A Way Out Of Today's Political Morass
It's Going To Take Some Consensus On A Long-Term Vision, Not Just Which Party Wins The Next Election
I have a favor to ask of you.
I just published a book, *Abandoned: How Republicans and Democrats Deserted the Working Class, the Young, and the American Dream*. It starkly contrasts with today’s absence of any long-term vision from either political party. Even before they turned predominantly to cultural warfare, they had entangled themselves in unsustainable policies that impede the government's ability to adapt to modern needs.
If you want to buy the book, fine—I’m not making any profit from it—but over time, I will also provide ways for you to get it for free (see note at end). If you agree with the book's main idea, which focuses on restoring a politics centered on the American Dream, please share it with friends and elected officials, and contribute your ideas.
Maybe, like me, you’re tired of reading article after article about what each party needs to do to win the next election and the one after that. The debate we need is about how the government can serve the American people better.
After all, as the book demonstrates, we have now experienced nearly 50 years of policies focused on “wealth for the wealthy and consumption for the masses.” These policies have been so dominant that they have squeezed out efforts to promote upward mobility and opportunity for everyone. Many of those who have been left behind now find themselves without a place in either political party.
I am neither ignorant nor dispassionate about the chaos occurring at the present time. However, I fear that policies centered mainly on retribution, tariffs, and another round of unpaid-for tax cuts threaten to perpetuate cycles of revenge and poorly planned, unpaid-for spending increases, pushing us further down a more unsustainable, unstable, and undemocratic path. Many of the underlying problems that caused this moment have existed and worsened over decades and, without addressing them, will persist no matter who wins any election.
Replacing today’s mess requires some agreement on a better vision for the future. To me—and, I hope, to you—the data clearly show the answers. Over nearly the past half-century, the federal government’s increasing resources have mainly gone toward (1) ever-higher lifetime Social Security and health benefits, making older Americans the highest income age group, and (2) tax cuts for the wealthy, who now hold significantly larger shares of our national wealth.
These efforts have successfully, to varying degrees, increased the share of our national income dedicated to making retirement more comfortable and boosting investment in equipment, research, and other capital—both worthwhile goals when balanced with other societal needs. However, today’s laws and political parties insist that these efforts—and the groups of citizens who benefit from them—remain the overriding priorities of the federal government, seemingly forever, at rates that are unsustainable both economically and politically. Together, they have been squeezing out opportunities for our children and young people, support for the working class, better education and apprenticeships for those not college-bound, and wealth-building in human capital, homes, and other assets for those without significant wealth.
In 2025, after passing yet another unpaid-for tax cut, more than all real (inflation-adjusted) growth in government direct spending is now scheduled to go solely toward ever-increasing levels of Social Security, Medicare, and interest on the debt. In aggregate, everything else would get nothing. Additionally, the growth in these three areas alone will consume far more than the entire $1.5 trillion-plus increase in revenues expected annually within a decade, adding yet further to a rise in our national debt relative to our national income.
In previous books, such as Beyond Zombie Rule, I explained how these extraordinary efforts to control the future have restricted options for both voters and elected officials and reduced what I call fiscal democracy. In Abandoned, I demonstrate the effects on the working class of all races, the young, and others, and the shift in the political debate toward cultural warfare and retribution when our officials cannot do their basic job of making tough choices about the resources they command. I also present a path—economically easy but politically challenging—out of this mess, mainly focused on using the revenues arising from economic growth to advance programs focused on opportunity for all.
Essentially all real (inflation-adjusted) growth in government direct spending now goes for nothing more than ever-increasing levels of Social Security, Medicare, and interest on the debt.
This alternative vision, which I hope we share, is to direct more of tomorrow’s increasing resources toward restoring the nation’s long-standing national goal of upward mobility for everyone, but in a sustainable way that doesn't limit future options. If you examine the data I present, I think you will agree. Even if you disagree, I believe you'll find the book fascinating as it reveals all the ways government policy has fundamentally changed the way we live our lives.
In summary, many Democrats and Republicans say they need a practical yet achievable plan for helping all Americans achieve a better future. Here it is.
"Abandoned" is an extremely valuable book with important ideas and observations. I hope that it will be very widely read. Thank you, Gene.
“Abandoned” is a must read for legislators—and everyone else. Dr. Steurle details the fragile future of the American dream, with ideas of how to preserve it and so much else. Abandoned is a short book that is chock full of facts but surprisingly easy to read.