June 8, 2025

By Stephen Stofka

This is part of a series on persistent problems. The conversations are voiced by Abel, a Wilsonian with a faith that government can ameliorate social and economic injustices to improve society’s welfare, and Cain, who believes that individual autonomy, the free market and the price system promote the greatest good.

Abel asked, “No milk in your coffee?”

Cain replied, “I’ve been trying to go without the past few days.”

Abel asked, “Health concerns?”

Cain shook his head. “More a matter of simplicity, I think. Anyway, something caught my eye on Friday when the Supreme Court issued several rulings.”

Abel asked, “All in one day?”

Cain nodded. “Yeah, June is a big month when the court releases many of its rulings for the past nine months.”

Abel said, “I heard something about an employment discrimination case on the news, I think.”

Cain replied, “That was interesting, but no. It was actually a non-decision. The court decided not to rule on the Lab Corp case (Source).”

Abel asked, “What’s Lab Corp?”

Cain paused as their food arrived. “They process gazillions of lab tests, like blood tests and so on. Several years ago, they put self-service kiosks at their appointment centers. It was a convenience thing for some customers. I guess it also relieved the wait times for customers who needed or wanted help from a customer service rep or technician at the appointment center.”

Abel nodded. “They have those at the HMO I go to. It saves standing in line for a clerk. What’s the big deal?”

Cain lifted his eyebrows. “Lab Corp got sued by advocates for blind people. They claimed that the kiosk did not accommodate them (Source).”

Abel frowned. “Blind people couldn’t use the ones at the HMO I go to. It’s a touch screen. Blind people can walk ten feet and stand in line for a clerk. This makes no sense. There are a lot of companies that use these and the demand is growing (Source). What are they going to do? Sue all the fast food chains?”

Cain nodded. “Right. Some courts rule that if a clerk is nearby, that satisfies compliance with the ADA, the Americans with Disabilities act (Source). Other courts rule that the kiosks should offer some kind of audio assistance for blind people.”

Abel lifted the syrup dispenser above his pancake stack, then paused and set it back down. “I doubt if the lawmakers who passed the ADA in 1990 intended it to prevent the rollout of customer conveniences. I mean, the legislation got almost unanimous support in both the Senate and House. How often does that happen?”

Cain smiled. “1990. That was Bush, a Republican President. It doesn’t support the left’s portrayal of Republicans as mean, exclusionist white guys and the Democrats as the party of inclusiveness. ”

Abel returned the smile. “Good point. But people in both parties stereotype those in the other party. I’ve been reading a newer edition of Gary Gerstle’s book American Crucible. It’s a history of race, religious and cultural movements in America. In the first decades of last century Republicans painted Progressive Democrats as Communists. Why? Because they supported unions and worker protection laws like the 8-hour day and prohibitions against children working in factories. It helped swing political power to the Republicans after WW1.”

Cain nodded. “I never thought of that. Promoting stereotypes is an election strategy, for sure. So, a political marketing strategy becomes an ideological trope. It gets integrated into people’s brains like some kind of ad jingle.”

Abel asked, “A mechanical model of our brains? What, like rats in a maze?”

Cain shook his head. “A computer model, I guess. Our brains are a gazillion circuits connected together. Some are feedback loops, cycling over and over. Ad agencies and social media try to plant ideas into those loops and create repetitive behavior. So what’s up with this book?”

Abel replied, “Right. This newer edition was published in 2017 and Gerstle added a chapter to cover what he calls the ‘Age of Obama.’ He portrays twentieth century American history in broad movements. For fifty years after World War I, there was a movement toward a civic nationalism, a melting pot model that emphasized shared liberal values.”

Cain asked, “What was before World War I?”

Abel said, “A collection of immigrant groups that identified with others of like ethnicity, or language or European nationality. So anyway, in the post-Watergate period, a multiculturalism emerged. Instead of stressing assimilation, the new culture emphasized the diversity of race and ethnicity in this country. After forty years or so, the country elected Obama, a multi-racial man who appealed to a broad coalition.”

Cain smiled. “That’s a good insight. I wonder if Gerstle would say that Trump’s election is a return to that model of civic nationalism. Woodrow Wilson’s policies were pretty coercive.”

Abel asked, “A clash of two movements that dominated the twentieth century? Could be. Trump is going after DEI programs and any institutions that promotes that kind of sympathy or ideology.”

Cain frowned. “I thought it was a fight between the New Deal and the Great Society on the left, and individual freedom on the right. Maybe Gerstle’s onto something though. Multi-culturalism on the left and what? Assimilation into a dominant culture? That hopey, changey thing with Obama sure disappointed a lot of folks who voted for him. Not much hope for those who lost their homes. Not much change in Washington. As Trump said in 2016, the system is rigged to favor the fat cats. He knew because he was one of them (Source).”

Abel smirked. “Another campaign tactic. He was trying to appeal to Bernie Sanders voters.”

Cain interrupted, “Bernie might have been the Democratic candidate if the DNC hadn’t rigged the process for Hillary.”

Abel tilted his head. “I don’t know about that. But that helps to confirm Gerstle’s perspective. After forty years of a growing multiculturalism, people elected a multiracial or black candidate. Eight years later, one party nominated a woman. That couldn’t have happened in the ‘80s or ‘90s.”

Cain nodded. “Yeah, remember Geraldine Ferraro? She was Mondale’s VP pick in the 1984 race, and they got their butts kicked. People weren’t ready for even a woman VP at that time. So, big changes in public attitudes in forty years. That emphasis on diversity went overboard, if you ask me. Too much identity politics on the left. Gender identity, racial identity, ancestry, religion, and so on.”

Abel interrupted, “But most movements do that, I think. Gerstle talks about the struggle between hard and soft multiculturalists. We see the same thing on the right.”

Cain said, “Yeah, good point. So, is this multicultural movement coming to an end?”

Abel nodded. “Well, people voted for the promise that we could be something better, but it was 2008. The financial crisis blew up before the election. Graft and greed run amok. Then a huge number of minority homeowners lost their homes. High unemployment caused many young people in black communities to turn to drug dealing as a way to make money. The videos of black men being killed by police. The riots at Ferguson. The Black Lives Matter movement. The promise of something better stumbled over what one author called The New Jim Crow.”

Cain asked, “Was all of that during the Obama years? The left-wing media framed those events as a struggle between the dominant white establishment and the black community. It was law and order protecting the community against anarchy.”

Abel argued, “That’s another discussion. Anyway, the white culture is not going to be so dominant when whites are no longer a majority in this country. Pew Research estimated that will happen before 2050 (Source). That’s what’s behind the anti-immigration fervor and the laws that are supposed to ensure ‘election integrity.’ It’s a fight for political dominance.”

Cain frowned. “Right. The whole idea of a democracy is to wage war with words, not on the battlefield. What I don’t like is when universities spread those ideas that focus on people’s differences instead of shared classical liberal values. You know, like individual freedom, respect for the law and private property. Even the private universities receive a lot of indirect funding from public taxes. They should be promoting shared values, not some professor’s pet Marxist ideology.”

Abel’s tone was impatient. “Oh, come on. Universities are supposed to expose students to a range of ideas, not some carefully curated set of values and ideas.”

Cain nodded. “Ok, I get your point, but there should be more emphasis on America’s strengths, not its faults. These colleges promote an ideology that focuses on people’s differences, their grievances with American culture. What do we have now? A nation that has all these cultural silos, racial and ethnic silos. There’s an element of exclusion in that kind of thinking. Like the ramshackle clubhouses we built when we were kids. ‘This is our clubhouse, and you can’t come in,’ we said. No wonder Americans are feeling so isolated.”

Abel looked into the distance for a moment, then looked at Cain. “Multi-culturalism was more a celebration of differences, don’t you think? Gerstle says the movement tried to build community around race and ethnicity. Community is not isolating. The internet has been more responsible for social isolation, I think.”

Cain replied, “Oh, there are a lot of causes. The internet, for sure. Celebration of differences? That’s what we do at a Mardi Gras parade. That happens once a year. It’s not supposed to be a continual celebration of diversity like the left-wing media does. Then it becomes indoctrination.”

Abel argued, “The right-wing media is just as guilty. They appeal to people’s desire for moral superiority. It’s BS. Reagan was not all that religious but faked it to win Evangelical support. Same with Trump. Biden has a strong religious faith and practiced it too. Still, Christians on the right criticized his policies as ‘non-Christian’ (Source). It’s the typical playbook for Republicans. Democrats are godless. Democrats are Communists.”

Cain nodded. “The left is just as guilty for appealing to moral superiority. Ok, they are political tropes designed to win an election. The problem is that people come to believe these tropes.”

Abel said, “We can’t ban campaign tactics, especially not after the Citizens United decision. I do wish there were a ‘Responsibility in Campaigning’ law that did not violate the First Amendment.”

Cain laughed. “Even if our irresponsible Congress could pass such an act, I can’t imagine any campaign manager paying attention to it. They would run the ads anyway and pay whatever fines had to be paid out of campaign funds.”

Abel shook his head. “Man, you are so skeptical!”

Cain smiled. “I’m a realist. People act in their self-interest. A successful election campaign sells soap suds that evaporate within a year after a Presidential election.”

Abel interrupted, “If it takes that long.”

Cain nodded. “So, you do agree with me. An election campaign is not about honor. It’s about winning. George Bush, the dad, was repulsed by the tactics that his own campaign wanted to use in the 1988 race. Still, he approved them after some polls showed he was slipping in the race.”

Abel asked, “Was Lee Atwater his campaign manager?”

Cain replied, “Yeah, a master of hardball tactics. They convinced voters that Bush’s opponent, Dukakis, was responsible for the release of a murderer who killed and raped a couple.”

Abel interrupted, “Willie Horton. Yeah, all over the news. He was out on furlough, I think (Source).”

Cain nodded. “Very effective. Democrats soft on crime. The same thing could happen to your family with Democrats in charge. That kind of thing. After Atwater got brain cancer, he was sorry for all the personal damage that aggressive campaign tactics had caused.”

Abel argued, “Well, not everyone is like that. Maybe it’s just Republican contenders who hire ruthless managers. Karl Rove managed George Bush’s campaign in 2000. The son, not the dad. His critics said he was pretty ruthless. I thought Obama’s campaign managers were pretty good.”

Cain said, “So we’re off on yet another tangent. What did we start talking about?”

Abel replied, “ADA regulations. Multi-culturalism. Gerstle’s book. Why did the Supreme Court not make a decision in the ADA case?”

Cain made a brushing motion with his hand. “Some technical point on class certification. Not important. The thing is that Congress passes some law. Then the enforcement of it and the interpretation of it by the courts distorts the law. There’s more harm than the good the law was intended to do. That’s why the courts need to look at the original intention of the law.”

Abel asked, “So the implementation of the ADA has gone too far? What else?”

Cain replied, “Affirmative action. In fact, the court ruled on Friday that an agency can’t discriminate against a person simply because they are part of a majority. Well, kind of like that. A person who is part of a majority does not have an extra burden of proof to bring a claim of employment discrimination (Source).”

Abel nodded. “Boy, you are the court watcher.”

Cain smiled. “In June, when all the opinions come out. I mostly read the first page or two of some decisions and gloss over the references to the sections in the law.”

Abel laughed. “So that ruling seems like a fair rule. Why did this case make it to the Supreme Court?”

Cain arched his eyebrows. “Until now, the rule has been that people who belonged to some majority class had to show more proof of discrimination. The woman who brought the case was heterosexual and had lots of experience at the agency. They gave the job to a lesbian woman.”

Abel interrupted, “Wait. Was the woman who didn’t get the job in the majority because she wasn’t lesbian? That’s nuts.”

Cain waved a hand. “Welcome to America. What were you calling it? Multi-cultural America. It’s become a legal advantage to be identified as some minority. It’s easier to win a discrimination suit. It’s easier to get hired for a competitive position. Lawyers try to create minority classifications so they can get some court to grant class certification. They spend a lot of money to get a class-action case before a court, but they make millions in fees if they win.”

Abel nodded. “This is another case where the lawsuits go far outside the bounds of the lawmakers’ intentions when they wrote the law.”

Cain sighed. “I think there has to be a way to stop the expansion of the effect and meaning of these laws. Like the touch screen thing. Should companies just remove their touch screens, so they don’t get sued by blind people? That has an impact on most of the people in this country who are not blind. The sum of that inconvenience is far more than the slight inconvenience that some blind people have who wait in line to talk to a clerk.”

Abel nodded. “So that’s one way to look at it. That’s a sum of utility thing. A few weeks ago, we discussed John Rawl’s idea that society should aim to lift the fortunes of the least among us.”

Cain shook his head. “Yeah, I remember. I disagree with Rawls. Look, the ADA mandated things like Braille on elevator keys. That did not inconvenience sighted people. Sloping curbs at street corners helped people in wheelchairs move about. That does not inconvenience those who can walk. But when the government says a company can’t put touch screens in their lobby unless it has audio capabilities, that is a huge inconvenience to sighted people. It’s a step too far.”

Abel replied, “Technology has changed since the ADA. So Congress can re-write the law. They haven’t so far.”

Cain settled back in his chair. “This country has gone in the wrong direction. It’s not just me. A lot of people feel it.”

Abel pushed his plate aside. “Those sentiments are mostly driven by politics. Pollsters find that Democrats are miserable when a Republican is in the White House. Same for Republicans when a Democrat is President. The latest Gallup poll shows that 80% of Republicans are satisfied with the way the country is going.”

Cain laughed. “Maybe I am hanging out with too many Democrats. I’ve been infected with pessimism.”

Abel stood up. “Yeah, those are four year cycles in sentiment. Gerstle made me aware of a longer term cycle that’s going on in this country. I’ll send you a link to the book. The last two chapters covers the past fifty years and it’s maybe fifty pages.”

Cain asked, “It’s not one of those expensive textbooks, is it?”

Abel shook his head. “No. Maybe the price of a lunch. Talking about that, I’ll pick up the tab. I think it’s my turn. See you next week.”

Cain nodded as he set pushed his plate aside. “Never a dull moment. See you next week and thanks.”

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Image by ChatGPT