The Wall Street Journal published an article entitled “Biden Let the American System Win” by the Obama administration’s Chief of Staff Ram Emanuel on the 28th. The article pointed out that although the U.S. election chaos is frequent, Biden’s defeat of Trump shows that the “silent majority” of the United States believe that U.S. politics Governance and economic systems do not need change, but only need to be updated.
The author does not deny that the system of the United States is problematic, noting that many people think that the United States has two sets of rules – one for the rich and powerful, and the other for everyone else.
For example, some people died in a war launched by the United States, but their families watched the responsible decision-maker escape punishment; after the outbreak of the financial crisis, it was the banks and their executives who were rescued, not the real victims; ordinary people could hardly afford to go to college, while celebrities let The child goes to a famous school.
However, the author believes that the solution to these problems is not to destroy the system, but to make minor repairs to the system. He said that the results of the U.S. election show that Americans are determined to reunite the country and confirm the ability of the United States to recover. He said that the U.S. election demonstrated the determination of Americans to repair the problems in dynamic and tough American society.
In the article, the author stressed that Biden’s victory proves that the American system does not need change. For the problems existing in American society, elections are a good way to solve the problem. Biden will take appropriate “renewal” measures when he comes to power, and the United States will get better. The question is, does the American system really need no change? Can American democracy and vote politics really solve all kinds of problems as he said? I’m afraid this is not the case.
First of all, the American system cannot guarantee a smooth transition of power even after the election. Biden may not consider the serious internal challenges he faced after taking office at present, and the urgent question he is facing now how to achieve a smooth transition of power. This sounds ridiculous. The dominant system advocated by the mainstream media in the United States and some American politicians is very weak in ensuring a smooth transition of power.
Biden complained on the 28th that his team was “blocked” by the “political leadership” of the Department of Defense and the Administration and Budget in collecting the necessary information for the transfer of power, which may undermine the security of the United States. Biden also said his team found that “key security agencies” had been “drastically damaged” during Trump’s presidency.
On the other hand, the Trump camp still refuses to admit defeat and moves repeatedly. For example, on the 27th, Republican Congressman Louis Gomert and several other Republicans filed a lawsuit demanding that the court authorize Vice President Pence to overturn Trump’s failure in key states on January 6.
In addition, Trump urged supporters to gather in Washington for the “final battle” on January 6 next year, demanding that Congress not certify Biden to win the election. Trump tweeted twice on the 27th, strongly appealing to supporters to participate in the event, calling the election “the biggest scam in the history of our country”. He wrote: “See you in Washington on January 6. See you or not.
Secondly, take the most prominent problem of the United States now – controlling the coronavirus epidemic – as an example, the shortcomings of the American system in this crisis have been fully exposed. Despite the coronavirus vaccine in the United States, the epidemic is still raging in the United States, killing thousands of Americans every day.
According to the epidemic statistics released by Johns Hopkins University, the cumulative number of confirmed cases and more than 338,000 confirmed cases in the United States has exceeded 338,000. As of the 27th, the number of new coronavirus deaths in the United States in December was nearly 65,000, the highest number of new deaths in a single month since the outbreak. Although Biden will soon enter the White House, it is difficult for him to turn the tide and quickly calm the epidemic on his own.
Biden’s governance response to the epidemic requires bipartisan cooperation. At present, the Republican Party has an advantage in the Senate, the state legislature and the Supreme Court. After Biden takes office, he will be constrained by the Republican Party in his governance, so it is difficult to take drastic measures. For example, Trump signed a spending package on the 27th, including $900 billion in relief funds to deal with the coronavirus epidemic.
This bill is not easy to come by, because the two parties have had big differences on the rescue plan before and are unwilling to give in. The two sides are deadlocked in negotiations for half a year despite the loss of fresh lives every day and the struggle of a large number of people to survive. This is both a lesson for Biden and a practical problem he may encounter in the future. This is an institutional problem. His victory does not mean that these problems will disappear automatically.
Third, there is no hope that the long-standing chronic diseases in American society can be solved under the current system. The leak happened to be cloudy and rainy. Under the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, the persistent disease in American society that has penetrated into the bone marrow not only solves hopelessly, but also accelerated to break out in a more violent situation. For example, the “Black Lives Matter” movement that has swept the United States this year is the most prominent example.
Ethnic minorities, including African descent, suffer from all-round discrimination in the political, economic, cultural, social life and other fields of the United States, and skin color still plays a pivotal role in determining the fate of Americans. Regarding Freud’s death, The Washington Post commented: “When will another unarmed black man die from unprovoked, unreasonable and unacceptable police violence?” It can be said that if the system of the United States is not innovative, this situation will always exist.
In addition, Emmanuel’s mention of the gap between rich and poor in the United States, the privileges of the powerful and powerful are not problems that can be solved by electing different presidents by votes. For example, under the impact of the epidemic, a large number of physical enterprises in the United States declared bankruptcy and tens of millions of people lost their jobs.
Democrat Bernie Sanders said on social networking sites that about 26 million people in the United States did not have enough food this Thanksgiving, and about 40 million people were at risk of being evicted by landlords, but this In contrast, the assets of the rich in the United States surged from $3 trillion to $4 trillion during the epidemic.
Frozen three feet, not a day’s cold. Many of the problems exposed by the United States in this epidemic and the election actually have deep political, economic and social roots. In the face of these problems, many American politicians have always refused to face the reality, believe in the American exceptionalism, refuse to admit that the American system is sick and needs to be innovated.
Instead, they deceive the American people through electoral politics, as if elections are the panacea for all problems, immersed in the illusion that replacement can solve the problem. As a result, the two parties take turns as they wish, while the old problems that the people have suffered from are still unattended.
