"One mass movement readily transforms itself into another. A religious movement may develop into a social revolution or a nationalist movement; a social revolution, into militant nationalism or a religious movement; a nationalist movement into a social revolution or a religious movement."
Eric Hoffer
THE TRUE BELIEVER
Those of us who seek logical explanations for the recent election could be looking for something that does not exist. Since logic is essential to enlightened democracy, we must consider that the United States is no longer an enlightened democracy--that the horror stories of despotism in other countries and in other times really can happen here. The Mussolini-like preening and strutting of Donald Trump are merely symptoms of a serious illness infecting our society. The willingness of a nation's people to elect somebody who resembles a strongman-despot tells us that democracy is endangered, if not extinct. When convenient, the supporters of the incoming regime are quick to point out that we have a republic, that the Founders never trusted democracy, that checks and balances were written into the Constitution to prevent mob rule. These reminders are supposed to quiet the majority who voted for Hillary Clinton, and they will fail to convince. What is evident is an America so unbalanced, for whatever reasons, that someone with no government experience and a poor character reputation could get into--not to mention win--a presidential election.
The status quo is shaky, the future is uncertain, the end always near. Bad news strikes from everywhere, all the time. Escape is impossible, and individual attempts to improve the situation seem doomed to failure. And everyone seems to know it. Rational thought and collaboration could devise solutions, unexciting and incomplete to be sure--but progress could be made. But who has time for all that? We are unable to agree on the nature or importance of our problems. Sitting still, communicating calmly about solutions, are astoundingly distant prospects.
The appeal of someone who claims to have all the answers is understandable, if we throw out the possibility of reason. A majority is obviously not necessary for someone to take power who probably should not have power. An alliance of the rich and the religious (some of the leaders of the movement are both) has taken control of the country. Many Americans have long held simultaneous loyalty to both, and in recent times the two seemingly conflicting sensibilities have become solidly merged. Reason has nothing to do with it. Add to this merger of God and Mammon a hot-tempered patriotism, and we have a formidable, if not unstoppable, force.
The ultimate joining of God, Mammon, and America has no basis in logic. For example, worshippers have long been told that no man can serve both God and Mammon. The Founding Fathers were wary of establishing a national religion, and the followers of a universal God supposedly believe that the deity loves everyone, regardless of nationality. The greedy will claim that avarice is patriotic because it gives jobs to other people in the same country. The ultimate patriotic endeavor, war, despised by religions, is waged to increase trade. More examples are probably endless. The ultimate joining of greed, godliness, and fatherland represents an ultimate triumph for doublethink, the holding of at least two opposing thoughts in the conscious mind simultaneously, and believing them. This has happened in nearly half the American electorate. They have elected a man who has no actual plans, but whose demeanor promises he has all the answers, that he will shake things up, that he will relieve them of the unbearable ennui of their mundane lives.
Whether their lives are superficially better or worse than others' lives is a matter for endless debate. The fact is that the beliefs many Americans, that their candidate can deliver them to a better state of being, are short-lived. A demagogue who wishes to stay in power must continually renew the crowd's enthusiasm. Donald Trump is up to the challenge. Orwell's "Two-Minutes Hates" are too gross for modern methods of mass communication and mind control. As a master of electronic media, Trump is second to none. For brevity, zeal, and finding a despicable "other", nobody is more capable than the new leader of the free world.
Hoffer observed in 1951 that the adherents of religious, social, and nationalist movements could readily shift their loyalties. The only requirement for each movement was that it demanded total self-surrender in return for assurance of having all the answers. Today's electronics allow the instant exchange of dogma in the human mind. Demagogues do not care which philosophy is current as long as the result is constant, total loyalty from their followers. The rapid changes in accepted ideology could resemble a psychic strobe light, with similar emotional results. Small wonder crowds can lash out on command.
Good government is something we had better not hope for--after all, the Republican Congress has been elected and re-elected on a promise to get government off our backs. Trump can be counted on to keep the masses occupied while the politicians go about their business of eliminating the parts of government that help the common people while strengthening the parts that enrich the elites. The ultimate goal is to render working people so impoverished that scraping out a living will keep them too busy to poke their noses into social, political, or commercial reform. Resistance will be difficult, and some will think it impossible. The Constitution was ordained and established in hopes of preventing what has happened, but it provides scant resources for reversing it.
We should insist on rigorous adherence to the Bill of Rights, in both letter and spirit. This will get harder as the president appoints, and the Senate approves, judges who will toe the party line. Violent revolution being useless, we will need to resist peacefully, and the powers that be will not be peaceful. Some of us, perhaps all of us, will be tempted to change sides, to play the game and line up with the winners. I doubt if they will have any success in their efforts--ideologues and authoritarians do not forgive or forget. Those who continue to resist will need to constantly strive to "hang loose, stay strong, and watch for the signs." It will not be easy.
No comments:
Post a Comment