Is the country in danger of collapse? on Owatonna

With voter apathy greater than 80 percent in Owatonna’s last election, has our democracy collapsed? Does the incumbent’s advantage fuel voter apathy more than the two-party system? Raising taxes and deficit spending to meet increasing (necessary?) expenses has been the business as usual approach. An incumbent’s previous political experience is a liability inasmuch as with the collapse of the global economy we are facing unprecedented world/economic conditions.
So if these are unprecedented world/economic conditions what can we learn from the lessons of history? Although not a history book, “Collapse: How Societies Choose to Succeed or Fail” by Jared Diamond can be a good starting point. In Collapse, the author examines in depth past societies such as Easter Island, Greenland Norse etc. that have collapsed and speculates on causes of the collapse.
The real sobering part of the book was the inclusion of societies such as Somalia and Rwanda that have recently collapsed. Rwanda, with the highest population densities in the world, had an average subsistence farm size less than one acre before the collapse. It is unfortunate that history books will probably give ethnic rivalry as the cause of Rwanda’s collapse.
The religious and political leaders that believe the US can solve population problems by bringing extra population here can have their beliefs challenged by watching Roy Beck’s “Immigration by the Numbers” on the Internet. Even a child can understand Roy’s gumball demonstration.
When a reality challenged psychologist (shrink) watched the video of Roy’s gumball demonstration of population and immigration numbers, his comment was that it is tough to learn another language when you are older. Carl Jung, one of the fathers of psychology, famously remarked that “people cannot stand too much reality.”
My Christian beliefs allow me to maintain a cautious optimism for the future in spite of reality.

Roger A. Wacek
Owatonna

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