Government: A Love-Hate Story

Notes from America with Kai Wright

WNYC Studios

News Commentary, Politics, History, News

4.4 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 12 April 2021

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

How did Americans come to think so poorly of government? And how did Joe Biden come to be the first modern president who’s even tried to change our minds? Kai talks with three change-makers about the role of government in our lives. Activist Mari Copeny a.k.a. “Little Miss Flint” recounts how a letter that she sent as an elementary school student brought national attention to a public health crisis in her backyard - and inspired her to continue giving back to her community, speaking out and holding her government accountable. Anand Giridharadas, author of Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World (2018), explores Reaganism, the possibilities of the Biden presidency, and challenges the idea that the country’s biggest problems are best solved by turning to the leadership of the super wealthy -- as philanthropists and innovators, presidents and mayors. And Senator Liz Krueger (D-28), chair of the New York State Senate’s Finance Committee, joins to talk about the proposed $212 Billion dollar state budget deal and the monumental tax increase -- on New York’s wealthiest -- that echoes cries to “tax the rich”. Companion listening for this episode: “A Secret Meeting in South Bend” (2/27/20) Descendants of the Great Migration in South Bend, Indiana, tell their family stories of housing in the “heartland,” and inequity in home ownership today. “One Family’s Land of Opportunity” (11/30/20) A family’s legend about "40 acres and a mule” takes Kai on a fact checking mission to the Mississippi Delta. He finds an unexpected solution to wealth inequality in the U.S. “The United States of Anxiety” airs live on Sunday evenings at 6pm ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts. To catch all the action, tune into the show on Sunday nights via the stream on WNYC.org/anxiety or tell your smart speakers to play WNYC. We want to hear from you! Connect with us on Twitter @WNYC using the hashtag #USofAnxiety or email us at [email protected].

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is the United States of Anxiety, a show about the unfinished business of our history and its grip on our future.
0:08.0	Most people approaching a year of unemployment benefits will continue to receive money.
0:12.8	I'm hopeful and positive, but it doesn't stop me from like suffering in the meantime.
0:20.4	The folks, I'm talking about the folks out there aren't looking for a handout, they just need help.
0:25.0	The nine most terrifying words in the English language are,
0:30.0	I'm from the government and I'm here to help.
0:34.0	Why aren't we investing in infrastructure of the kind that made America great in the 40s, 50s,
0:39.7	60s?
0:40.4	The story of Flint was really the story of giving up on democracy.
0:45.0	I've been quite open about this around the office. I don't want this Parks Department to build any parks because I don't believe in government.
1:00.0	Welcome to the show. I'm Kaye Wright. There's maybe one political consensus that has held left right and center my whole lifetime.
1:06.4	Government is the worst.
1:08.9	It wasn't always so.
1:10.0	If you go back to the 50s and 60s with Eisenhower and Johnson, huge majorities of people said they trusted government, 70 and 80 percent of the country.
1:18.0	That trust evaporated in the Nixon years and never really came back, and for the past couple decades it's been stuck at
1:24.3	historic lows less than 20% of people saying they trust the government to do the
1:28.6	right thing. But if you look closer there's something more complicated buried in those numbers,
1:34.0	something that seems to be shifting right now. We're going to talk about that shift and what's behind it all this hour.
1:40.5	Before we get into the history and policy of it, though, I want to introduce you to somebody.
1:45.0	President Obama, you might remember, like to talk about the letters he received from people
1:50.0	and how he kept himself centered in the job by reading these letters from around the country.
1:53.9	Toward the end of his presidency, he got a letter from an eight-year-old living in Flint, Michigan,
	...

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