Requiem for history's forgotten lessons
Is a close call with national divorce or some form of civil war in the US necessary for the reemergence of wisdom to occur ?
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On September 1st 2022, US president Joe Biden delivered a charged and somewhat provocative speech from Independence Hall in Philadelphia, PA. He essentially described an America fighting for its existence as a united nation, where democracy itself (allegedly) is under attack from a faction of the population. During this long exposé that you can read in its entirety here, Biden clearly identified and pointed his finger at the segment of citizens he claims are responsible for all ills.
A position that is shared by many Americans by the way, including his most loyal supporters. But when the president himself utilizes this level of rhetoric, it holds more symbolic significance than if it was coming only from mere partisans.
See the following excerpt from the president’s speech that day which is representative of the tone utilized throughout the address:
“ MAGA1 Republicans do not respect the Constitution. They do not believe in the rule of law. They do not recognize the will of the people. They refuse to accept the results of a free election, and they’re working right now as I speak in state after state to give power to decide elections in America to partisans and cronies, empowering election deniers to undermine democracy itself.
MAGA forces are determined to take this country backwards, backwards to an America where there is no right to choose, no right to privacy, no right to contraception, no right to marry who you love. They promote authoritarian leaders, and they fanned the flames of political violence that are a threat to our personal rights, to the pursuit of justice, to the rule of law, to the very soul of this country.”
Joe Biden, 46th president of the United States
These are not weak statements from a man that, must I remind everyone, positioned himself as a unifyer less than two years ago. A man that was touted by many, especially in the international press, as a “real” president following the Trump years in the White House.
The irony here is that many (if not most) of the aforementioned grievances from the speech could easily apply to the Democratic party. The multiple accusations thrown at their opponents, unfortunately for them, feel fake and are akin to some form of psychological projection towards their foe.
It’s never a good idea to take swings at an enemy with a rubber bat, it will invariably come back in your face.
For example, many high ranking officials and representatives inside the party:
did not recognize the 2016 election results
have turned a blind eye to the summer 2020 political violence in many cities
wanted to pack the supreme court
pushed for vaccine mandates during the covid ordeal affecting health privacy of citizens
to name a few…
In these trying times, no political actor or any party can sincerely and genuinely play the purity card. Nobody is blind to the games being played.
While I understand the country is going through some tumultuous years, political acrimony and increasing polarization, from where I stand north of the border, I find it quite distressing that political leaders (in this case from the Democratic party and the sitting president) continue to actively promote internal division within a country already socially fragile and only a couple of significant events away from falling into serious civil strife.
I see a president putting fuel on the fire while denouncing the exact same method from its opponents.
Thus, the main risk I see right now is that if both sides continue to be blinded by their perceived ideological superiority, in the near future, any behaviors or actions can become justified as an ethical duty to perform.
Will such rhetoric end well ?
Republicans and Democrats, Red and Blue states, have been at each others throat for years now and the animosity keeps increasing. As an observer from outside the country looking in, I am definitely not here to take a stand or to pick a side in this “battle”.
I try as always to pull myself away from the noise to gain perspective. Like I did in my September 2021 piece on political polarization:
I often write that our involuntary (and sometimes voluntary) ignorance of history’s most valuable lessons will be made at our own peril. Maybe even in bloodshed. And I sure hope this cycle of violence (both verbal and physical) will not lead to some form of civil war or national divorce that would have long lasting consequences, even on my side of the border.
Maybe I’m just being naive. Maybe no alert or voices of wisdom in the United States can be heard loud enough to prevent the ultimate escalation. After all, don’t we have a common wisdom to the effect that history rhymes or that it tends to repeat itself. Maybe modern humans are just hard-wired, accompanied by the cycling patterns of generations as seen in previous essays, to stumble into such pitfalls.
Any serious student of history will rapidly notice that human societies will all go through similar patterns of growth, social cohesion, spiritual awakening to eventually fall into some form of upheaval, civil disunion and even internal war.
The crescendo of social and political events our societies have witnessed in recent years are certainly reminiscent of other eras in the past. Many have tried to make parallels with a previous crisis era. In their gut, many are on target in identifying The Fourth Turning we are currently living in without naming it outright or explaining the details that characterizes the current mood. But in such a context, the blind spot is that nobody feels they are on the wrong side of history, or on the loosing team.
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