When I need something to pick me up, I frequently watch a program called “Echo in the Canyon” on Netflix. The canyon in question is Laurel Canyon; the program, as you might have guessed, is a documentary about the music scene in the area in the sixties. It is full of shimmering sixties songs, and reflects the contemporary belief that, in America, all things were possible, and life would only get better.
It is that sense of optimism about the future, based on the virtues of limited government and individual freedom, that is the essence of the American dream. It is about the potential of new ideas as much as it is about having a bigger house and more cars in the garage. Ronald Reagan and David Crosby, both of whom lived in California at the time, wouldn’t have agreed on much, but they would have agreed on that.
Unlike any American politician in my lifetime, Trump doesn’t believe in the American dream. He sees a world filled with danger and fear, and promises to protect us from it with walls, tariffs, military power, and, of course, his unequaled genius. He appeals to people who see the world in the same way.
How do the Democrats combat this? By bringing back the dream, and putting our current problems in context. We’ve been in much tougher positions than this before. History tells us that we will prevail if we have decent leadership. That is all that we lack today.