyle, and provide one’s children with the education
they will need to maintain a decent living space, etc. Second, they are nevertheless not immune to
the vagaries of the economic cycle. Most citizens have good faith reasons for
thinking their lives may be transformed into a struggle for basic necessities during
an economic downturn, but that they may be able to leave that struggle for basic
necessities far behind during an economic upturn.