Introduction to Commentary on Contemporary Events

A new and different world is taking shape in the 21st century. It’s not the one we hoped for. It’s the one brought about by massive wildfires, hurricanes, tornados, floods, pandemics, and killer heat waves. Global warming is here and it’s killing us. But there is something else happening besides our painful reckoning with the natural world. While this other event may be less obvious, it is no less life-threatening. Right-wing social and political currents are creating roadblocks that hinder our capacity to resolve our conflict with nature.

Democracy is losing ground in a global struggle against authoritarianism. We, in the USA, are very much in the thick of this battle. Ten years ago, having elected a Black president, the idea that our democratic political system might descend into some form of despotism seemed out of the question. And yet, here we are—barely holding our own in a struggle against those who seek to undermine our institutions of popular self-rule. If the USA, the birthplace of democracy in the modern world, was to pass over to the dark side, the odds of humanity surviving our current challenges would be greatly diminished.

To some, this might sound like American exceptionalism—exaggerating our nation’s role in the world. That’s something we progressives have always disparaged. And with good reason. it has been important to challenge attitudes of American superiority: notions of entitlement that have led us to covet other nations’ resources and which have drawn us into one war after another. And frankly, progressives are not boosters. Our goal is to change things–make them better. As a result, we focus on our nation’s shortcomings rather than on its accomplishments.

But times change. There is still plenty in America that needs fixing. But we won’t be able to get to any of that if we don’t win the fight to preserve our democracy. And if we want to contribute to that effort, we are going to have to change the way we think.
To begin with, we need to recognize that things are not all one way or the other: not all good or all bad. Problems can actually be, and almost always are, complicated: they have more than one side or dimension. Yes, people are the products of their circumstances. But they are also the products of the choices they make. They can be both victims and perpetrators at the same time. That’s true of Russia as well as the homeless. True believers have a hard time with that. They want simple answers–a side they can support whole heartedly. But that’s not the way the world works.

The idea that everything must fit neatly into one category or another is an important part of the authoritarian playbook. Categorical thinking polarizes: it draws an indelible line between “us” from “them,” and facilitates the demonization of some “other”– liberals, gays, Blacks, Mexicans, Muslims, Jews, feminists, etc. It draws attention away from the real problems that need to be addressed. The demagogue is more concerned that some teenage transexual might use the wrong bathroom than the fact that Florida might soon be washed over by a rising ocean.

As unlikely as it might have seemed a few years ago, we could lose this battle if we don’t develop a better understanding of the dynamics at play. And if we were to lose, if humanity became divided up into a collection of power-driven, ego-maniacal authoritarian states, an angry planet will take its revenge on its large-brained, but foolish progeny.

Start with Yourself

There is a basic rule I learned from my days as a political activist. If you want to change the way other people think, start by changing the way you think. Other people are not empty vessels waiting for you to enlighten them. They have attitudes and ideas that are based on their social connections and life experiences. While they may have things all mixed up, there is almost always some element of truth hiding in the chaotic underbrush. That’s where you want to begin. Rarely can peoples’ ideas be changed through a frontal assault. You have to get them to listen to you first.

Too many progressive suffer from an affliction that affects many of those who feel they have the moral high-ground—self-righteousness. Nothing polarizes more than an attitude of superiority. It’s a powerful tool if your goal is to humiliate and crush an enemy. But it’s the worse choice you can make if your goal is to find common ground.

In this section, I am going to write three essays in which I look at three complicated issues that are central to the current political debate in America. Getting these issues right, I am convinced, are critical if progressives wish to have a positive impact on their more conservative neighbors. We have to make changes in our selves: grow beyond the issues that defined the social and ideological conflicts of the 20th century. We are at a new stage of human development, and we need to do some catching up.

Progressives need to develop a new identity, a new way of thinking about who we are and how we fit into the world around us. We need to bridge the deep chasm that currently separates us from people who should be on our side. We like to talk about people voting against their self-interest. Well, it’s not simply a matter of voting against their self-interest: they are voting against us. They don’t like us. We need to think about that.

1) In the first essay, I am going to address the debate about the soul of America. Can the wellsprings of our nation be traced to the arrival of the first African slaves in 1619, as claimed in the provocative book by Nicole Hanna-Jones? Or should our roots be traced to the War for Independence and the creation of the modern world’s first constitutional democracy? If ever an issue cried out for moving beyond either/or, this is it. I believe getting this right is an important part of racial reconciliation.

2) In the second essay I want to look at how progressives understand the nature of the society we live in. Is our capitalist economic system the product of a conspiracy by the powerful to enrich themselves? Or did it evolve spontaneously because it was capable of addressing certain problems better than any other system?

Did we learn anything from the efforts to build socialism in the 20th century? I will argue that the Marxist model of socialism was seriously flawed and unworkable. It is not possible at this stage of development to do away with a market and all forms of private property. However, our current conflict with nature makes clear that humanity must develop a way to collectively manage its economic development. Marx was wrong about the specifics, but he was right about the need for a new social contract that can enable humanity to cooperate at a higher level.

Holding on to discredited, fanciful models of socialism, however, is hindering our search for a realistic path to the future.

3) In the third essay, I want to take a look at how progressives look at America. Pride in, and love for one’s country is a powerful force. However, it can easily be incorporated into an authoritarian agenda. Currently, nationalism is on the rise throughout the world, and it is being pitted against the universal values humanity needs to meet our global challenges.

However, America is a unique nation. Citizenship is not defined by membership in some tribe or ethnicity. Every immigrant acquires citizenship by swearing an oath to uphold the Constitution and the Bill of Rights—a covenant that provides every citizen with equal protection under the law and an equal voice in choosing their government. While in practice our country may fall short of its ideals, nevertheless, working with the freedoms embodied in our constitution, Americans have been able to consistently extend the scope of their rights and liberties.

Currently, our democratic freedoms are threatened by people who push a different narrative of our nation’s founding and history. By seeing only the negative and denying the positive, progressives enable the right to monopolize the pride and affection that people naturally feel toward their homeland. We need a progressive nationalism—one that embraces the universal principles that were written into our founding documents and that have, throughout our history, served to inspire those who sought to realize them