An America in crisis, in search of renewal?
Renaud Lassus draws up a fluoroscopy of the faults of contemporary America.
Editions Odile Jacob
Text by: Sylvie Noël Follow
22 min
Extreme polarization, racial violence: the last few months have shown again how American democracy was going through one of its deepest crises.
In his book, The Renewal of Democracy in America (published by Editions Odile Jacob), Renaud Lassus points to the flaws in society that are shaking the foundations of American democracy.
But he takes the opposite view of the theorists of decline, perceiving on the contrary "a renewal of action and reflection in favor of democracy".
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The United States is "going through
one of the deepest crises in its history
."
Renaud Lassus has headed the economic service of the French Embassy in Washington since 2016, and enjoys a privileged observation post to see that the United States "is
experiencing one of the deepest crises in its history
".
These flaws are numerous and “
their conjunction shakes up American democracy
”.
New polarizations fueled by the internet and social networks, qualified as “
existential challenge for American democracy
”, just like social inequalities which are so widespread that there is “
rupture of the founding pact
”.
The Faustian excesses of Silicon Valley where the destiny of the human being become obsolete would be to merge with the machines which also feed a human crisis.
In American society "
affected by the loss of meaning
", the suicide rate has increased by 30% since the beginning of the 2000s, "
deaths of desperation
" to which must be added the victims of the opioid crisis (70,000 deaths in 2017)
"American democracy retains, within it, all the elements to rebound"
Faced with this exhaustive picture of weaknesses, some perceive the characteristics of an inevitable decline, others like Renaud Lassus, on the contrary, sees the signs of a possible rebound.
"
Faced with its difficulties and its doubts, American democracy retains, within it, all the elements to bounce back, solve its problems and trace new and more peaceful paths for itself and in its relationship to the world
".
Renaud Lassus observes in the United States "
a renewal of action and reflection in favor of democracy
" which concerns political, intellectual and business circles, the fruit of cooperation between Democrats and Republicans which relate in particular to ecology or the fight against monopolies.
Trump missing from the book
The reader may be surprised that the name of the current occupant of the White House never appears.
In the preface, Pascal Lamy supports this bias because “
Donald Trump is fundamentally the revealer, the symptom of the profound changes in America.
"
What future for a United States in crisis?
To conclude, Renaud Lassus draws three possible scenarios: a revival of American democracy, the country managing to heal its wounds, the excesses of capitalism and growing inequalities for forty years.
Competition from China could moreover, according to the author, play a role of unifying spur, pushing the country to revive investments to fight an authoritarian regime.
Republicans and Democrats understand that the United States will not be able "to
win the competition of the systems which opposes it to China without rebuilding a federal state endowed with the means to act and to build long-term programs in research, education. or infrastructure
.
"
But Renaud Lassus does not exclude two darker developments: the scenario of the great confrontation, or that of"
the room apart
".
Faced with the blockage at the federal level, the federated states, the cities could take different paths, thus organizing "
a legal split
", leading to "
the disunited States of America
".
A process that could experience a brutal acceleration if Donald Trump wins the next election.
Interview with Renaud Lassus
Sylvie Noel
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