The mid-terms and democracy, a new national park, and political hamburgers
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The mid-terms and democracy, a new national park, and political hamburgers
Whenever I visit the United States, I always look forward to meals in diners and burger bars – a tasty, messy burger is tough to find in Switzerland, and if you do manage to find one, it could well cost more than CHF30 ($35). But are the days of cheap(er) US burgers over? With supply of beef low and demand as high as ever, prices are going up – with potential political consequences.
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Ahead of next week’s mid-term elections, American democracy is suffering a historic setback under Donald Trump, according to the Tribune de Genève.
How is American democracy faring in the run-up to the mid-terms on November 3? “Very badly,” the Tribune de Genève wrote on Tuesday, citing several independent research institutes. “According to V-Dem’s flagship report on democracy, the US has recorded its sharpest decline in history this year. Its score has fallen back to 1965 levels – a time when Martin Luther King Jr was marching in the streets and voting rights for minorities had only just been established.”
A particular problem is the lack of effective checks on the executive by Congress and the judiciary. “During Donald Trump’s second term, power has become concentrated in the hands of the president, who is increasingly governing by executive order,” the Geneva newspaper wrote. “The Republican-dominated Congress offers him little resistance. It has largely ceded its oversight and budgetary powers to the administration. The Supreme Court, too, often rules in favour of the president.”
Beyond this weakening of the checks and balances, the Tribune de Genève said Trump was exacerbating the drift towards autocracy through numerous other measures, such as attacks on the rule of law, a purge of the administration, and attacks on freedom of expression, including a crackdown on protests.
“As a result, an increasing number of Americans believe that their democracy is no longer a good model for other countries,” it wrote. “According to polls by the Pew Research Center, 69% say they are dissatisfied with the way democracy works in their country. Many have lost confidence in their political leaders.”
This frustration with the state of democracy and its institutions is currently fuelling mobilisation, according to the Tribune de Genève. “Forecasts predict a high turnout on November 3, which is likely to benefit the Democrats in particular. Nearly one in two Americans explicitly regard their vote as a vote against Trump.”
The newspaper concluded that, traditionally, mid-term elections serve as a referendum on the incumbent president, but political scientists see the upcoming election as a decisive turning point for the future of American democracy. “These elections will show whether moderate political forces are regaining influence or whether the dismantling of democratic structures is continuing and may become impossible to halt.”
“Americans can barely afford their hamburgers anymore” was the concerning headline in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ), which went on a road trip around Wyoming to explain why burgers have become political.
“Even on this overcast day in Torrington, a small town of 6,000 residents, near-record prices are being fetched once again,” the NZZ wrote from a cattle auction. “Light calves weighing up to 300kg are particularly sought after. A high-quality young Angus steer, hand-castrated and fully vaccinated, can bring in $2,500 (CHF2,050). But basically everything’s selling well.”
It’s clear why prices are high: cattle stocks are at a historic low. The drought, in particular, has taken its toll, the NZZ said, explaining that herds in the US have not been this small for almost 80 years.
“But the shortage of cattle isn’t just driving up prices; for Americans, it strikes at the very core of daily life. The nation needs meat. Fast food. After all, the hamburger is practically a staple food in this country. The culinary embodiment of the American Dream: while in 19th-century Europe meat was a privilege of the upper classes, cattle farming was booming in the US. For just a few cents, a burger soon filled every worker’s stomach. But today, by no means can everyone afford it so easily.”
As a result, burgers have become a political issue. Ahead of the mid-term elections on November 3, affordability is the dominant issue. “Most of the talk centres on petrol prices, which are a cause for concern among voters. But at least some Republicans are willing to give the president a pass on that issue – if the war in Iran is having an impact at the petrol pump, it is, after all, directed against a tyrannical regime which, in their view, also threatens the US, the ‘Great Satan’. When it comes to the Big Mac, however, that’s where their understanding ends.”
Donald Trump knows this, the NZZ explained, which is why he has relaxed the import regulations on beef, signing an executive order temporarily suspending tariffs on so-called lean beef trimmings – the stuff used to make minced beef – for certain quantities. In other words, cheap lean beef from Brazil, for example, is intended to drive down prices.
The measure, which Trump decided on in August, is valid for 90 days. “In other words, pretty much until the mid-term elections are over. The calculation is obvious. Whether it will work is another matter.”
A new national park has been created in the United States – so why are conservationists not happy?
Last week Chiricahua Park in southeastern Arizona became the 64th protected area in the US to be designated a national park. But, as Le Temps reported on Thursday, the announcement has drawn mostly criticism from the environmentalist community, which condemns it as a public relations exercise divorced from the realities on the ground.
“This new status will showcase one of Arizona’s gems, enabling us to welcome more visitors and boost the local economy,” said Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum. “This is a victory for all those who have campaigned to protect this place so that our children and grandchildren can enjoy it,” said Arizona’s Democratic Senator Mark Kelly in a rare show of bipartisan support.
The United States now has a 64th national park, “but the champagne is remaining in the fridge for conservationists”, Le Temps wrote. There are two reasons for this, it explained. First, nothing’s really changed. “Covering 49km2, Chiricahua National Park is the fourth-smallest in the country. Its designation as a national park has not been accompanied by an expansion of its area; the level of nature conservation protection previously afforded to the area remains the same, and no additional funding has been allocated for its management – despite the expected influx of more tourists. It’s therefore not a significant environmental breakthrough.”
Second, Trump-era policies remain in place. Christina Hazard, legal director of the National Parks Conservation Association, an independent organisation dedicated to protecting national parks, said that for these sites to be properly maintained, “the new US national park needs the National Park Service’s (NPS) staffing levels and funding to be restored”. Le Temps pointed out that since Donald Trump’s return to the White House, thousands of NPS staff have lost their jobs and, across the country, infrastructure is suffering while the administration prioritises projects such as the controversial refurbishment of a public golf course in Washington, D.C. or, still in the capital, the botched project involving the Reflecting Pool (see previous press review).
“Arizona’s national parks are on the brink of collapse, but instead of investing limited resources in visitor safety and other park needs, Secretary Burgum is overseeing the refurbishment of the president’s projects in Washington,” said the National Association of American Park Rangers. “It’s inexcusable that he is touting the creation of a new national park while refusing to look after the sites his department has been responsible for managing for over a century.”
The next edition of ‘Swiss views of US news’ will be published on Wednesday, November 4. See you then!
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