"Dragging millions of people who barely agree on anything kicking and screaming to a compromise they can live with — that’s extraordinary."
One of the most extraordinary - and profound - compromises in human history was the development and ratification of the US Constitution by men who recognized above all the democracy they were attempting to produce was going to be very, very messy indeed. The Constitutional Convention took place in a closed room in Philadelphia in the summer, and apparently no one - NO ONE - was really very happy with the result. But they had to get out of that room. Then they spent a year selling this document they didn't really care for to the states. I'm not a political historian, but does a better example of its kind exist than the US Constitution? One that does so much with so few words?
Anyway, that messy meeting in Philadelphia birthed a messy polity.
I do sort of believe there was an almost golden age in American history, following WWII, when the culture and nation started actually attempting to live up to the ideals expressed in the Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights. In those days the institutions that harnessed a messy democracy served their constituents or a broader constituency of all Americans. Today those institutions openly and cynically serve themselves, which I suppose is something that happens to most bureaucracies eventually. This really started accelerating in the 1980s, and here we are.
I would characterize it as more "anti-mandated public health (including but not limited to vaccines" versus "public health that respects individual, familial and communal autonomy". Basically, "pro-mandate" versus "anti-mandate". Some of us are vaxxed, but are repulsed by the thought of being forced to be.
Some original thinking and insight here. Great piece.
You're right that these are (hopefully) the outer reaches of what a (likely) necrotic democracy looks like. We're a long way from outright authoritarianism/totalitarianism, but both parties seemingly want to change the way our system operates to remove their opposition from power totally—single party legislation becoming the rule, not the exception—and they each have hive-mind foot soldiers doing that nasty work online (and in the real world).
Too online "leftists" bloviating about Trump being a pure authoritarian and "worse than Hitler" are curiously silent when Elizabeth Warren writes (and publishes!) a letter to Amazon demanding they remove books with the wrong information. Members of Activist Industrial Complex gathered at Powell's books daily to try to violently agitate for a book's removal. Thomas Frank's piece about the permanent emergency state's abandonment of the most basic tenets of any leftist or liberal politic is a nice companion to this: https://mondediplo.com/2021/08/06usa
What a crazy, upside-down world we're in. The more and more frequent articles in mainstream sources (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/do-we-live-in-a-simulation-chances-are-about-50-50/ and others) about how we may be living in a computer simulation are either codifying wild paranoia or unknowingly revealing some heavy truth about what happens to society when the human brain tries begins emulating the rigid binary thinking of the machine.
I don't think that what we are seeing is the opposite of authoritarianism though. After all, democracy is just a set of rules for sorting out competing views through tests of popularity. If one of those views is enforced through coercion it turns into authoritarianism. I think this is visible all around: people who like to think of themselves as democratic so long as their view is the one that wins politically and is enforced. Otherwise, if their view loses, all bets are off and we can count on government employees to step in and use every agency possible to take down the legally elected "threat". That is just a plain old authoritarian impulse.
I would probably go even a couple of steps further, I'm vaxxed, but I'm not at all sure that everyone should be, each person has a different risk profile, set of beliefs and circumstances. I don't think that how many people get vaxxed has much to do with whether or not we can end the pandemic, so to me, it's more like a flu shot, take it if you think it will help you, if not, no biggie. But the much larger principle is bodily autonomy, there's such a dark history of when that's been violated, surprised so many people are willing to open that particular Pandora's Box.
Like others here in the comments say, there are quite a few insights along with a nice distillation of where we currently stand in this piece. But, there are a few questions standing up and begging, along with a few bases stolen:
<blockquote>Ever perplexed by the periphery’s indifference or outright disdain for it, the center screams for order — for masking rules, for deference to expertise (“Follow the science!”) — spewing contempt for the “horse paste” eating public that dares to defy it. The periphery meets this hostility with its own, rejecting anything and everything proclaimed by the center, no matter how reasonable, evidence-based, and aligned with the public’s clear interests.</blockquote>
What is reasonable? Forcing young children to wear masks, destroying the communicative process? What is evidence based? That said masks are at all effective as worn, as even the FDA has pointed out? What are my best interests? Fear, or Freedom?
We have seen, over the last few years, that most of the things we have been told are true such as Russiagate, Trump's supposed racism, Michael Brown and Trayvon Martin, and one could go on and on, have all been lies. And that the people assuring me that these statements are true are only telling me them to ensure the Center keeps holding power. It is no wonder that the Periphery is calling BS on what is being pushed at them in the name of "best interests" and finding things out on their own.
I'm a physician, pro-vaccine but against forced COVID vaccine mandates. I do support vaccine mandates for routine childhood illnesses (measles, mumps, polio, Hepatitis, etc).
I'm MAGA & populist. Obviously none of my patients know, and none would think so based on my appearance/manner. Many of my patients are clueless liberals, clueless because they have no realization that the Marxist Left is coming for them, coming for their kids and seeking to destroy & tear down this country. Sadly, they believe every single word CNN, MSNBC, WaPo and NYT say. They have no critical thinking skills.
Many of my patients whisper to me "I have a secret. I believe unvaccinated people should not be allowed into ERs & Urgent Cares. They should not get treated. They should be left to die. Doctor, is this a crazy thought?" Obviously they think I am one of them. At this point, I usually change the subject back to health care.
"Dragging millions of people who barely agree on anything kicking and screaming to a compromise they can live with — that’s extraordinary."
One of the most extraordinary - and profound - compromises in human history was the development and ratification of the US Constitution by men who recognized above all the democracy they were attempting to produce was going to be very, very messy indeed. The Constitutional Convention took place in a closed room in Philadelphia in the summer, and apparently no one - NO ONE - was really very happy with the result. But they had to get out of that room. Then they spent a year selling this document they didn't really care for to the states. I'm not a political historian, but does a better example of its kind exist than the US Constitution? One that does so much with so few words?
Anyway, that messy meeting in Philadelphia birthed a messy polity.
I do sort of believe there was an almost golden age in American history, following WWII, when the culture and nation started actually attempting to live up to the ideals expressed in the Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights. In those days the institutions that harnessed a messy democracy served their constituents or a broader constituency of all Americans. Today those institutions openly and cynically serve themselves, which I suppose is something that happens to most bureaucracies eventually. This really started accelerating in the 1980s, and here we are.
I would characterize it as more "anti-mandated public health (including but not limited to vaccines" versus "public health that respects individual, familial and communal autonomy". Basically, "pro-mandate" versus "anti-mandate". Some of us are vaxxed, but are repulsed by the thought of being forced to be.
Another excellent article. I had never thought about the center vs periphery but that makes more sense than left vs right.
This essay is loaded with insights and a joy to read. The paragraph "This is what democracy looks like..." is a masterpiece!
Some original thinking and insight here. Great piece.
You're right that these are (hopefully) the outer reaches of what a (likely) necrotic democracy looks like. We're a long way from outright authoritarianism/totalitarianism, but both parties seemingly want to change the way our system operates to remove their opposition from power totally—single party legislation becoming the rule, not the exception—and they each have hive-mind foot soldiers doing that nasty work online (and in the real world).
Too online "leftists" bloviating about Trump being a pure authoritarian and "worse than Hitler" are curiously silent when Elizabeth Warren writes (and publishes!) a letter to Amazon demanding they remove books with the wrong information. Members of Activist Industrial Complex gathered at Powell's books daily to try to violently agitate for a book's removal. Thomas Frank's piece about the permanent emergency state's abandonment of the most basic tenets of any leftist or liberal politic is a nice companion to this: https://mondediplo.com/2021/08/06usa
What a crazy, upside-down world we're in. The more and more frequent articles in mainstream sources (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/do-we-live-in-a-simulation-chances-are-about-50-50/ and others) about how we may be living in a computer simulation are either codifying wild paranoia or unknowingly revealing some heavy truth about what happens to society when the human brain tries begins emulating the rigid binary thinking of the machine.
A thought-provoking piece as always!
I don't think that what we are seeing is the opposite of authoritarianism though. After all, democracy is just a set of rules for sorting out competing views through tests of popularity. If one of those views is enforced through coercion it turns into authoritarianism. I think this is visible all around: people who like to think of themselves as democratic so long as their view is the one that wins politically and is enforced. Otherwise, if their view loses, all bets are off and we can count on government employees to step in and use every agency possible to take down the legally elected "threat". That is just a plain old authoritarian impulse.
I would probably go even a couple of steps further, I'm vaxxed, but I'm not at all sure that everyone should be, each person has a different risk profile, set of beliefs and circumstances. I don't think that how many people get vaxxed has much to do with whether or not we can end the pandemic, so to me, it's more like a flu shot, take it if you think it will help you, if not, no biggie. But the much larger principle is bodily autonomy, there's such a dark history of when that's been violated, surprised so many people are willing to open that particular Pandora's Box.
Like others here in the comments say, there are quite a few insights along with a nice distillation of where we currently stand in this piece. But, there are a few questions standing up and begging, along with a few bases stolen:
<blockquote>Ever perplexed by the periphery’s indifference or outright disdain for it, the center screams for order — for masking rules, for deference to expertise (“Follow the science!”) — spewing contempt for the “horse paste” eating public that dares to defy it. The periphery meets this hostility with its own, rejecting anything and everything proclaimed by the center, no matter how reasonable, evidence-based, and aligned with the public’s clear interests.</blockquote>
What is reasonable? Forcing young children to wear masks, destroying the communicative process? What is evidence based? That said masks are at all effective as worn, as even the FDA has pointed out? What are my best interests? Fear, or Freedom?
We have seen, over the last few years, that most of the things we have been told are true such as Russiagate, Trump's supposed racism, Michael Brown and Trayvon Martin, and one could go on and on, have all been lies. And that the people assuring me that these statements are true are only telling me them to ensure the Center keeps holding power. It is no wonder that the Periphery is calling BS on what is being pushed at them in the name of "best interests" and finding things out on their own.
But, still, good post.
The government tries to do too many things. The voters always support the duopoly rather than shrink the government.
I'm a physician, pro-vaccine but against forced COVID vaccine mandates. I do support vaccine mandates for routine childhood illnesses (measles, mumps, polio, Hepatitis, etc).
I'm MAGA & populist. Obviously none of my patients know, and none would think so based on my appearance/manner. Many of my patients are clueless liberals, clueless because they have no realization that the Marxist Left is coming for them, coming for their kids and seeking to destroy & tear down this country. Sadly, they believe every single word CNN, MSNBC, WaPo and NYT say. They have no critical thinking skills.
Many of my patients whisper to me "I have a secret. I believe unvaccinated people should not be allowed into ERs & Urgent Cares. They should not get treated. They should be left to die. Doctor, is this a crazy thought?" Obviously they think I am one of them. At this point, I usually change the subject back to health care.