{It occurs to me that, for some time now, I have been poking around in the dustbin of history while completely ignoring the dumpster fire that is our current political scene. Beginning today, I will make an effort to rectify that oversight.}
So, what’s going on in American politics today? I turn to Real Clear Politics to find out, and here is what I learn: American youth believe that America is “a dying empire led by bad people.” Well, what do youngsters know, anyway? Skipping over that story, I next learn that “Biden is circling the drain,” which, even without context or explanatory detail, does not sound good. Meanwhile, the redoubtable Rick Perlstein is publicly disclosing what he calls “My Political Depression Problem—and Ours”; surprisingly, the cause of Perlstein’s depression is not what he refers to as the “authoritarian ratchet” taking place on the right wing of our politics, but the squabbling on the Left that leads him to fear that Biden will be rejected in November by people who foolishly allow the Perfect to become the enemy of the Good. Also, Perlstein has sworn off the toxic social medium formerly known as Twitter, acknowledging that it brings out the worst in him.
In a more positive vein, Murray Bessette and David Rose defend America against the calumnies of its woke enemies: “The one thing on which virtually everyone on the Left agrees is that the rise of the West and America is largely the story of the ever more effective oppression of the weak by the strong.” Messrs. Bessette and Rose beg to differ (as do many, if not most, of us on the Left); while acknowledging that “there is certainly oppression in America’s story,” the success of the West and of America “is largely the story of ever more cooperation made possible by an ever more efficient market system fueled by ever freer people.” It is good to hear that last affirmative statement, since so many on the political Right claim that we have lost much of our freedom under the Marxist regimes of Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
Moving on through the day’s Real Clear stories: according to Ken Paxton, “We need an Attorney General who will stop the corruption,” by which he means that Merrick Garland must go (as opposed to, say, Clarence Thomas or Samuel Alito). Paxton is the Attorney General of Texas, having survived (a) indictment on charges of securities fraud and (b) impeachment (but not conviction) on a variety of ethics charges by the Republican-controlled Texas House of Representatives, all of which is to say that Paxton knows a thing or two about corruption.
Lastly (this dumpster fire is beginning to affect me, and, as they say, “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the dumpster fire”), Joe Lonsdale laments "the elevation of 'equity' over 'equality,' which, according to him, “represents almost perfectly the line between aspirational liberalism and proto-Communism.” Nor do we need to take Lonsdale’s word on this, as he cites none other than the esteemed Jordan B. Peterson: “Equity is code for the new metastases of Marxism, abetted by the ‘intellectuals’ of postmodernism.”
What's funny about this accusation is that, in my youth, while serving my apprenticeship in Classic Conservatism, I learned that conservatives detested the very notion of equality, which they saw as a kind of Trojan horse for Communism. 1 They denounced Jefferson’s “All men are created equal” as being both empirically untrue and ideologically pernicious. In those days, “equality” for the Right meant “sameness”; conservatives claimed that proponents of equality sought an egalitarian world of equal outcomes instead of one of equal opportunities. 2
That was then, and this is now; “equality” is in, while “equity” is the latest bogeyman, a product of the WMV (“Woke Mind Virus”) which promotes DEI (“Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion”) over competence, no doubt at the behest of SJWs (Social Justice Warriors). Lonsdale summarizes the argument:
Even minor indulgences in the concept of equity signal that the institution isn’t totally focused on achieving its mission. Any institution that wants to play a positive role in the world has to take the side of competence, be clear about it, and withstand the offense of the easily offended in our society who complain that you “need an equity plan.” Everything hangs in the balance. Without competence and excellence, without property rights and dynamic markets, we will fall into decay and millions will suffer. If “equity” is the lodestar, all of those things can be sacrificed, and will be. We are in the midst of a battle for our civilization; the radical left has been fighting to win, and the rest of us have been mostly on the sidelines. 3 If you’re not on the side of the incompetent commies, then stop supporting organizations that parrot terrible ideas like “equity” and speak up!
Allow me to add that “Incompetent Commies” is a good name for a band.
Enough of the dumpster fire, at least for now. Maybe today was just an especially bad day at Real Clear Politics; I promise to check it again soon.
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‘A dying empire led by bad people’: Poll finds young voters despairing over US politics | Semafor
CNN Admits Something We've All Known About the Trump Hush Money Trial (townhall.com)
My Political Depression Problem—and Ours - The American Prospect
America Was Built on Cooperation, Not Oppression | RealClearPolitics
A Note on “Equity” and Captured Institutions (joelonsdale.com)
1 Of course, conservatives saw almost everything as a Trojan horse for Communism, from Social Security to the United Nations to fluoridated water. In recent decades, their words may have changed, but their tune is the same.
2 It may be futile to point this out, but, for the record, Karl Marx explicitly argued against “equal outcomes” under his imagined communism; he was not an “egalitarian”. On the other hand, I suspect that “equity” would have met with his approval (as it does mine).
3 Should you think that Lonsdale's "battle for our civilization" is mere hyperbole, consider this, from Fox News' commentator Charles Payne, weighing on the motives behind a proposed update to federal regulations on home energy efficiency standards: "I'm going to tell you right now, progressives don't like ownership. They really — the ultimate goal is for you to not to own a home. That's the real ultimate goal. They love everyone to congregate around major cities and live on top of each other in apartments and share things. They have pushed for a sharing society." We are left to imagine for ourselves the nightmarish prospect of a "sharing society" where people live in apartments.
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