November 12, 2009 05:36 PM UTC

Will the Dam Burst?

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• by: JO

Beyond the details of intra-party politics, of interest to only a handful in times when barely half the citizens even vote, are we now on the verge of some fundamental attitude changes? Timothy Egan suggests maybe so: http://egan.blogs.nytimes.com/…

Egan calls it The Betrayal: the breakdown of the century-old notion of a Square Deal for every American. He cites as evidence the rise of independents at the expense of both parties, especially the Republicans but also Democrats. He notes that 44% of members of Congress are millionaires (vs 1% of Americans overall) and asks about votes on health care cast by members of Congress who don’t worry about not having insurance, or having their mortgages foreclosed, etc. Is the national deficit wracked up by military spending, agricultural subsidies, and Bush era tax cuts foremost in the mind of a parent whose child can’t get needed care?

How is it that rescued Wall Street firms are back to doing “God’s work” (Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfen, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/t… which includes handing out millions in bonuses at a time when 17.5% of Americans are either unemployed or underemployed (supposedly the source of their health insurance, BTW).

Do not these times of futile nation-building abroad, deindustrialization and widespread breakdown of the “social contract” at home (medical care, education, a chance to climb the social ladder), and quiet desperation on the part of millions, portend a bursting of the dam?

What does that say about politics circa 2010?