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AMERICA AT THE END OF ITS TETHER  
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Lynn Parramore
November 4, 2024
Institute for New Economic Thinking
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_ Written on the eve of the election, Lynn Parramore identifies our
need the day after: "Many voters, feeling disillusioned, are searching
in vain for narratives that resonate with their experiences." _

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With every tick, the election clock feels like dread closing in on
Americans.

A recent Forbes Health survey shows that over 60% of participants
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mental health to be under siege, grappling with everything from mild
anxiety to deep distress as the political circus intensifies. A
LifeStance Health survey backs this up, revealing that a
staggering 79% of Americans feel anxious
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the upcoming presidential election, exposing a nationwide mental
health crisis fueled by political chaos. Younger generations are
taking the hardest hit, with nearly two-thirds of Gen Z and
millennials feeling serious stress. Many are changing their social
media habits and hitting pause on major life decisions.

There’s even a text hotline
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stressed-out voters cope. According to the American Psychological
Association
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politics has become a significant source of chronic stress,
significantly impacting our physical and mental health—and it’s
only getting worse.

This election has devolved into a nightmare of fierce partisanship,
marked by assassination attempts, courtroom battles, and the threat of
prolonged battles over a contested outcome, even possible violence.
Social media feuds, strained family dinners, and alienated neighbors
only make it worse. The left warns about “fascism” and “the last
free election,” while the right screams about “woke elites” and
a “Communist takeover
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Staying politically engaged feels like swallowing broken glass. How
did we get here?

While it’s undeniable that the 21st century has handed us a parade
of dystopian delights—9/11, the 2007-2008 financial crisis, and the
Covid pandemic—leaving ordinary folks feeling trampled, betrayed,
and thoroughly disempowered by the responses — the truth is, the
rabbit hole goes much deeper.

Take, for instance, a little nugget you won’t hear most politicians
mention—America has been slipping into the mold of a developing
nation for quite a while now. For decades, we’ve seen something
emerge in place of the more egalitarian, hopeful America we once knew,
and it’s not a Communist or fascist America (yet). It’s a Third
World America: a country divided not by party membership, but by
economic realities. Noted economist Peter Temin has shown that U.S.
citizens now live in two distinct sectors
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roughly 80% in the low-wage sector and about 20% in the affluent
sector.

People get sorted not so much into red and blue worlds but into
different financial systems, living conditions, and educational
opportunities. When they get sick, deal with the law, travel—you
name it—their experiences are like night and day. They exist in
separate spheres. Pretty much the only way for someone in the low-wage
sector to break into the affluent one is through a top-notch
education—but that path is riddled with obstacles, even if you can
find the money.

For most, escape is a distant dream.

The well-educated affluent sector makes decisions, sets the agenda,
while the rest are just trying to survive – and getting sicker and
dying younger. One cohort makes moves, while the other is caught in
the aftermath.

As a rule, here’s what usually happens when a country splits into a
dual economy:

* The low-wage sector has hardly any say in public policy.
* The high-income sector keeps wages down in the low-wage area to
secure cheap labor for their businesses.
* Social control is used to keep low-wage workers from pushing back
against policies that favor the wealthy.
* The main goal for the richest in the high-income sector is to cut
taxes.
* Social and economic mobility become rarer.

Does any of this sound familiar? Sure, social media magnifies
divisions among Americans, but interestingly, ordinary people within
the Republican and Democratic parties aren’t so very far apart in
the basic things they want, never mind what Fox or MSNBC tells you.

* Across party lines, the majority of Americans support raising
taxes
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the wealthy and big corporations.
* Most Americans want to increase Social Security
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and oppose cuts.
* The majority favor higher taxes on the wealthy
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keep Social Security robust.
* Most U.S. adults think the federal government should guarantee
healthcare coverage
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everyone. The majority favor single-payer
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a single government program for healthcare.
* A bipartisan majority of voters want to expand Medicare
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cover long-term, in-home care services.

And on it goes. Americans see very little real action from politicians
in either party on these issues. In fact, they often see the opposite.
Misleading rhetoric won’t make their concerns vanish.

The electorate is not stupid. Most Americans know perfectly well that
their wages have not kept up with inflation
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no matter how politicians try to spin it. They see the ever-rising
costs of essential goods — keeping a roof over their heads, seeing a
doctor, and going to college. They realize that the rich are profiting
off their hard work and refusing to contribute their fair share in
taxes. Black men, in particular, are worse off than they were before
the pandemic
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and people wonder why they aren’t supporting the status quo as they
once did.

Americans sense the gap between the rich and poor is wider now than it
used to be, and they are correct. No politician can erase the
following facts: Over the past 40 years, the richest 1% of Americans
have experienced the fastest income growth. From 1979 to 2021, the
average income of the top 0.01%—about 12,000 households—grew
nearly 27 times faster than that of the bottom 20%. By 2021, the top
1% earned, on average, 139 times more than the bottom 20%. Income
inequality has reached extreme levels
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gobbled up by the rich, leaving miserable slivers for hard-working
people.

The U.S. income divide wasn’t always this extreme. In the early
1900s, social movements and progressive policies fought Gilded Age
inequality, advocating for fair taxes and unions. The New Deal
provided crucial support for ordinary people, including social
security and labor protections. But those efforts have faded since the
70s – or been crushed — deepening inequality and leading to
serious social, health, and political consequences that Americans now
recognize.

In theory, democracy is supposed to adapt to the needs of the people,
ready to handle crises and promote peaceful political change. But
how’s that working out? With wealth concentrated as it is and the
rich able to manipulate the political system, not very well.

Capitalism promised abundance but left us with long hours, workplace
surveillance, insecure jobs, and little control. Rather than
delivering prosperity, it’s given rise to increasingly predatory
entities that undermine the businesses we depend on and reduce us to
sitting ducks—like private equity—an industry that lines the
pockets of politicians from both parties while gaining control over
everything from emergency rooms and nursing homes to classrooms and
housing markets. We’re getting looted
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but the private equity industry often operates behind the scenes,
making it difficult to pinpoint why many businesses are delivering
subpar services and taking advantage of consumers.

We know we’re being preyed upon, underpaid, and our work often
strips us of our humanity. With scant parental leave and unaffordable
childcare, it’s no surprise many are hesitant about having families
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of 18-34-year-olds are unsure about having kids. Elon Musk giving
away his sperm
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change that.

Neoliberalism—where the market rules all—has crushed us by
prioritizing profit over well-being, widening inequality, and
dismantling social safety nets. As public services get privatized and
deregulated, the basics we need to live become harder to access. This
focus on market solutions leads to job insecurity, with workers facing
unstable jobs and stagnant wages while the rich keep getting richer.
Both Republicans and Democrats have jumped on the neoliberal bandwagon
since the late 20th century. Conservatives were the initial champions,
but many liberals jumped aboard, resulting in a bipartisan push for
globalization, trade deals, and welfare reform that has entrenched
neoliberal principles across the board.

The result is that with paths blocked to economic security, social
status, and political influence, people feel loneliness, rage, and
resignation—or all of the above. A future we never wanted is being
forced on us. Just like a self-driving car follows a programmer’s
instructions, we find ourselves without real control. We’re not in
the driver’s seat—and we know it.

Politicians, fully aware of the deep alienation out there, spin
narratives that frame policies benefiting the wealthy as vital for
efficiency and economic growth, masking their true motives with fake
promises of individual success that distract us from the widening
wealth gap and completely ignore our collective well-being.

Meanwhile, in a world plagued by war, climate change, disease, and the
chaos of demagoguery, the familiar is fading. The new—like
advancements in AI
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increasingly bewildering and downright frightening.

German sociologist Max Weber offers valuable insight into the psychic
depths of our current dynamics, highlighting how rationalization
distorts human behavior and shifts power. In a rationalized world,
logic and efficiency overshadow community, family, and empathy. As
these connections fade, relationships turn transactional, pushing us
to prioritize personal success over collective well-being. This focus
on efficiency leaves us feeling isolated in a society that values
numbers over genuine experiences. We’re told this is progress, but
it often feels instinctively wrong: we become cogs in a machine,
disconnected from the meaning of our actions. Our emotional and
ethical lives shrink, leading to disillusionment with our social and
political worlds.

Weber warned that this shift could eat away at the trust and morals
needed for good governance, anticipating that charismatic leaders
would rise to challenge the lifeless norms created by elites. We find
ourselves in a deep crisis in the ways we understand ourselves and
relate to others and our circumstances.

Publisher Judith Gurewich, a sociologist and practicing Lacanian
psychoanalyst, points out that our old tactics for pretending things
are different no longer work. She argues that the work of Weber can
shift our focus from individual experiences to a broader collective
understanding.

Gurewich suggests that part of the anxiety of the electorate “comes
from the fact that the stupidity of their leaders is so much greater
than their own.” Plus, the current election has magnified feelings
of helplessness. “All is exposed,” she points out. “We are
completely at the mercy of some play of dice. It doesn’t matter
where they land: it’s going to be bad or it’s going to be
horrible, and people feel powerless to do anything. They can go in the
street as much as they want, but they feel that nothing is changing.
So there is a sense of implacable logic.”

We find ourselves in a bewildering, Kafkaesque world where words no
longer seem to matter. Gurewich highlights “Verstehen,” a key
concept from Weber that focuses on understanding social actions by
grasping people’s motivations and meanings.

“Weber argued that if you give people a reason to suffer—one that
is logical and meaningful—they will accept that suffering. He
compared this to different types of religions, where people might
refrain from eating because there’s a story behind it that makes
sense. For instance, they may believe they must endure hunger for the
salvation of their souls. The narratives people hold onto provide
meaning in their lives, even if suffering is part of the equation. But
current politics offers no narratives to make the suffering meaningful
to anyone. Capitalism doesn’t even have to justify itself
anymore.”

This may be why beyond the anxiety, a disillusionment has spread over
the political processes – a dangerous environment where people
become apathetic or, conversely, radicalized, seeking out alternative
movements or leaders who promise change without addressing the
underlying issues. Politicians can tap into this vulnerability,
stoking fear and division to gain support, while genuine concerns get
sidelined. Ultimately, the erosion of meaning in suffering can
destabilize the political landscape, making it ripe for populism,
authoritarianism, or other disruptive forces that thrive on discontent
and chaos.

So here we are, looking over a political abyss, and it’s clear that
this is about more than just electoral anxiety; we’re facing a
crisis of meaning. Voters are fed up with a system that churns out
candidates who offer little more than empty slogans and theatrical
performances. The pain of disconnection—between our lived
experiences and the hollow narratives spun by our leaders—leaves us
disenchanted, lacking meaningful stories to anchor us, looking for
something real.

If we really want to reclaim our democracy, we need leaders who not
only grasp the depth of our suffering but also present a vision that
speaks to our shared humanity. Otherwise, we’re just going to be
stuck as passive spectators in a political theater that’s l.ost the
plot and doesn’t serve us anymore.

_Lynn Parramore is Senior Research Analyst at the Institute for New
Economic Thinking. A cultural theorist who studies the intersection of
culture and economics, she is Contributing Editor at AlterNet, where
she received the Bill Moyers/Schumann Foundation fellowship in
journalism for 2012. She is also a frequent contributor to Reuters, Al
Jazeera, Salon, Huffington Post, and other outlets. _

_Founded in the wake of the financial crisis in 2009, the Institute
for New Economic Thinking (INET) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit
organization devoted to developing and sharing the ideas that can
repair our broken economy and create a more equal, prosperous, and
just society.  To meet current and future challenges, we conduct and
commission research, convene forums for exchanging ideas, develop
curricula, and nurture a global community of young scholars._

* Inequality
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* social divisions
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* Neoliberalism
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