The Midterms Are Critical. Using The Right Words in the Right Way Is Even More Critical.

There is frustration among the various shades of liberals and progressives. How can so many Americans be so easily seduced by Trumpism, right wing anti democratic nationalism, white supremacist propaganda, and media personalities who traffic in blatant lies attacking the roots of the American Ideal?

A few answers can be guessed at.  Some are fearful that a nation in which the white middle class no longer sets the rules will become a place of racial vengeance inflicted by persons of color against whites.  Deeply cherished core values of family, security, and social stability appear threatened to be replaced by anything goes. Some people, quite a few I suspect, favor a form of authoritarian democracy without having the slightest idea what that means.  

Another answer is that liberals are fond of policies sold as what the government can do for you to make life better.  That doesn’t sell well to Americans raised to believe in self reliance, a value cemented into the American Ideal early in the 19th century.  What they want is a government that will create conditions in which self reliance can succeed. They are the same liberal policies long sold the wrong way with the wrong words. Liberal political strategists can’t seem to get their heads around how to use the right words in the right way.  With all the best intentions, they keep coming off as Ivy League elitists.

Many have argued the frustration of differing views could be solved with better civics education.  Perhaps, but I’m from a generation where civics was taught in every year of primary and secondary education. I can’t see that it took hold all that well. Basic civics combined with the more realistic, honest story of American history might do better.  However, it would mean giving up romantic patriotism as history, but without giving up the retelling of heroic achievements.  Reactionary, jingoistic patriots seem to think that unless history is sugar coated to remove anything unpleasant it will disgrace and destroy American ideals. It won’t.

How easy would it be to teach American history more honestly?  Not easy at all I think.  I was surprised by replies to a recent  Country Parson column I posted on a FB page.  Using humorous satire, I said if the U.S. was required to have one official religion (as Michael Flynn has demanded), it should be the Episcopal Church. I was surprised at how many posted comments were blind to the humor and satire, thought it was a serious proposal, and had not the slightest knowledge of the context in which it was written.  There appear to be many out there who are deaf to nuance, think only in concrete terms, who give little thought to long term consequences, and have difficulty assessing possible futures. Perhaps not surprisingly, these same people also seem unusually gullible.  We all enjoy fantasy, but some are unable to tell the difference between fantasy and reality.  Maybe they find comfort in the way fantasy pretends to make sense of the world’s mysteries better than reality does.

Liberals, if they want to win elections, must learn to speak in concrete terms, explain how new policies will strengthen cherished core values, and talk about improving conditions for prosperous work rather than handing out benefits.  No one values handouts, few want an obvious hand up, most want a fair chance.

There are some caveats.  Trumpism, its antecedents and  descendants, have been fixtures in American politics from the very beginning, and will be for years to come.  It’s the gut level anger of people who chafe under government regulations imposed on them by more powerful elites. That anger can be assuaged for a little while but not forever.  

Far more dangerous are those who like Koch and Mitch McConnell favor return to a democracy dominated by the power of oligarchical wealth promoting its own interests as if they define the good of the nation as a whole. They have the money and political skill to create their own self-contained fantasy worlds at the same time that they would happily allow a new form of Jim Crow to keep the lower classes in their places.

Hope for liberals to pay attention to and understand all of this is limited. Their record isn’t promising.  One more thing is needed.

There must be a responsible conservative loyal opposition.  Not all progressive ideas are good, and some good ones reach too far fueled by good intentions but with not enough thought given to efficiency, effectiveness and pragmatic implementation.  Responsible conservatives are the restraining forces demanding evidence and accountability. Responsible conservatives, by nature, dislike change for change’s sake, and are reluctant to move from contentment with the way things are to the unknown of something new and untried. From time to time they will take the reins of power, giving the nation a bit of respite, even at the cost of sliding a little backwards. Sadly, we don’t have a responsible conservative movement.  We have the Trumpers’ fascism on one hand and Koch/McConnell oligarchical democracy on the other.  One would destroy democracy, the other would rule it.