Political Polarization, Francis Fukuyama and freedom to hate in the age of Trump

 

Somebody wondered the other day “how did we become so polarized? How did we get to the point of these incredibly heightened emotions where there is so much anger and hate?” After pondering it some I came up with two different but connected takes on it.

The first is more general and it has to do with humanity’s deep-seated need for struggle and passionate action and expression. We are built to overcome obstacles, to struggle against adversity and to in doing so improve our condition. Our impulse to struggle is innate but when Society reaches a point where there is no real reason for existential struggle, that instinct has “nowhere to go” and we still want to struggle nevertheless. Francis Fukuyama foresaw this 30 years ago: “Experience suggests that if men cannot struggle on behalf of a just cause because that just cause was victorious in an earlier generation, then they will struggle against the just cause. They will struggle for the sake of struggle. They will struggle, in other words, out of a certain boredom: for they cannot imagine living in a world without struggle. And if the greater part of the world in which they live is characterized by peaceful and prosperous liberal democracy, then they will struggle against that peace and prosperity, and against democracy.” This general state gave rise to the heightened emotions of the Trump era because the emergence of Trump as a politician gave people an easy object of hate after a long time of not having a convenient and easy target for exaggerated emotions. Trump emerged after 8 years of Obama presidency which were emotionally muted. Even if you really disliked Obama’s personality or actions, most were really careful in expressing that as hate because that would smack of racism, and very few (thankfully) are happy to self-identify as racist. If you liked Obama and disliked intensely the conservatives, the figures they put forth in opposition to Obama were not an easy object of hate  McCain and Romney. One a war hero and the other a mild-mannered Mormon. You could disagree with McCain or Romney but it was hard to summon real emotion about either of them. And then came Trump with his largely

disagreeable personality almost designed to offend. The hate exploded   it was once again OK to hate and an entire generation of people in their 20s, who by my observation comprise most of the participants of angry protests on the left, experienced the intoxicating effect of being able to be really nasty to somebody publicly and joined in that by millions of others. People love to hate, they hate the opposing sports team and their supporters, they hate the rival high school and they hate certain real housewives they can’t really stand. This hate met an equal and opposite reaction people who did not necessarily love Trump but were in favor of conservative policies reacted to hate directed at them as “Trumpsters” by developing their own extreme emotions. If you are going to dismiss my views out of hand and treat me as you would a fan of a sports team you hate then I feel no obligation to be reasonable towards you. You started first. And that is how it went. So that is at least some of what happened.

A Bipartisan Approach to Boosting U.S. Competitiveness Through the Department of Energy

Congress, just in one a generation, represents a valuable open door to help Yankees seriousness and success. Moon. In its fast-paced history, the U. is not lacking in meaningful mechanical achievements. More importantly, this multitude of achievements traces its foundations to extensive government funding.

Congress provides guidance to expand during this legacy by reviving the agencies' responsibilities for developing seriousness. The Senate passed the US Competition and Innovation Act (USICA) (68 - 32) in Gregorian calendar month 2021 and with it the House of Representatives to the United States. COMPETE Act of 2022 (America COMPETE) in February 2022. A package of seriousness should have a major impact in maintaining the Extrude environment by birthing and rejuvenating
fundamental tasks in marketing, building and protecting the search community, which together create a great Achieving a form of simple electricity, power provide substantial dynamic advances.

As Congress works to reconcile the House and Senate bills, BPC recommends the following bipartisan provisions be included in the final bill:

·         Native Clean Energy Innovation Program (Sec.10642 of America COMPITE)

·         • Institution for Energy Security and Innovation (Sec.2528 of USICA und Sec.10751 of America COMPITE)• Boost Technology Transfer (America COMPETES Title VI, Subtitle C)

·          • Strong Popularity of DOE Sports to Boost Key Regions for Innovation (USICA Sec. 2117 and America COMPETES Redivision B, Title I)

 

Increasing innovation, invention, and entrepreneurship in a diverse array of regions

Clean energy investments can create economic opportunities for Americans, in addition to significant climate benefits. However, these opportunities will only be realized if energy and climate programs are designed at the onset with the intention of benefitting the American people. Currently, innovation is concentrated in just a few key cities – a 2019 report co-authored by Brookings and ITIF finds that from 2005 to 2017, just five metro areas accounted for more than 90% of the nation’s innovation sector growth. As we consider how to improve the nation’s competitiveness, Congress should ensure that Americans across the country benefit from the wealth creation, economic development, and employment opportunities that such investments are certain to bring.

In the final legislation, Congress should include the Regional Clean Energy Innovation Program (Sec. 10642 of America COMPETES), a bipartisan provision that would authorize DOE to invest in regions across the country to promote innovation clusters dedicated to making the important advances needed in clean energy.

Building on existing federal programs that support commercialization

Nonprofit energy foundation

Expansion of development, creation and operation in one of the districts are showcase projects. The clean energy companies are starting to open doors for the Yankees, but the big environmental benefits. The first is to support the American public. Modernization is currently only being tapped in one of the city's key areas: a 2019 record of
, written jointly by Brookings and ITIF, shows that from 2005 to 2017 only five underground areas have grown more than 90%. the improvement of the developing region of the country.As we recall the simplest way to work in the country's intensity, Congress must ensure that the country's Americans favor the country's wealth creation, economic turn of events, and open doors to business that such projects will certainly will bring. Completion of the ordinance will require Congress to incorporate the Regional Clean Energy Innovation Program (Sec.10642 of America COMPETES), a bipartisan partnership that will authorize DOE to allocate resources in over
districts across the country to encourage development groups that are devote to the necessities of life -great advances in simple electricity. Rise of grant agency apps to support development Greater coordination, through a nonprofit energy foundation, will ensure that the most promising U.S. energy technologies receive robust funding and support to make their way to market. Our nation needs solutions in technologies spanning from carbon capture systems, to long-duration energy storage, to clean hydrogen, to advanced nuclear reactors, and so much more, to address climate goals. DOE has the experts who understand the ins and outs of our nation’s energy system and what technologies are needed to fulfill our long-term strategy for achieving net-zero emissions. The private sector understands the commercial market, customer needs, and what technologies are most likely to succeed financially. Both sets of expertise are needed. A nonprofit foundation will enable this collaboration while sidestepping the inevitable bureaucracy of the federal government.

Commercialization programs

A competitiveness bill presents a significant opportunity to supercharge DOE commercialization programs by supporting and expanding programs housed under the OTT. This small but mighty office, with a budget of $20 million in fiscal year 2021, has significant potential to disrupt our nation’s commercialization landscape. Congress should include Energizing Technology Transfer provisions (Division B, Title VI, Subtitle C of America COMPETES) to help unlock the commercialization of critical technologies relevant to DOE’s broad mission and bolster public-private partnerships with DOE national labs through greater support for OTT programs. This includes programs to:

1. foster interest in commercialization in undergraduate students, building an entrepreneurial pipeline of diverse thinkers,
2. make it easier for entrepreneurs and small businesses to utilize DOE national lab facilities and equipment, allowing our nation’s inventors access to world-class, multi-million-dollar scientific facilities, and
3. support clean energy incubators and accelerators across the nation, providing essential services to early-stage companies and entrepreneurs to help strengthen innovation ecosystems across the nation.

Investing in a variety of technology sectors

One of the cornerstones of both the House and Senate bills is advancing U.S. competitiveness in ‘key technology focus areas’, including in artificial intelligence and machine learning, quantum information science, high performance computing, advanced manufacturing, and biotechnology. The DOE’s Office of Science is leading the nation in investments in these key areas through partnerships with universities, the national labs, and the private sector. A few examples are listed below:

• High-performance computing: The DOE’s national labs are home to several of the world’s fastest computers, which frequently beat international competitors in Japan and the China as new computers are brought online on a periodic basis. The DOE Office of Science collaborates with private sector companies to develop and build these supercomputers.

• Biotechnology: The DOE Office of Science has a long history of investing in biotechnology and bioscience, including in genomics, structural biology, and bioimaging. Notably, the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines developed to combat the COVID-19 virus trace their origins to experiments performed on equipment at DOE’s Argonne National Lab.

• Quantum Information Sciences (QIS): The DOE Office of Science oversees the nation’s five National QIS Research Centers. Through this national network housed at DOE national labs and U.S. universities, DOE is poised to establish the world’s first quantum internet.

Growing these existing DOE programs with a greater focus on public-partnerships could rapidly accelerate commercialization of these key technologies. DOE has several programs to support industry-specific public-private partnerships, such as through the DOE Energy Innovation Hubs and Manufacturing USA Institutes, which bring together key stakeholders from industry, academia, and the national labs to advance technologies from the earliest stages of research to the point of commercialization. As the federal agency that spearheaded the commercialization of solar power and wind power, DOE knows how to do this, and with additional authorization, DOE can do this again. Final legislation should authorize DOE to invest in commercialization of the key technology areas (Sec. 2117 of USICA) and basic research in these key areas (Sec. Division B, Title I of America COMPETES) that are essential to our nation’s competitiveness.

Conclusion

We are at a critical moment in US future. Congress can pass legislation that would secure America’s place on the global innovation stage for years to come. The bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act showed the American people that Democrats and Republicans can come together to make investments in critical infrastructure and clean energy and essentially put a down payment on accelerating our fight against climate change. Getting a bipartisan competitiveness bill to the President’s desk would expand the federal tools available to effectively develop and commercialize clean energy technologies while securing U.S. leadership, security, and prosperity.