Tuesday’s Night with a Futurist offered perspectives on “The Future of Politics” provided by five-term Colorado Congressman and recent Presidential hopeful Tom Tancredo. Tancredo, who stood out during the Republican debates for his deeply held opinions on immigration and border security, prefaced his remarks by indicating he approaches the political system through “a partisan filter” and this vantage point would likely bleed into his remarks. He then went on to describe his start in politics in1975, which was prompted during his career as a 9th grade civics teacher in Arvada, Colorado. In an effort to motivate his students to become involved in public affairs, Tancredo pledged that if the whole class performed extra credit by getting involved with an issue or a campaign, he would run for public office. The class not only followed through on the challenge but also voted on which office Tancredo should pursue, and shortly thereafter he won his race for the Colorado State Senate.
After beginning his talk by looking backward, Tancredo went on to declare, “The future of politics to me…I am greatly worried as to where we’re going.” The Congressman’s central thesis, which he returned to frequently, boiled down to the following: “A republic, in order to survive, needs an educated electorate. And I think we’re in danger of losing the Republic because we do not have an educated electorate.” In Tancredo’s view, “There’s something about the vote being given to people who have a stake in the system. That’s good…people who understand who we are.” While Tancredo never specifically mentioned a demographic group he felt was specifically threatening the body politic, he did frequently cite the late Samuel Huntington’s book, Who Are We?, which posits that Latin American immigrants are dividing America into a country of separate languages and cultures.
Among the most dire repercussions of an uniformed electorate – subject to the “allure of populism” – is the potential for a Presidential power-grab in the event of a highly coordinated terrorist strike: “What happens if all of a sudden we are in fear for our very existence? Is that not an environment where a demagogue could be an imposing figure?” Here Tancredo provided the historic example of Adolf Hitler, who largely consolidated his power on the joint pillars of populism and crisis response.
In concluding his remarks, Tancredo was not optimistic. With the average television sound bite now timed at seven seconds and people communicating by way of Twitter’s 140 character limit, he does not see the public embracing substantive political education in the short or long term horizon. In regards to the increasing loss of individual liberty to an encroaching populism and a tax base of economic free riders: “I’m not sure we can change this. I’m not sure this will ever change unless we are aware of what’s happening to us.”
A panel discussion followed Tancredo’s remarks, moderated by Mike Cote, editor of ColoradoBIZ magazine. Along with Tancredo, the panelists were:
- Susan Sterett, Professor and Chair, Department of Political Science at the University of Denver
- Herb Rubenstein, President, Sustainable Business Group
Cote first asked if the panel thought that government is expanding. Tancredo, who perceives President Obama to be a socialist, sees government spending increasing to a point of no return: “Even if we elect a Ronald Reagan in four or eight years, they couldn’t undo the damage” that will transpire during the Obama Administration. Professor Sterett also saw an expansion, but put forth that, “sometimes the programs that are responsible for growing government are programs that Americans want.” Rubenstein answered the question by reminding the audience that this country has “880,000 Americans waiting for a decision on Social Security disability,” and those programs that the government does choose to pursue (like Social Security) should be properly funded and staffed. On the question of Twitter and its impact, Rubenstein believes that “electronic media is changing the possibilities of political movements,” while Sterett offered, “Twitter is providing a real challenge in parties being able to control the candidates.” On the larger question of whether technology will increase the speed and efficiency of government, she responded,” We do have multiple purposes in government, and unless that goes away you will not see adoption to speed.” Tancredo, in answering the same question opined, “Bureaucracies are enormously powerful and see technologies as threatening…Yet how efficient do you [really] want government to be in your life?”
The DaVinci Institute produces a variety of events designed to share the knowledge of most talented thinkers and seasoned veterans who have fundamentally changed the business landscape. Upcoming events include a Twitter Boot Camp on May 9th and a Startup Junkie Underground meeting on May 18th featuring Patti Serano, entrepreneur behind the Boogie Board.
