In 1831, the French Government commissioned Alexis de Tocqueville and Gustave de Beaument to study the United States prison system. Their journey resulted in de Tocqueville’s much broader treatise Democracy in American, an analysis of the religious, political and economic nature of American society. The American experience became much clearer through the eyes of a foreigner.
Last night, Trevor Noah, the South African-born host of The Daily Show, opened his program with an analysis of the shooting by police of black citizens in Louisiana and Minnesota. (NOTE: His commentary was taped prior to the police ambush in Dallas, Texas but could just as easily been delivered unchanged except to reference the most recent incident.)
“You know, the hardest part of having a conversation surrounding police shootings in America, it always feels like in America, it’s like if you take a stand for something, you automatically are against something else.”
“But with police shootings, it shouldn’t have to work that way. For instance, if you’re pro Black Lives Matter you’re assumed to be anti-police, and if you’re pro-police, then you surely hate black people.”
“When in reality, you can be pro-cop and pro-black, which is what we should all be!”
Sometimes it takes an “outsider” to look within the soul of America. As I watched Noah, I realized he was debunking a myth which may be the cause of many of our social and economic conflicts: the zero-sum game.
I personally experienced this phenomenon during my time as policy director for economic development and commerce at the National Governors Association. Several governors asked us to address the latest “war between the states,” instances where one state would offer incentives to lure companies from another state. This happens only if you believe the American economic pie is of finite size. Your energies are then focused on getting a bigger slice. We learned from that effort all states could benefit if our goal became increasing the overall size of the pie. The result was a shift in public policy which promoted entrepreneurship, the start-up and growth of more businesses, rather than incentives which only shifted the location of already existing economic activity.
The zero sum mindset plays out around other topics which dominate our national dialogue. One example is immigration reform. One can only assume that immigrants are taking American jobs if you believe the number of jobs remains constant. Another example is LGBT rights. Opposition to marriage equality requires an assumption the right of gay individuals to marry somehow lessens traditional marriage for those who choose that path. However, since the Supreme Court ruling, there does not seem to be a decline in heterosexual wedding or engagement announcements in our local newspaper.
I am not ready to declare Trevor Noah is the new de Toqueville. But I applaud him for reminding us we sometimes need to see ourselves as others see us.
For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP
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