The Brink

I was asked to write a personal perspective on how we came to this dreadful pass. Just a few days before the American Presidential Election, we seem to be standing on the brink of a yawning, widening chasm. And no one really knows how we got here. How is it possible that we have arrived at a fundamental ideological division of a nation, so deep and vicious that it pales its previous domestic conflict of 150 years ago? How can people be so divided around the same set of facts and when did facts themselves become incidental to belief or irrelevant when they do not fit a particular narrative? How can men and women in all demographics and social strata, of all faiths, races and heritage be so incapable of compromise or the ability to trust in a common future? How does a people become so polarized that truth is no longer a critical aspect of discourse and debate, that the most odious, demeaning expressions of hate and division can become a policy platform, that rambling lies and wild allegations become a standard campaign rhetoric and that treason (unproven) and criminal undertakings (both proven and convicted) are excusable and excused? And all this came about in just the last eight years? Not very likely and, in my opinion, not the case.

What we are experiencing now In American politics, gloriously embodied in the truly nasty character of Donald Trump, is the final stage of decades of decline in the fabric of a nation. Arguably, it began after the second world war when an aggressive materialism and a reinvigorated belief in the fundamental “rightness” of the American Dream swept the recovering nation. However, it was not matched by a corresponding growth in the maturity of social conscience or world view and became rather quickly a narrow, self-righteous parochialism. One can trace the general trajectory of decline through the next 65 years – through the counter cultures and domestic unrest, the fleeting Camelot hope and bloody assertion of civil rights, the assassinations, Watergate, the costly military encounters that drained the nation’s soul and undermined its common conviction, the too-frequent lapses and personal foibles of holders of the Oval Office all exposed as never before by an empowered and capable information machine.

It was as Dickens wrote “the best of times, the worst of times …” but it was, overall, mostly the worst. The United States during the post-war years was like a candle that was burning too brightly and too quickly and was far too visible. It's international commitments, unsupportable position as ‘defender of democracy everywhere’ and self-professed identity as ‘the greatest nation on earth’ or ‘the most glorious human experiment ever’ gave it no opportunity to calmly and collectively rationalize what it actually was and needed to be. The decline continued and accelerated. And like the candle that burns its brightest before it is extinguished, there was the period of the Obama administration when hopes rose and all things seemed possible. But the expectations were unreasonable, much too high and lofty intentions far exceeded actual accomplishment. As a result, the divisions between factions and ideologies deepened, became more callous and entrenched. What a perfect stage for the rise of one who has no true convictions, who will tell the American people what they most want to hear – that they are great but have been betrayed, that their personal problems are not their fault, that there are conspiracies afoot that keep them disadvantaged, that ‘they can be great again’ but only through him – not his party, not his policies, not his associations – just him.

The four years of the Trump administration transformed the Office of the President of the United States and irreparably diminished its decorum, integrity and probity. The unorthodox, originally heralded as a fresh apolitical approach, soon assumed a dark and very political aspect with traditional boundaries of influence and interference openly crossed or ignored. The mantra of “draining the swamp” adopted aspects of a pogrom with “enemies lists” that would have been the envy of the Nixon White House. It became a revolving door of key aides, bureaucrats and personalities with intrigues and internal rivalry on an unprecedented scale and any co-operation between the political parties vanished in a partisan gulf that could not be bridged. Trials of Impeachment, only formally conducted three times in the entire history of the United States (Andrew Johnson, Bill Clinton and Donald Trump), occurred twice in Trump’s single term of office. And the fundamental tradition of the peaceful transition and transfer of power was horribly disrupted with the incited storming of Capital Hill on January 6, 2020 – an event for which Trump still faces charges of sedition.

Four years later, after a generally hapless Biden administration that only served, if anything, to deepen the ‘Great American Divide, Trump is back – a convicted felon awaiting sentencing and further trial – as possibly the 47th President of the United States. Over the past four years his rhetoric has become even more contentious and disruptive, his allegiance to the truth more suspect, his persona more deliberately carney-like, his followers and political allies more intransigent and more firmly committed to his return to office. He has been described with very little hyperbole as “an existential threat” to American freedoms.

Here we sit – on the edge of the precipice, the virtual eve of one of the most definitive and defining moments in modern history. Those who do not fear the possible outcomes of November 5th have not realized its horrible potential for anarchy and civil unrest with implications reaching far beyond the borders of the United States. The very best prospect may be several years of continual economic and social disruption until an exhausted nation finally achieves some balance and order is restored. The worst is almost literally unthinkable, particularly for a western culture that has become accustomed to generations of security and physical wellbeing. In our current “nanny states”, we have become desensitized to the very real possibilities for seismic changes to our lives caused by forces and events beyond our control. Tuesday November 5th, 2024 poses such potential.