America has traditionally been a product that almost sells itself. Whereas the communist bloc fortified borders to keep people from getting out, America’s problem is that it’s so attractive to outsiders that even today it has to fortify its borders to keep people from illegally entering.
Nevertheless, we’ve seen a dramatic increase in the number of Americans who are dissatisfied enough with the status quo to vote for insurgent, sometimes extreme candidates, or to adopt what would have previously seemed like outré beliefs. An ideology like socialism that once had little purchase in America is now a banner for winning elections in America’s big cities (even if its substance is not exactly state ownership of the means of production).
There’s much debate over whether things are as gloomy as many Americans seem to think. But a belief in the agency of the individual and his ability to make the best choices for himself and his family would seem to imply that the individual is a good judge of his own situation. It’s hard to argue that a low-income single mother is fully equipped to select the best school option for her children but that she somehow can’t correctly assess her own economic situation. We should take Americans’ complaints seriously.
What’s necessary to get people believing in America again isn’t just a marketing program or a really great America 250 celebration, but for America’s leaders to show that they are serious about improving their material conditions, opportunity, and the prospects for themselves and their children.
Some of this could come from new technology development. Start with curing disease. The vast majority of people with cystic fibrosis, a fatal disease, can now be cured with gene therapy. Gene therapy is also curing a rare form of deafness in children. A new treatment is now curing at least some forms of Hepatitis B. And a new gene therapy in development by Eli Lilly has shown promise in reducing LDL cholesterol levels permanently, which might dramatically reduce heart disease. And of course, GLP-1 drugs are effectively curing obesity – and having positive effects on a slew of other health problems.
Move on to transportation, where autonomous vehicles could be a lifeline to seniors who can’t (or shouldn’t) drive, to children, or to those with disabilities. With driverless Waymo taxis cruising the streets of San Francisco and other cities right now, it seems like it is only a matter of time until this is available more widely. This is part of what the artificial intelligence revolution can bring to improving people’s lives. The “AI” branding needs to be front and center on this technology, so that a public that’s turning negative on AI technology can see how it could benefit them or their families.
New technologies represent part of American dynamism, and keeping that forward looking, dynamic spirit is critical.
Beyond new technologies that make people’s lives better, we need to address the cost challenges that are making people question whether the American Dream is still alive. Housing prices have gone up substantially relative to incomes around the country. This isn’t all a result of not building enough new housing, but that’s part of the equation. We need to be chipping away at the restrictions that make it too hard to build in many places. We also need to be getting rid of regulations that raise the price of food and fuel, such as mandating the inclusion of ethanol in gasoline. While we need to build data centers that will power our AI race against China, we should be careful to ensure that AI isn’t subsidized by residential electricity customers or taxpayers. This is only a small sample of what we need to be doing as a country to increase the supply and contain costs on critical things American families need.
America also needs to work hard to restore a sense of fair play in our country. DEI, which remains deeply embedded into American institutions, rightly strikes many Americans as deeply unfair. Large-scale illegal immigration – effectively supported by a large share of our national elite – rewards rule-breakers over rule followers. Significant percentages of college students at some elite universities are now getting disability accommodations like extra time to take tests. Many of those are almost surely gaming the system. While it’s unclear exactly if or to what extent the phenomenon is actually growing, widespread recognition of the way “nepo babies” get ahead in many domains is revealing that the playing field is often far from level. These are just some of the ways that fair play has been eroded in our country.
The feeling that, as Donald Trump likes to put it, “the system is rigged,” no doubt contributes to ordinary Americans’ sense that they are facing an uphill battle to get ahead. They aren’t entirely wrong to think this way. While there will never be perfect fairness or equality of opportunity, we need to do a much better job here.
Making people’s lives better through new technology, making key necessities like housing more affordable, and restoring a sense of fair play would go a long way towards selling people on America again. Because delivering results is the best marketing campaign we could come up with.
Called “a kind of Malcolm Gladwell of conservative Christianity” by the New York Times, Aaron Renn is an opinion leading, market moving thinker and writer on American culture. He is the author of the book Life in the Negative World: Confronting Challenges in an Anti-Christian Culture. His writing also appears in a number of leading global publications, including The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic and others.
