Two of the contenders are focusing on problems much bigger than policy. Marianne Williamson correctly runs on the idea that the country is in a moral and spiritual crisis, and what we need is what conservative commentator David Brooks calls "An Uprising of Decency". He writes:
"It is no accident that the Democratic candidate with the best grasp of this election is the one running a spiritual crusade, not an economic redistribution effort. Many of her ideas are wackadoodle, but Marianne Williamson is right about this: “This is part of the dark underbelly of American society: the racism, the bigotry and the entire conversation that we’re having here tonight. If you think any of this wonkiness is going to deal with this dark psychic force of the collectivized hatred that this president is bringing up in this country, then I’m afraid that the Democrats are going to see some very dark days.”
And she is right about this: “We’ve never dealt with a figure like this in American history before. This man, our president, is not just a politician; he’s a phenomenon. And an insider political game will not be able to defeat it. … The only thing that will defeat him is if we have a phenomenon of equal force, and that phenomenon is a moral uprising of the American people.”
I hope and trust that America will rise up and demand a leader who is simply a decent human being rather than the dark, twisted, deeply corrupt and toxic leader we now have.
The other visionary on the stage, also who has no chance of winning the nomination, is entrepreneur Andrew Lang whose message is that the exponential growth of computer and artificial intelligence capabilities are and will continue to eliminate jobs that human beings do. This effect is obvious in manufacturing. As Yang pointed out in the debates this week it is robotic machines that fill up the auto plants in Michigan, not illegal immigrants. We are heading toward a country without work where it is not just mechanical work being replaced but intellectual work as well - AI does better diagnosis than the best doctors in some instances, and what white collar or blue collar jobs will be safe against the exponential progress of technology? I understand that the computers will need to be programmed and the robots will need to be repaired, but those jobs won't be enough to occupy the entire country.
His solution is paying everyone a monthly survival stipend. Not sure that is the answer. I think we might be moving toward an economy based on services, entertainment, artistic expression, hands on medical care, for example - the kinds of things that it takes a human heart and human creativity to do. But Mr. Yang points out that jobs and careers that we know of are going to go away.
Interesting times.
Step one is get rid of the dark vortex of hate and ignorance that currently runs our government.
