Trump, Sanders and the Revolt Against Decadence

by Ross Douthat

Jan. 30, 2016

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/31/opinion/campaign-stops/trump-sanders-and-the-revolt-against-decadence.html?comments#permid=17401833

America, the US, is bumping up against the limits most other countries have had to learn to live with for a long time - our resources, both natural and human, which in the past seemed limitless and lead to our hubris of "exceptionalism", are reaching their limit, we are no longer the "best" and "greatest", instead by most measures that count, we are middling and often at the tail end.

This is frustrating and difficult for Americans to deal with. In response, both extremes of the political spectrum are responding to simplistic "solutions" in expressing their frustration. Trump appeals to the ignorance and fear of those left behind with slogans like "Make America Great Again", while Sanders appeals to the equally simplistic notion that all our ills are the fault of the 0.1% and their greed.

Trump is an opportunist in using these fears.

But Sanders, too, is being disingenuous by claiming everything can be solved by simply breaking up the banks and taxing the super-rich. Sanders' notion of "Socialism" is stuck in the 50's and 60's of Europe. Today's Social Democracies of Europe are much more defined by "social market economy", where corporations are held responsible not only to their share-holders, but also to their employees and to society at large.

"Corporations are people, too", and thus they have a responsibility not just to maximize profits, but to be "good citizens" and show concern for their employees and society at large.