Consider trickle-down’s impact on social issues

I think we have all read about trickle-down economics and how it is supposed to eventually affect all people, with wealth going from top to bottom. Not many people think about the trickle-down effect, which is when something that starts at the top spreads down to the rest of a system. I bring this up because I believe this is what is happening in our country now, not economically, but socially and politically.

Businesses and educational systems that have leaders who respect and empower their employees usually have organizations that are successful, where people want to work there because of a healthy working environment. When you have leaders who insult and disparage employees and others, you are going to have people who see this as permission to insult and disparage others, causing the system to be dysfunctional.

When applying this to what is going on in the U.S. now, if you have a leader who does not comply with the norms, rules and laws of a country, who attacks and insults others, you will have people in the general population who exhibit the same behaviors because they see this is accepted by the leader and those enablers around him/her. When you have a vice president and an nonelected “government official” who state that the president should not have to follow those decisions made by the courts that go against what they want, you will have people questioning why any of us, who find ourselves in court for any variety of reasons, should follow the dictates of the court.

Perhaps our leaders do not fully comprehend the effect their actions and words have on the people of this country. I just hope that they wake up before chaos and anarchy reign and our country, as a republic/democracy will no longer exist.

Lani Jabeneau

Palatine