An Amnesia of Americans

In 1964 President Lyndon B. Johnson, following the initiative of John F. Kennedy, spearheaded what he called The Great Society. Wikipedia describes this as ‘New major spending programs that addressed education, medical care, urban problems, rural poverty, and transportation…’ These were major initiatives with far reaching consequences. They were intended to lift the poor and, in the case of blacks, to redress and repair the days of slavery and Jim Crow. It didn’t work.

Some blame the money siphon that was the failed Viet Nam war for suffocating efforts domestically, wars always do that. Perhaps it was mired in bureaucracy where the money evaporated and the promised programs never materialized. Or maybe the black leadership was uninterested in betterment. Self-pity is always easier that self-improvement. And blame plays better to the masses than hard work.

I was not a social worker in the 1960’s, so I can’t criticize. I can only say that a genuine effort was made by a southern president not given to tact in dealing with opponents and overly given to sexual exploits in dealing with interns on the oval office desk that would make a woke SJW sputter with self-righteous indignation. Such are the trappings of power. Despite his hubris and his flaws, Johnson was a great president who felt for all Americans.

And like all great historic figures, when he was not standing on his feet of clay, he was accomplishing great things. But this one, the attempt to lift all Americans out of poverty and make them equal members of the Great Society, failed miserably. The problems only grew worse with time. The white flight that started in the early 70’s. The burnout of cities like New York and Chicago in the 70’s. The inflation of the late 70’s that left people on fixed incomes, both black and white, stranded in the ghettos of the Great Society. The 1970's were a watershed in American history. An ax blow to the core of our society. Sic transit gloria mundi.

The 80’s and 90’s saw the rise of corporate greed, easy credit, and the toxic economy. The decimation of the blue collar economy had begun. And then the steady decline of the American Empire in the 21’st century to where we are today, grasping at straws to stay relevant and watching our anything but great society crack at the seams.

Now we’re supposed to slap a twenty on the palm of any black person we meet in the street. That’s supposed to make things right and assuage the manufactured white guilt we are all expected to feel.

It didn’t work in the 60’s. What makes us think it will be any different today?