Sustainability
The
term “sustainability” most often references our relationship with
Mother Earth: the ways in which we can and must use our scientific
knowledge to preserve our natural resources, to address
the challenges of climate change, and to develop an economy that
nurtures healthy and productive growth. Sustainability helps us order
our present lives with a vision of a hopeful future for the planet and
its creatures.
But
“sustainability” also informs our understanding of economics. What
should have been apparent for decades is that the decline of the
American middle class—broadly defined as the segment including
all but those with high income and wealth and those suffering from
poverty—cannot be sustained. The rhetorical and political successes of trickle-down economic theory,
dominant in the Reagan years and resurgent with Trump,
have conned enough of the voting public to mask the relentless erosion
of financial health for most Americans and the shocking growth
of economic inequality. But no more. In 2019 proposals to change the
course of unsustainable inequality abound: redirect taxation to recover
the disguised bonuses paid to the wealthy through current laws on
estates, tax rates, unearned income, and stock
market activity; regulate large corporate buybacks of stock and
dividend distributions, which mostly profit the wealthiest families and
executives while neglecting research, investments for growth, and shared
benefits with workers; revitalize anti-trust oversight
to break up and limit the dominance of monolithic companies in their
industries. These proposals come from elected Democrats and
commentators and thinkers on “the left” with very few
Republicans willing to listen.
But the boundaries of left/right are shifting. What is radical or extreme about
demanding that the wealth of a prosperous country be shared fairly with
all its citizens? We should
applaud the overdue conversations that the volcanic disruptions of the
Trump presidency have generated. The Democratic Party in 2019 and 2020
must focus with laser intensity on ideas that offer hope to the mass of
the American people. The right is already
accusing its opposition of stirring “class envy.” It is a hollow and
cynical accusation grounded in the fear of lost privilege. If Democrats
stand for anything, they must take the lead in offering plans for a
truly sustainable path to the future. If they
do not, our democratic society will not endure.
Publishing history:
Daily Freeman, 2/13
NP Times, 2/14
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