Watershed

According to my dictionary,  “Watershed” is “a point of division,  between two periods of history.”

The two periods of history are the industrial period, during which the middle class prospered,  and the information period,  in which middle class incomes are shrinking.

The U.S. is approaching a watershed election, which will determine  how we feel, where we stand, and what we will do about the effects of the information revolution.  This revolution,  characterized by immediate access to information  by anybody with an Iphone or a handheld or desktop computer, has sped up how fast political and health care events change.

There are two schools of thought that dominate the watershed election -  Leveling down and leveraging  up with the U.S.

The Leveling Down Obama (Clinton)Effect

President Obama and his possible successor  are emblematic of the leveling down effect.    Proponents of this effect hold that U.S. policies should recognize that  we are only part of the global economy.   We are all intimately  interconnected by the Internet .   The rest of the world is rising up to our level, and we must  descend to their level.   We are just one of many nations, and we must redistribute our  wealth and expertise to other nations ,  and we must  do the same domestically, particularly with  such things as health care and income distribution.  We must open our borders to anybody who wishes  to come here to better themselves.   We must use government to regulate and control those who insist  that we are different from other cultures and who believe everybody ought to have the opportunity  to become rich  and to exercise their individual  liberties  at the expense of the rest of mankind.  We must be conciliatory with our international  rivals, who have been subjugated by colonialism abroad and by racial and ethic biases at home.  We must provide our rivals with the opportunities to share  our bounties.   Globalization is the future.   We mus regulate our economy,  and provide a minimal wage for everyone,  “free” health care and college for everyone,  at the expense of the rich and middle class,   even if it slows our economy at a snail’s pace, even it retards innovation and entrepreneurship,  for that is the price of social justice, and it the only right and moral thing to do.

The Leveraging Up  ( Trump Effect)

When DonaldTrump  says “Make America Great Again,” he is saying the leveling down effect  has been disastrous for America.  We would off better off if we unleashed American business savvy to remain the most prosperous nation on the planet.  We must lower taxes,  lessen regulations,  and let capitalism do its thing. For a rising tide will lift all boats and make it possible to retain our current entitlement and safety net programs at their current  levels.    By negotiating hard-nosed business deal with our rivals and enemies and by no longer being the policemen of the word at our expense,  we can bring back jobs and money  to America, where it belongs.  We can restore the American middle  class.   We can rebuild the military and permit it to destroy terrorism at its roots.  We can once again be a proud nation, capable of defending ourselves,  rebuilding our infrastructure,  caring for the health care needs of all of our citizens,    protecting our borders, and achieving perpetual economic growth, which we be good for everyone.