There’s no ‘good’ or ‘bad’ America ,...... but only *Ugly Zionism and Not Good America*
On 19 November 2016 at 17:01, 'Sunny' [email protected] [GELORA45] < [email protected]> wrote: > > > https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/in-theory/wp/2016/11/ > 18/theres-no-good-or-bad-america/?utm_term=.200fe8e62c12&wpisrc=nl_popns& > wpmm=1 > > In Theoryopinion > There’s no ‘good’ or ‘bad’ America > > > November 18 at 3:16 PM > > People march to protest Donald Trump’s appointment of Stephen Bannon as > chief strategist of the White House on Nov. 16 in Los Angeles. (David > McNew/Agence France-Presse via Getty Images) > > *Shadi Hamid is a senior fellow in the Project on U.S. Relations with the > Islamic World at the Brookings Institution and author of “**Islamic > Exceptionalism: How the Struggle Over Islam Is Reshaping the World**.”* > > Are people who believe in deplorable things themselves “deplorable”? > Donald Trump voters, whether they intended to or not, empowered racists. > Many hold misogynistic and Islamophobic views, even if they might like to > believe that they don’t. But this should not — it *cannot* — have much > bearing on whether someone is “good” or “bad” in an absolute sense. > > To prioritize one’s tribe or family to the exclusion of others has long > been a universal condition. The nature of this in-group identity is > malleable and can morph from ethnic to religious to nationalist identities. > Whatever its form, however, it remains a potent force, steeped as it is in > those most natural of sentiments — fear and the will to survive. As > anthropologist Scott Atran writes: “Across most of human history and > cultures, violence against other groups was considered a moral virtue.” > Today we know that the desire to exclude shouldn’t be the norm, but that > doesn’t make it any less a part of who we are. > > *[America’s working class has its own culture. And they will fight to keep > it.] * > > Until Donald Trump’s victory shattered the idea, liberals — many of whom > didn’t know a single Trump voter — could content themselves with the > remarkable progress of the Obama era: gay marriage, universal health care > and the growing willingness to confront the realities of sexual assault and > police brutality. Maybe we *were* fundamentally good people. But, as the > philosopher John Gray writes: “Sooner or later anyone who believes in > human goodness is bound to reinvent the idea of evil in a cruder form.” > > The “arc of history” is supposed to bend toward justice, leaving those > that resist it enemies of both history and progress. Evil comes to be seen > as something that is outside of us, which must not merely be fought but > excised entirely. When someone writes that there is no such thing as a > “good” Trump voter, the sentiment is understandable, fitting as it does > within the modern liberal conception of progress. But it fundamentally > misunderstands the very nature of good and evil. > > For me, the more useful question isn’t why Trump voters voted for him, > but, rather, why they *wouldn’t*. It seems self-evident that minorities > would generally vote for the party that goes out of its way to consider — > and protect — the rights of minorities. In a period of “existential” > politics, that’s naturally what takes precedence over other concerns. Why > would whites, or at least a large percentage of them, act any differently? > > It has become common to assume a permanent Democratic majority in due > time, as a result of irreversible demographic trends. In cruder terms, it > amounts to longing for immigration and minority birth rates to erode white > majorities on both the national and state levels. But this has profound > implications, since it “practically compels whites to behave electorally > like a minority constituency.” In this respect, white nationalism or > white identity politics overlap with racism, but they are not quite the > same thing. > > After all, if I was a member of the so-called “white working class” rather > than an American Muslim, I can’t be sure I wouldn’t have voted for Trump. > This may make me a flawed person or even, as some would have it, a > “racist.” But it would also make me *rational*, voting if not in my > economic self-interest then at least in my emotional self-interest. > > *[States are a relic of the past. It’s time to get rid of them.] * > > > > Emerging ideas and arguments behind the news. > > There is, of course, another way of seeing this — one that in many ways is > easier and more pure. It would certainly feel good to think I’m morally > superior to Trump supporters. I could take refuge in outright disdain for > those who haven’t seen the light. > > But it is unclear what this kind of purity and certainty — the > self-satisfaction of knowing that we were right, despite everything — can > really do for us. It leaves us without a path forward. It is also contrary > to most of what we know about human nature: Good and bad have never been > separate or easily distinguishable categories. They are endlessly > intertwined. > > That Americans increasingly insist on separating people into good and bad > suggests an unwillingness to understand — much less empathize with — those > who threaten our conception of America, whatever that happens to be. I > could try to explain what I think our nation is, but I can no longer be > sure if tens of millions of my fellow citizens would agree. But I cannot > simply take solace in the fact that soon there will be more non-whites and > therefore more people who share my ideology. This is a recipe for more > conflict, not less. > > Well before Brexit and the rise of Trump, Bulgarian political scientist > Ivan Krastev wrote that “threatened majorities — those who have > everything and who fear everything — have emerged as the major force in > European politics.” They feel threatened in the United States as well; the > only difference, perhaps, is that they do *not* have everything but still > fear everything. Yet as demographics inexorably shift, both the perception > and reality of this “threat” will only grow. Unless something changes, > American politics will continue to collapse along ethnic lines. The task > ahead of us comes down to preventing what, for now, seems sadly inevitable. > > *Read more:* > > Lawrence R. Samuel: States are a relic of the past. It’s time to get rid > of them. > > Dale M. Coulter: America’s working class has its own culture. And they > will fight to keep it. > 72 > Comments > > - > > Shadi Hamid is a senior fellow at the Project on U.S. Relations with the > Islamic World at the Brookings Institution's Center for Middle East Policy. > He is author of Temptations of Power: Islamists & Illiberal Democracy in > a New Middle East. > Follow @shadihamid > > >
