The System

The American system of government is just that, a system. It’s not perfect but its intention is good. It’s designed to curtail excess power in government, keep order in society and protect the rights of citizens at the federal, state and local level. Not too bad. 

This system, as I have argued many times before, is great at many things. It has created huge amounts of wealth, raised millions out of poverty, passed health and environmental laws, not to mention national parks! (I just walked through Golden Gate Park in San Francisco and I’m not sure any urban park matches its brilliance.)

But that same system is failing. It neglects the negative impacts of the wealth it creates. It puts millions of - mostly poor - people in prison for no good reason. It destroys nature for profit. It celebrates excess corporate power and allows poverty. And for the past 40 years, it has been under attack from one side of political spectrum, making it brittle and myopic. It is a conflict that has resulted in our weak and unfocused response to the pandemic. 

Since the country’s founding we have cared, argued and debated about THE SYSTEM. What is the appropriate level of taxation? When should government restrict freedom to achieve public health and safety? (seatbelts, vaccines etc.) Should the system spend $770 billion a year on weapons and national defense? These arguments are the cornerstones of a democratic society, in which rigorous debate, a robust media and a fairly honest government combine to make a society more just, fair and for as many people as possible. 

But here’s my question; what if people stop caring?

Or more specifically, if the question is - how do we continually improve our system to be more just, fair, and prosperous? - what happens when half the population say they no longer care about the answer? 

And after that, what happens when people no longer behave as if the system matters? What happens when there is no code of behavior left to enforce civility? 

Take a look at the smash TV show “Inventing Anna,’’ the latest Netflix special by impresario Shonda Rhimes. I’ve been watching it with my wife and it got me thinking about the system. The series follows the real life con artist Anna Sorokin as she tricks the rich, smart and powerful of New York society into giving her money, clothes and fame. She is so effective that she nearly lands a $40 million financing package with a Wall Street bank to lease a Park Ave. building for her art gallery/social club for rich people. All the while she sleeps in the finest hotels and skips out on the bill, leaving supposed friends with the tab.

​The system, be it police, regulators, bankers, lawyers or journalists who should have known better, never clapped back at Sorokin. They played along with the con, hoping she would carry them to fame, riches or just the next party. The fever she induced in the Wall Street lawyer who worked on her financing package with NO retainer fee is instructive. What did he tell his law partners? Why did he continue meeting with Sorokin? The answer, as I watched, became clear. Because he was excited. Because Sorokin could turn his wealthy yet drab existence into something that reignited his marriage, made him wear silk ties and granted access to exclusive parties. 

When people get excited they stop caring about the rules or good behavior. 

What’s fascinating about Sorokin is that the system took its time ending her charade. So she did what most cons do. She pushed the boundaries. And she kept pushing the boundaries until finally the system pushed back and said: “No More.’’

Sorokin, who was convicted of fraud and larceny and served four years in prison, must have had a fascinating, ongoing conversation with herself during the con. “I’ll just keep pushing until they say no,” she must have reasoned.

There are lots of Sorokins in the world - from oil baron John D. Rockefeller to Elizabeth Holmes, the convicted felon who convinced influential people in the system into giving her millions to prop up a fake Silicon Valley company. These swindlers push the boundaries without regard for whom they destroy. It’s the end result that matters. It’s the winning that does it for them.

And who is the grand-daddy con artist who has that same conversation with himself every day? Donald Trump, of course. From the moment he thought about running for president I guarantee he’s said to himself: “Are they really going to let me get away with this?” 

For Trump, running for president was never about winning. It was a marketing ploy to stay relevant and keep making money in real estate and TV so he could subsidize his sham marriages and tabloid party life. He never thought he could win. But why not push the boundary until someone said “No’’?

And the system kept saying yes. It allowed him to push the boundaries beyond what was decent - his treatment of women, the fraudulent loans, the Jeffrey Epstein relationship, sticking contractors with the bill. No one stepped in: not the police, not government regulators, not the media and then at last, not the voters. Why? Because they didn’t care anymore about the question or the answer on how to create a better society. 

So we elected Trump over a hyper-qualified Hillary Clinton, who millions of people just didn’t like because…they just didn’t. 

The system failed because we stopped caring. Whether it’s the school board or Congress, we stopped caring about who runs the system. So it became weak and vulnerable to people like Anna Sorokin and Donald Trump.

But I still believe there is hope for the system. There are still judges, prosecutors and people of courage and morality who make up a large part of the system that is closing in on Trump. His accounting firm says his books are phony. His CFO is indicted. We will soon have the entire story of the Jan. 6 insurrection thanks - incredibly - to people like Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney. 

Sorokin is a crook. No more or less than most Wall Street wannabes. Her act goes on in NYC every day. And the same goes for Trump - a criminal who may still experience the hammer of the system. He pushed the boundaries and no one said “No’’ for decades. Now people are pushing back. Perhaps we can invigorate our system with more strength and courage so that con artists like Trump and Sorokin don’t get this far in the future.

But to achieve that end, we need to care about the answer … and the question.