aroonwithaview

It’s hard to feel patriotic for a country that celebrates its quarter millenium since founding with an Ultimate Fighting Championship fight, but one must separate the mud from the meadow.

There is something historically unique about the American experiment – in the same way as early Greece – which by definition means that it is set up in a manner counterintuitive to human instinct. Even in the middle of the frustrating mess that is the current Supreme Court, the reaffirmation of birthright citizenship was yet another reminder of the completely novel (even by today’s standards) approach to society-building that America represents.

How long can this novel and counterintuitive experiment last? Frustratingly, the aspect most likely to topple it is also the one that I consider its least important and novel. The deification of money and its pursuit, above all else, has led to unprecedented, and in some ways unimaginable, levels of inequality. A trillionaire minted in the same year that a large chunk of the population lost access to basic healthcare – how is a society supposed to not break at the seams when that happens?

It is hard to prescribe an antidote to this poison, precisely because of how closely it has become woven with the American experiment. In many ways, it is responsible for its survival and thriving, but like a good Greek tragedy, in this fruit of its success lies the very seeds of its downturn. I would hope for this experiment to turn half a millenium, but I would probably not bet on it.