In the midst of my despondency watching the roll out of the US presidential election results, actually quite unable to understand nor accept the extent of the collapse of America's democracy - which they would have us believe is the "world's best"- my wife reminded me of the view of Peanuts cartoonist, Charles Schultz, written 50 years ago.
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Schultz had responded to a fifth-grade student who, as part of a class exercise, had written to someone they admired, asking them, "What makes a good citizen".
"Dear Joel," the letter reads, "I think it is more difficult these days to define what makes a good citizen then it ever has before. Certainly all any of us can do is follow our own conscience and retain faith in our democracy. Sometimes it is the very people who cry out the loudest in favor of getting back to what they call 'American Virtues' who lack the faith in our country. I believe that our greatest strength lies always in the protection of our smallest minorities. Sincerely yours, Charles M. Schulz."
Recognise just how far down America has slid, both morally and in its practice. The nation is bitterly divided on so many key issues - race, the economy, health care, immigration etc - and the political system is completely broken.
The cost of this election, put at some US$16 billion, and the capacity to "buy" representation, is obscene. The capacity to corrupt the process is seemingly unlimited - voter bullying and suppression; control of the postal service to constrain the delivery of votes; the capacity to restrict, challenge, even deny votes; the compromising of the independence of the judiciary; the abuse of legal challenge; 50 different electoral systems, each politically tainted. A "good citizen" doesn't get much say in any of this!
The end game of politics is now simply to win the election - to say or do whatever it takes to get across the line. It is certainly not a contest of ideas and policies. It is certainly not about meeting national and global challenges, solving problems, or delivering "good government". It is much more driven by prejudice, opportunism, and populism, than by science or evidence-based policy. The needs, hopes, and aspirations of a good citizen are so easily ignored.
Clearly, Americans get the government they deserve, but the world is left to deal with an American government it certainly doesn't deserve.
Clearly, Americans get the government they deserve, but the world is left to deal with an American government it certainly doesn't deserve.
If Trump wins, he will be emboldened - and will increasingly be an existential threat to America, Americans, and to the world. His immediate call to cease all counting of votes - presumably, he doubts that he did actually win - and his threat to challenge outcomes in his stacked Supreme Court, have already set the tone of a second term.
Trump's big con was to convince voters that COVID-19 is not an issue, so he will undoubtedly let the virus run, threatening the collapse of the medical and hospital systems and resulting in an even more alarming death rate. He would also push the economy to recover, ignoring the longer-term economic and social consequences of doing so, while continuing to have his family run his and their businesses out of the White House. Yet, if the recent infection rates continue, Trump may be forced to accept lockdowns as some Europeans have been forced to do with similar infection rates.
If Biden wins, with a divided Congress, he will be seriously constrained. It is hoped that he would actually embrace the challenge of climate change, but to fully implement his plans he would require genuine bi-partisanship that is most unlikely to be forthcoming.
A Trump victory would be of particular concern to us here in Australia. While Morrison and his key ministers would undoubtedly continue to suck up to the US, some are also keen to emulate the Trump style and political strategy.
A particular concern is that Morrison and his government would seek to be even more opaque and less accountable. Big announcements would be even more "the go", with even less concern about actually delivering against such announcements. This has already been pushed to the limit by ducking accountability for sports rorts, and land purchases, and by proposing an Integrity Commission already defined by its lack of integrity. We would be an even bigger "laggard" on climate.
Leaders such as Trump and Morrison are not "good citizens" and democracy suffers.
John Hewson is a professor at the Crawford School of Public Policy, ANU, and a former Liberal opposition leader.
