Retiring the Tribal Language: An Individual Choice
If the goal is to come together, maybe the name calling and labeling should shift more kindly.
In September, Thomas Friedman sounded the alarm against the “virus of tribalism” infecting the United States and other democracies. “Politics in the United States continues to feel increasingly tribal and divisive,” remarked CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in 2018. If there’s one thing pundits have agreed on over the last few years it’s that tribalism in politics is on the rise, and that’s a problem.
Much of this tribalism comes down to perception. It's almost a cliché at this point to note that ObamaCare is to a certain segment of American society the "ruination of all democracy" but RomneyCare is "the perfect solution to healthcare cost." They are one and the same. The only difference between the two is the label.
The current bugaboo in cultural life is CRT or Critical Race Theory. As I wrote recently, no one is teaching critical race theory in public schools yet the GOP wants their constituency to believe it is. On the other hand, the Dems rightly claim that CRT is not being taught and claim the segregation of white and black kids and labeling them as 'oppressor' and 'oppressed' is merely teaching true American history. Both views are bullshit but both sides maintain the fiction to continue the partisan divide.
I don't call it bullshit because I'm partisan. Both sides are nonsense because neither are based in fact or data. Both are ideological spins on what is actually going on. The rhetoric at play is mesmerizing.
"The greatest danger to democracy (they’ve figured it out!) are all these youngins and their crazy progressive demands for (gasp!) inclusion and respect.
The horror.
Because that’s really what they’re talking about when they mention wokeness and political correctness. They are talking about race; they are talking about identity politics; they are talking about putting away a concern for ourselves and for others who live under the tyranny of systemic racism, misogyny, and toxic capitalism in order to focus on getting back to “normal” — a normal that centers them. Namely, white, conservative and moneyed."
I wish it were that simple. I'd love to be in lockstep with the Wokesters and, if all they were working for was inclusion and respect, I would be. But the fight isn't between those Awokened and Old Rich White Guys. It isn't a choice between 'the tyranny of systemic racism' and 'demands for inclusion and respect.' I mean, if you're a seven-year old, I suppose that plays but most of us aren't seven any more.
"If you ask these people, are you part of a social revolution?, they’ll loudly tell you yes! Yes they are! They’re going to shake society at its very foundations. Well, OK then -what do I call your movement? You reject every name that organically develops! I’ll use the name you pick, but you have to actually pick one. You can’t just bitch on Twitter every time someone tries to describe your political cohort, which again you yourself say intends to change the world. Name yourself or you will be named."
Pew Research Center’s new political typology provides a road map to today’s fractured political landscape. Segmenting the public into nine groups, the study is primarily based on a survey of 10,221 adults conducted July 8-18, 2021; it also draws from several additional interviews with these respondents conducted since January 2020.
Upon reading, it looks like I fall into the category of Establishment Liberal, just to the right of the Progressive Left (otherwise referred to as the Woke). I have some friends in the far left category as well as a few friends here in Nevada that seem to fit into the Populist Right.
Leaving Chicago has a lot to do with my turn towards the center a bit. Nevada has such a diversity in outlook—Hardcore Conservatives who love AOC, Hardcore Progressives with sidearms—that it seems natural to have left the bubble of the Woke and expanded my views on the American experience. Nearly three years later and I find myself seeing reason where previously I only saw ill-intent.
A portion of polarization and the demonizing of the Other—other cultures. other ideologies, other bubbles inhabited—is the assumption of intent. I firmly stand on the idea that intent is every bit as important as impact and so assuming the intent of those I disagree with is a bad choice.
I also see the need to be more generous with the labels I use. We're going to use labels in some way regardless of taking the time to know individuals but those labels do not need to be pejorative.
"Woke" is needlessly insulting at this point. The term originated in the black community as a term to be alert to examples of overt racism. Today, as Freddie DeBoer laments, it’s no longer accepted or useful. Since no one else is finding labels more instructive than Progressive Left, Establishment Liberal, Populist Right, and Faith and Flag Conservative, I've decided for myself and the things I write about to adopt kinder, more generous labels.
The Utopians
Those on the far left seek to create the closest thing to a utopian ideal.
In On the Best Kind of a Republic and About the New Island of Utopia, Sir Thomas More envisioned a paradise where men and women could choose their religion without fear of violence or coercion.
Contradiction and hypocrisy have always hovered over the utopian project. “There is a tyranny in the womb of every utopia,” the French economist and futurist Bertrand de Jouvenel wrote.
The assumption is that these folks likewise envision a better society and are striving to foment it in any way they can, often poorly and tyrannically but with an intent of a fairer, more just society.
The Traditionalists
On the far right are people who prefer that tried and true traditions of an America that has served them best. Allegiance to a pride in the nation, a belief in capitalism as the most fair form of economic growth, and a fealty to the mores of their youth and of their parents' upbringing, these folks seek stability rather than change.
There is likewise hypocrisy and contradiction inherent in this worldview but those things do not signal ill-intent in a generalized sense.
The Rationalists
If one takes a strong look at all the data collected it becomes apparent that the liberal democracy begun 245 years ago has made genuine strides into that utopian ideal. America is a far better place for all people than it was two centuries, one century, fifty years, or even ten years ago.
In essence, liberal democracy is working. It may not be working as fast as the current crop of activists would like it to but it is working and can continue to work.
The goals of equality are winning. Yes, we took a backwards turn with Reagan and then Gingrich using their slowly diminishing power to sow the seeds of polarization among the citizens but we can move forward again. The Traditionalists decided to make the culture war between the elite whites and the rural whites. Today the Utopians are waging campaigns to twist themselves into sycophants to the teachings of Derrick Bell, Ibram X. Kendrick, and improbably Robin DiAngelo. The Traditionalists adhere strictly in reaction to this by cleaving to the fetid breast of Trumpish Dogma.
The Rationalists, the vast majority of the country, do not subscribe to either camp but are nonetheless heavily influenced by them via the digital megaphones they wield so well. The Rationalists seek better without destruction, better without cleaving to the false nostalgia of the past, better with less contradiction and hypocrisy.
Better looks like this:
Accessible and excellent healthcare for all citizens.
Accessible and excellent education for all citizens.
Equality under the law with no regard to wealth or race.
Effective and just reparations for the crimes of the past (specifically addressing the ugly discrimination done against American blacks).
Due process and accountability for those in authority positions.
Accessible and excellent financial safety nets for our least able.
A return to ethics, justice, and grace.
In the competing visions of the future society, the Rationalists have the best and most noble ideals regarding how we proceed. All we have to do is have the will to resist demagoguery and the false ideas of moral purity and commit to the path set for us when the country was founded.
What we call each other is intertwined with our assumptions of intent. From now on, I will assume a plurality of beneficial intent until proven otherwise by deeds.
