Many years ago, the United States was struck by a great economic catastrophe. There was no work, people were hungry and the country was in disarray. In the middle of this disaster, a story captured the imagination of the people: the three characters needed a heart, a brain, and courage, or something, and followed the yellow brick road to see the wizard who said he would fix them. In the story, the characters learn that they have the power they seek within themselves, and they learn this by recognizing that the wizard of oz is an illusionist: someone who pretends to have power and control the world, but who really is just manipulating the scenery of a great stage.
In 2001 the United States was struck by another catastrophe. And in 2008 a second economic distress. Many people were out of work, and hungry and angry. They went seeking help from their leaders to fix the problems. The leaders attempted to solve the outward problem, but never fixed the basic one: Americans feel powerless, controlled by a wizard in a distant city. It makes no difference that the people choose this wizard every four years. When Obama was chosen, it was his job to solve all the failures of the African American (and other) minority groups. Of course he could not do that by himself, and did not get much support from congress to help.
Fear and disappointment in those eight years enabled Trump to be elected, barely. It was his job to fix the the oil industry's declining fortunes, rebuild the rust belt, and resolve the conflicts of moral values in the society. He had no experience in any aspect of government, and a history of failing in business, rebuilding his personal finances as they were depleting. He made many "executive order" proclamations to address the challenges the country faced, without benefit except to himself. Three quarters of the way through his term, the country was faced with a new catastrophe, a covid pandemic, more serious potentially than any recent event. A moment when real leadership is tested.
In the story of Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy and her companions wander off to find a wizard who will solve their problems. They encounter many false choices along the way. In the same way, Americans have been offered a swamp of fake solutions and fantasy conspiracies intended to explain our problems and why one group of leaders or another cannot be trusted. People seek solutions everywhere when they feel helpless and inadequate to solve the problems together. This is why dictatorships follow economic deterioration and social crises. Someone, in this case Trump, is happy to come forward and promise he will fix everything, for everyone, well almost everyone, not those who are causing the problem. And there must always be a group to blame.
The message of the book and movie is that the wizard's power is an illusion. The wizard uses the machinery of public relations and propaganda, by radio, television, and now internet to gather support and take control. The wizard of oz is able to control when the people believe that he alone will solve their problems, they must give themselves up to him, and then everything will be all right. But the more convincing and sophisticated the wizard is, and the more desperate the people, the more likely that he will fail. The wizard is the power of one person, limited by the structure of government, and the broader limitations of society. His power comes from the belief in his rescue, a passive inability to solve the problems they are facing. The real power is in the people, so, for the wizard to succeed, the people must recognize that he is a sham, and they must find their own solution. The current president has all the qualifications to be a successful wizard by failing in his leadership, and needs no attacks from the Liberal establishment for this. His failure is the potential success of Americans to recognize their own power to solve the problems they are facing. At this point, those who don't want to solve problems, but be rescued, must get out of the way.
Each individual must find the missing part he or she seeks from leaders by looking within. Liberals are convinced that their intelligence insures the ability to solve the problems, but are missing a heart, an ability to empathize with the other side and understand their human struggles. The extreme right fears the dangers around them, they are afraid, and seek the courage to face their fears in leaders, not themselves. The middle of the political spectrum needs more thinking about the problems to be solved, and each person's role in solving them, to assert their commitment to a balanced inclusive democratic process that does not gerrymander, exclude, or otherwise manipulate the electorate. They must find the courage to stand up to both extremes. The more activated and engaged the electorate becomes, the better chance we have to end the OZ problem. But it is not just a matter of being active: each must rediscover the missing part in order to engage in meaningful dialog with the others.
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