Democracy Me Harder

The low-hanging fruit post

None of this matters . . . in the way you think it does.

Nothing has been subverted, because there’s nothing left to subvert.

The system was never going to let Donald Trump get elected this year. Love him or hate him, you know this was true. This is either a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your perspective. But it is fact.

I don’t want you to be cynical in your everyday life, but if you’re not already, I want you to be cynical about American politics.

Cynical:

1

: having or showing the attitude or temper of a cynic: such as

a

: contemptuously distrustful of human nature and motives

… those cynical men who say that democracy cannot be honest and efficient.—Franklin D. Roosevelt

b

: based on or reflecting a belief that human conduct is motivated primarily by self-interest

a cynical ploy to win votes

They are all only in it for themselves. Every man has a price, and in the case of our so-called leaders, the price is shockingly cheap. These aren’t even cool, stylish corrupt aristocrats or robber-barons; more like robber-dorks.¹ Total losers who do not care about anything save for themselves.

Being cynical is the only rational response to what is going on. Whether Trump is actually guilty or if the rules were bend to try and convict him, or whether it’s selective application of the law to people not in the inner party,² you have to realize by now that our system is a joke.

Which system? All the systems.

This is not a blackpill. This is a mask-off moment. This is another opportunity to discuss with your normal friends how strange our times are, and to poke at the uncomfortable issues to get them starting to think about solutions in outside-the-box terms.

If there’s any doubt that America is a banana republic, this should dispel it. Contrary to popular belief, it can happen here. And that is good. The truth hurts, but it’s important.

We live in a kleptocracy. They’re all criminals, Trump, in all likelihood, included. He just got popped because he doesn’t play along. And of course, because of January 6, which is what this was really about.

There will be appeals, which is when the losing side argues that there were legal or procedural errors which prejudiced and harmed their client, which would require an overturning of a verdict and a new trial. But I’ll be shocked if appeals are granted. And even if they are, the process will probably take years. The process is the punishment.

All of this goes beyond partisan politics, because there are two parties, but they aren’t Republican and Democrat. It’s the inner party and the rest of us. It’s actually a small club, and we’re not in it.

Here’s the part many reading this don’t want to hear: Trump did this to himself. You can’t campaign on locking up your enemies and being this great bull in a china shop-type figure, and then let your enemies run your administration instead of locking them up. You also don’t threaten to invalidate an election and encourage your supporters to take drastic action, then do nothing after the action begins. One does not fish in the Rubicon, as they say. Actions have consequences, the bolder (or more foolish) the action, the graver the consequences.

This is beyond individuals. This is systemic. And maybe this will clear the decks for some new blood with new ideas to start demanding, and maybe achieving, new solutions to our problems.

Here’s a reason for hope: young people see America as “[a] dying empire run by bad people.” You have to take polls with a grain of salt (skepticism, not cynicism), but take a look at this:

As part of the online poll of 943 18-30-year-old registered voters, Blueprint asked participants to respond to a series of questions about the American political system: 49% agreed to some extent that elections in the country don’t represent people like them; 51% agreed to some extent that the political system in the US “doesn’t work for people like me;” and 64% backed the statement that “America is in decline.” A whopping 65% agreed either strongly or somewhat that “nearly all politicians are corrupt, and make money from their political power” — only 7% disagreed.

You can only solve a problem if you admit there’s a problem.

Older generations have a moral obligation to leave the world as good or better off than they found it. They—we—so far have not. Yes, many individuals do their part, but civilization is a collective endeavor. We rise or fall together. Just because you’re doing well doesn’t matter when your children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren aren’t.

Voting was supposed to be the way to ensure this. And I’d argue it used to be. But what does that tell us?

David V. Stewart

noted recently that the system that provided this prosperity also allowed itself to be subverted. Scottish thinker Alexander Fraser Tytler summed it up well:

A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the people discover they can vote themselves largess out of the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidate promising the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that democracy always collapses over a loose fiscal policy--to be followed by a dictatorship.

This is where we are, and what the scales are falling off people’s eyes about. I’d put us somewhere between the “looting the treasury” and “dictatorship” phase, assuming Tytler’s timeline is inevitable.³ I think the young people are seeing it now, even before the Trump verdict, and they don’t like it.⁴ Maybe the “dictatorship” phase is inevitable but is necessary, similar to the Ancient Greek and Roman idea of a temporary suspension of democracy to put things right. Our system is designed to prevent stuff from getting done—and that’s not just my crazy talk; many scholars argue quite credibly that our system was designed to be gridlocked. This sounds nice until you encounter existential problems that need to be solved, and then our system starts to feel like a suicide pact.

Things to discuss and promote and poke and prod about:

• Why does America spend so much on foreign countries and not our own citizens?

• Why are we involved in foreign wars? What is our interest?

• How come we can’t seem to control crime?

• Why is everything so expensive, including homes and food and education?

• What benefit does open borders really provide to the U.S.?

• Why are laws selectively applied? Isn’t that wrong?

• Why don’t elections change anything?

• Does everything have to be this way?

All of this is beyond party, which is why it matters. Nothing will ever be the same, which is good. Maybe now we can move on to solutions and ideas that will actually work. Maybe there’s a way to salvage the future.

- Alexander

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More politics, I know, but I can’t help it. This is a good opportunity to help more some previously wild ideas into the mainstream because we live in wild times. As always, kindly share and subscribe if you like what you read.

You can also check out my books here, or buy me a coffee here. Thank you and God bless. I’ll try to make my next few posts about other topics. Stay hopeful!

1. More often than not, with the physiognomy to match.

2. This is exactly what it is.

3. One shudders to think about what comes in the “dictatorship” phase if the wrong type emerges.

4. Of course, many young people are probably psyched by the Trump verdict and consider democracy “saved.” I’d be curious to see polls about this.