by Ilia Delio
Join the Conversation
Send your thoughts to Letters to the Editor. Learn more
The results of the recent U.S. presidential primaries are not only startling, but a wake-up call to the reality that our political system no longer works.
It is not simply that the parties are internally divided; rather, our political system is worn out. The significant lead of two outsiders, Donald Trump on the Republican side and Democrat Bernie Sanders, seems to signal prima facie that the public is tired of established politics and wants new blood.
While the lure of new ideas is always attractive, there is, at the same time, a growing resistance to change. Several candidates have promised to "make America great again" or to "take back our country," as if the complexities of American society are due to globalization or immigration or simply letting too many foreigners into the country. These grand political slogans are like verbal bullets aimed at the "bad guys"; it is like having John Wayne in his big cowboy hat running for president.
