Birth of a cynic: When civics class meets reality

Is it just a coincidence that Halloween and Election Day fall so close to one another? One features people hiding behind masks, going around with their hands out asking for offerings while promising no tricks in exchange for treats. The other is a fun fall celebration to mark All Hallow’s Eve.

I haven’t always been so cynical about politics. It’s the result of watching contemporary politics change through the years. American politics devolved from differing ideas and working together provide the best for the people to today’s divisive “my way or the highway” partisan philosophy. We no longer have respectful disagreement in our polarized system. It’s driven by extremists ignoring those of us who still believe in the middle ground.

Once upon a time, I was a wide-eyed, optimistic idealist when it came to politics and government. I also was in high school civics class at the time, learning how this country works. We were taught there’s a system of checks and balances divided among the three branches of government – the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. One provides leadership, one enacts laws, and the third defends the constitution and people’s rights, and we were taught how each worked.

America was changing in those days. We were in an unpopular war. It was a time when people fought for racial equality in our country, both in the halls of Congress and in the streets. Through it all was a generation gap between Baby Boomers and the “establishment,” essentially a cultural revolution pitting those wanting change against those wanting to maintain the status quo.

As a young, cockeyed optimist at the end of the ’60s, I believed our leaders would do the right thing. Sure, there were lots of debates and arguments between Democrats and Republicans, both parties trying to achieve their own goals. But as we were taught in civics classes, the two parties sought compromises as they hammered out their best solutions to benefit the country and the people.

From the executive and legislative branches came initiatives and new laws to address the day’s issues. Meanwhile, the judicial branch studied the issues and the laws both new and old, and determined what was within constitutional guidelines. That’s how our country was supposed to work.

Was everyone happy? Of course not. This is America. You can’t make everyone happy. But, overall, our country made progress. The government can change laws to make level ground for all, but people must adjust their thinking and ideas to create true cultural changes.

Then along came Watergate. Out of paranoia, those in the White House feared losing to the Democrats and changing times. To retain power, presidential advisors and staffers, the attorney general, and even the president launched a secret campaign to harass and undermine the Democrats. A few sophomoric pranks evolved into blatantly illegal activities. A failed burglary at the Democrats’ headquarters in the Watergate Hotel grew into a shocking conspiracy and coverup.

Bipartisan congressional committee hearings, federal investigations, grand jury indictments, criminal convictions ultimately forced the president from office. Ironically, he’d won re-election with a 49-state landslide so there was no need for any of the actions that led to his downfall.

While the system worked thanks to bipartisanship, people now distrusted their government. People always took what politicians said with a ton of salt, but despite suspicions they stillcounted on the government. Until then. My idealism slipped a bit, but I still had trust in my civics lessons.

Voters, tired of political insiders, sent a Washington outsider to the White House. Although he’d become a beloved American figure, during his administration crisis after crisis in the late ’70s overwhelmed him. Likeable as he was, people grew weary and turned to another Washington outsider who acted like a regular Joe promising rainbow stew and free Bubble-Up.

He delivered on some promises and initiated changes, including overhauling the tax system to give more breaks to the upper class. Yet the middle class continued to believe he was for them as he told them his economic changes would trickle down to them. Everyone would benefit and bask in the light of a shining city on a hill. 

As he changed American economics, his administration was busy sticking fingers in pies around the world. His old enemy was communism and fighting it led to many secret and illegal deals. When exposed, these machinations became known as the Iran-Contra Affair. It was a convoluted conspiracy with the US illegally supplying weapons to Iran ostensibly to gain the release of seven hostages held by extremists in Lebanon. The arms sales continued for about five years, with money from the sales funneled to the Contra rebels fighting to overthrow Nicaragua’s elected, communist-leaning government.

At the time, Russia had invaded Afghanistan, so the American administration supplied weapons and aid to Afghan rebels, including the Taliban. That would have long-lasting effects that still haunt America today.

By then I found myself disappointed at the way our system was working. Sure, what was happening made great plots for novels and movies, but in reality it chipped away at our foundation. It also was the time of “greed is good” philosophy as people grew more concerned about what benefitted them than what benefitted the country.

Through the ’80s my idealism waned. I wasn’t completely cynical about politics and government, but it grew more obvious our civics lessons didn’t teach us the reality of politics.

To be continued …