Promote National Progress like iPhones

One of the most surprising disconnects to me between dystopian stories and our current reality in the U.S. is that no level of government has a reliable mechanism by which it communicates regularly with citizens. We can’t communicate anything from local bulk trash pick-up days to new healthcare policy with any level of efficiency of reach across the nation.

At every level of government but especially the federal, we are lacking the feedback loop to voters of what’s getting done. There’s no other way to explain the disconnect between Biden’s imperfect, but historically productive, agenda on climate, and his dismal approval rating by voters on the climate issue. Voters are not hearing about what their elected officials are doing.

My proposed solution is simple: make a digestible, Apple-style keynote video once a year with top accomplishments, and do everything possible to make sure Americans watch it. I propose marking a National Progress Day each year, on which governments celebrate the progress we’ve made in the last year. The video, keynoted by the President, lays out the key progress across the country, handing it off to key cabinet members to outline what their department has done. Each speaks for a few minutes, with simple, clear language, focusing on how American’s lives are getting better.

Step two is to make sure every American sees it. Send a postcard to every address in America with the date and information. Get it on every TV channel; the State of the Union could also be reshaped into this media event, as every TV channel is already live-streaming it. Slice it up a million ways onto every social channel and promote the videos. It’s absurd the government doesn’t have a better way of reaching citizens digitally, but this is a first step to making a single event worth tuning in for. The benefits of American unity would easily pay for the event, or as campaign marketing expenses.