Friday, July 03, 2020

America's Reckoning


Americans have been legendary for their near religious belief in the superiority of all things American. From their Oval Office on down, generations have clung to the bizarre notion of American exceptionalism, America the "indispensable" nation while the rest of the world looked on in puzzlement. It all culminates tomorrow, the glorious Fourth of July.

Only this year is different. David Brooks writes that his fellow Americans are experiencing a badly needed moment of humiliation, a crisis of the national spirit.
A third of Americans show signs of clinical anxiety or depression, according to the Census Bureau. Suspected drug overdose deaths surged by 42 percent in May. Small businesses, colleges and community hubs will close. 
At least Americans are not in denial about the nation’s turmoil of the last three months. According to a Pew survey, 71 percent of Americans are angry about the state of the country right now and 66 percent are fearful. Only 17 percent are proud.

Americans are reacting in two positive ways. We’re seeing incredible shifts in attitudes toward race. Roughly 60 percent of Americans now believe that African-Americans face a great deal or a lot of discrimination. People have been waiting for a white backlash since the riots, or since the statues started toppling. There isn’t much if any evidence of a backlash. There’s evidence of a fore-lash. 
Second, Americans have decided to get rid of Donald Trump. His mishandling of Covid-19 hurt him among seniors. His racist catcalls in a time of racial reckoning have damaged him among all groups.
...In 1970, in a moment like our own, Irving Kristol wrote, “In the same way as men cannot for long tolerate a sense of spiritual meaninglessness in their individual lives, so they cannot for long accept a society in which power, privilege, and property are not distributed according to some morally meaningful criteria.” 
A lot of people look around at the conditions of this country — how Black Americans are treated, how communities are collapsing, how Washington doesn’t work — and none of it makes sense. None of it inspires faith, confidence. In none of it do they feel a part.
If you don’t breathe the spirit of the nation, if you don’t have a fierce sense of belonging to each other, you’re not going to sacrifice for the common good. We’re confronted with a succession of wicked problems and it turns out we’re not even capable of putting on a friggin’ mask.

8 comments:

Trailblazer said...

Americans are waking up to the fact of they have been living and believing a lie.
They have been the beneficiaries of good fortune for many years.

TB

Lorne said...

Every night when I watch a half-hour of American news, Mound, I am astounded that the revolution hasn't yet begun and that so many have yet to understand the United States has little to offer to the average or the marginalized person. Perhaps Covid-19, which has brought so many things into sharp relief, will render a new awareness of reality, as your post suggests.

The Disaffected Lib said...

Sadly, TB, many are using this enlightenment to turn on each other.

The Disaffected Lib said...

Perhaps, Lorne, but I won't hold my breath. Even ousting Trump won't fix the grievously damaged legislative and judicial branches. I sure hope I'm wrong on that.

Trailblazer said...

@ Lorne.
Perhaps the revolution has started!
It all starts with civil unrest.
There are many people waving and displaying their guns in the US.

TB

Trailblazer said...




As has been said; what 'borders' on stupidity?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/mexican-border-states-raise-new-concern-about-americans-bringing-covid-19-south/2020/07/03/0b39e6fa-bd3a-11ea-97c1-6cf116ffe26c_story.html#comments-wrapper


https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/us-canada-border-coronavirus/2020/06/30/2cbfd3b0-b55c-11ea-a510-55bf26485c93_story.html#comments-wrapper

We often wish that the mighty fall but with what consequence?
A plan B is desperately needed.

TB

the salamander said...

.. I have been around some very hard men & women in my life.. very. Here n there while in their company.. an unforeseen idiot or loudmouth.. or asshat.. just HAD TO.. crowd the boundaries of decency or general society or our personal safety.. our 'boindaries'. The result could surprise even me.. Its brevity, ferocity, lack of talk talk or any posturing. It was 'over Rover' - sudden, solid, unquestionable. The swagger or insult or threat was 'cleaned up' so fast it was breathtaking.. and we moved along with whatever we had been doing, whether at ,eisure or worktime.. it was like a fly had been swatted or a mosquito slapped flat. Rendered null & void

As I see the blatant ongoing failures to the south of us.. the swaggering armed posturers at the various legislatures or state offices. I wonder when the truly hard men and women will snap into action. Quietly & with no fuss or muss. Lightning strike.. rattlesnake like. I have a fave photo sequence I must dig up. its from South America, Peru perhaps. It was on my computer desktops for years as a screen saver. A village near a gold mine or copper mine had been intimidated and insulted by the military. Pollution, political corruption, bribery, drugs.. imported labourers etc etc - rapes. There was a hill near the center off the village and a tough looking soldier with a kalashnikov, ankle knife etc oversaw all village activity from the top. One day the men and women 'took the hill' armed with sticks and stones. They did not harm the soldier, they humilated him ! In the photos you see him weeping as he finally reaches the bottom of the hill.. his uniform torn and dirty, helmet stripped, wild eyed.. 'Tough Guy' ?? He was humiliated by peasants..

The Disaffected Lib said...

Sal, if you followed last night's Nuremberg Rally on Mt. Rushmore you'll know that Trump's re-election strategy is to stir the embers of America's Culture War. He's totally fucked up the pandemic. He is personally responsible for the loss of thousands of American lives. The economy is shattered. There are no rabbits to be pulled out of his hat between now and November 3rd. It's like post-Weimar Germany, chapter and verse.