Optimism has the bad press of innocence, the idea that if we do not see the dark side of life it is because we lack information, alarmist information, for daily consumption, that warns us of the dangers that threaten our society and of bad habits that shorten our lives, an exaggerated reality that fills us with grievances and anger, a pessimism that makes us clench our fists and demand revenge.
This was the climate that darkened Americans in the late 1970s. Then, almost 50 years ago, in the middle of the Cold War, after having lost innocence in Vietnam and Watergate, having endured a severe economic crisis and understanding that oil would, from then on, be a weapon in enemy hands, the Americans woke up one day in front of a screen that explained a story of redemption and triumph of good over evil that occurred a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.
Star Wars, released in 1977 and subtitled, A New Hope, inspired a broken and depressed nation. Luke Skywalker, his heroism and his values, led to the greatest patriotic revolution in the history of cinema.
The premiere of The Empire Strikes Back in 1980, the second installment of the saga, was followed by the election of Ronald Regan, the old Hollywood actor who arrived at the White House reminding Americans what Abraham Lincoln had said about them for more than a century. before: you are “the last and best hope on the face of the Earth.”
In few nations, optimism, that is, the innocence of pursuing progress and happiness, is stronger than in the United States. Joe Biden is an optimist, but not only from innocence, but also from experience. He does not fear tomorrow. The world seems out of control, as his rival Donald Trump says, with wars in Europe and the Middle East, unstoppable migrations and technologies that threaten to subordinate humans to machines.
Trump, however, does not look to the future to overcome the challenges of the present, but to the past. He is pessimistic and obsessed with revenge. “2024 – he tells his voters – is the final battle” against “the corrupt, sinister and rotten forces that want to destroy America”, a country that he now describes as third world.
The United States, in fact, is the largest economy in the world and home to leading innovation companies. It has overcome the pandemic crisis better than Europe and China. The oracles predicted a recession, but the economy grows above 2%. Inflation is 1.8% and unemployment is 3.7%. The lack of labor drives up salaries, especially the lowest ones. Now, only 7.9% of the population lacks health insurance. The Dow and S indices
Biden has given unprecedented aid to renewable energy and semiconductors, to a reindustrialization that has put Europe and China on the defensive. He promises that he will not raise taxes on incomes less than $400,000 annually. He has revitalized NATO and made clear that liberal democracies have no choice but to defeat a Vladimir Putin that Trump admires. The US prospers, but today there is no gratitude for politicians who govern well.
Trump leads all the polls. His dominance of the Republican Party is so strong that the primaries have been a breeze. He has swept without hardly campaigning. His base is activated and he forgives her everything. He believes with his eyes closed that he is the victim of a witch hunt, that there was fraud in 2020 and that immigrants “poison the blood of our country.”
Trump lost 60 legal complaints about the results of the last presidential elections and is accused of more than 90 crimes in four open cases. He leads the polls because lies are powerful and at 77 years old he seems stronger than Biden. Campaigns – especially the very dirty ones today – are won by the strong who are wrong over the weak who are right.
Democrats think Biden is too old. She is 81 years old and walks stiffly due to arthritis and a broken foot. She suffers from sleep apnea, atrial fibrillation and gastric reflux. She passed the latest neurological test with flying colors.
The 2020 elections were decided in seven states, where Biden won by less than 3% of the vote. Five million young people live in the urban areas of these states and the president needs their support without Britney Spears asking him for it.
On Thursday he spoke to them face to face. He delivered a State of the Union address filled with hope and energy. He wanted to wake up the Americans who four years ago gave him a great victory – seven million more votes than Trump – and two years ago, in the legislative elections, they stopped the Republican offensive against the odds. Without them he will not be able to safeguard democracy from the authoritarianism that Trump represents.
Biden is not Luke Skywalker, but neither are Harrison Ford and Mick Jagger, two active octogenarians who still arouse passions. Age is not a biological equation and power is better exercised from the wisdom of experience than from the impetus of youth. That’s why I believe Biden’s good will triumph over young Trump’s evil.
May the force be with you.