1.28.24
Reason is no match for passion. -- Spinoza
Remember “the end of history”?
What we may be witnessing is not just the end of the Cold War, or the passing of a particular period of postwar history, but the end of history as such: that is, the end point of mankind's ideological evolution and the universalization of Western liberal democracy as the final form of human government. – Francis Fukuyama, 1989
What a beguiling dream! We rational, sensible heirs of our Founding Fathers had won the contest for humanity’s hearts and minds for all time. Henceforth, no wars, holocausts, genocides, desperadoes, no divergent ideas, all of earth’s people would succumb to the inevitability of “Western liberal democracy” and submit their differences to some hypothetical giant rational United Nations (dominated by all-wise America, needless to say). Hooray for the U.S. of A.!
Since that summit of optimism, what have we lived through? State after state has abandoned “liberal democracy” in favor of authoritarianism (or what Hungary’s dictator sneeringly calls “illiberal democracy”); deadly arsenals have swollen, strongmen swaggered, tempers frayed, our shared climate careened toward unsustainable… Even in the perfect U.S. of A. millions doubt democracy’s advantages, maybe enough, in the coming Presidential election, to ditch it altogether. What in blazes happened!
Professor Fukuyama and I are exact contemporaries. We breathed the same air, witnessed the same events. I kind of agreed with his thesis, though I wasn’t pondering much then, too busy making my way. Of course humanity would follow America’s irresistible example. Why wouldn’t we?
My big mistake was to believe in Reason. Reason had powered humanity’s victory over other species. Reason had produced marvels in science, technology, art. Our Founders’ reasonable system benefited more citizens more than any system before. Liberal democracy, while always in need of tweaking, made all the sense in the world!
Only it turns out humans aren’t reasonable – not reliably. Reason is a tool we deploy when useful. What drives us is Passion, Instinct, Desires, our animal natures. Reason might argue for the greatest good for the greatest number, but screw that, I want more for me! That is Trump’s siren song: We’re at war, you boobies, it’s us against them, a zero-sum game, if you lose you’re a loser! Wanna be a loser? Well then, man up, plug your ears against Reason, Reason’s the devil’s trick, Truth’s a trap, collaboration’s a trap, do what it takes, no reasonable restraints, winner take all! For those who feel liberal democracy’s shortchanged them, it’s a soothing interpretation: I’m not inferior, I’m a victim! MAGA means Make America Great – for Me!
Reason can’t debate Passion. It’s rock-paper-scissors-shoot. Only force persuades passion: when a kid has a tantrum, squeeze them tight till they quiet down. Reason won’t slow Trump any more than it did Hitler, because they’re not chasing reasonable solutions. Winner-take-all means do or die.
Was Professor Fukuyama as shocked as I by humanity’s unreasonableness? What we’ve been witnessing this decade makes no sense, we exclaim. And we’re right. It doesn’t make sense, never meant to, isn’t a plan for America, but a strategy to win no matter what, reason be damned. Save your breath debating MAGA cultists. Debate is a trick of Reason! They want to suffer for their cause, like the early Christians. Martyrdom becomes heroism. Poor Donald! Ninety-one indictments! How he bleeds for us!
I do not believe a majority of Americans is susceptible to MAGA insanity; then again I now distrust all my beliefs, which history seems to refute. Concede Trump his crazy contingent, then forcibly recruit the convincible (but still sane) to Reason’s cause. Whatever happens November 5, we’ll be making history.