“Ennui” is derived from the French enuier, “to annoy.” When a French person is bored, weary, or dissatisfied with his/her situation, he/she will appear annoyed. And that annoyance will be visible, even demonstrable. For example, when the French President decided to promote an increase in the French retirement age, the French people were annoyed and protested very demonstrably. Paris streets were crowded with protestors, and City workers refused to pick up the trash. The President’s proposal was to raise the retirement age from 54 to 56. By American standards, either age would be an incredibly early retirement. By contrast, the American Republican Party has indicated its plan to “save” Social Security by raising the American retirement age above its current 65 age limit. But that proposal has barely noted any reaction from my fellow Americans. American ennui, then, can be best defined as “disinterest,” “malaise,” or simply “ho hums.” We Americans are so focused on our “now” that old age seems less relevant. So, why not shore up the Social Security program by adding a few more years to future retirements rather than by raising payroll deductions now for everyone? Apparently, we Americans will resist any impact on our present lives, even if beneficial to our personal future or that of subsequent generations.  

Sometime after the post World War II era, pundits noted the rise of the so-called “now” generation. That term now seems predictive of the ubiquitous presence of Cell phones, fast food, instantaneous or “breaking” news, and readily available entertainment. All our immediate needs can be addressed in the “now.” So why worry about retirement plans, climate change, the long-term impact for not funding early childhood education, current capitalist excesses (reference “American Exceptionalism Revisited”), dark money campaign funding, gun policies effecting childhood deaths, or abortion policies resulting in maternal deaths? ¹ Any resultant policy failures or inadequacies can only serve the grievance politicking that already thwarts any concerted/realistic effort to create a better future. Instead, we swoon to an unspecified vision of greatness (e.g., MAGA). And we entrust our future to a self-interested opportunist who will always place his own interest before that of the Republic he swore an oath to serve. ² 

But you might ask, should we not all live in the present—in the now? The obvious answer is “yes,” but only if “now” is understood for what it is, namely, the intersection of past and future. We live each moment prepared, affected, determined by our past experiences, knowledge, and external events. Our past may be formative, even enlightening, but we cannot live in the past. Instead, we can only live in that very moment in which we create our future. Our past informs us, but only we can inform and create our future. And we do so every single moment we live. 

The odd thing about a democracy is that it requires its citizens to be accountable for their future. Alone in the voting booth, each citizen must choose who best to advance both his/her interests and the general welfare of all citizens. Today, in America, we must decide whether we accept responsibility for our democracy or not. In the coming year, we will decide whether we will have a peaceful, safe, and decisive election or a replay of the January 6, 2021, debacle.  

For the third Presidential election cycle, Donald J. Trump will once again contend for the Presidency. He has and will stoke violence. He has and will claim corruption, spread disinformation, and quash dissent. He will politicize our independent institutions and marginalize vulnerable communities. In other words, he will reenact the playbook of all who seek absolute power. He will take advantage of Republican persistent attempts to gerrymander and suppress selective voting communities. Even though he lost his first attempt to win the Presidency by over three million votes, and his second attempt by more than seven million votes, he won the electoral college votes against Clinton’s voting majority and came even closer to winning his reelection against Biden than has been recognized. He could have won reelection with just 46,000 more votes in several swing states. In other words, he would be President today with nearly 7 million less votes than Biden.  

If we Americans genuinely believe in our democracy, we must defeat the Trump insurgency. And then we must eliminate voter suppression and gerrymandering. Then we can either reform the electoral college or terminate it. In either case, our course must be guided by faith in our democracy, without which we will lose it (reference, “Is Democracy’s Fate an Act of Faith?”).

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1 Since the turn of the century, the US maternal death rate has steadily increased according to the CDC and World Health Organization. However, since the Roe V. Wade decision that death rate is spiking according to the CDC. (We are still waiting for statistical results.)  

2 Reference 3rd paragraph in “Ruled by Veracity or Perfidy.”