Here’s the peroration of Joshua Mitchell’s piece at RealClearPolitics in defense of institutions:
The burden of each generation is to mediate between past and future, not to destroy the past in order to secure a future. Democratic adherents of identity politics see the past as irredeemably stained — “systemically racist,†to invoke the fashionable phrase. But if we trample on our past, we will trample on our future, too.
What do our fragile institutions still have to teach us? The art of ruling and of being ruled. In our woke age, this idea sounds harsh to some ears, so let’s rephrase it: we learn the give and take of human affairs. This is an art, not a science, which is to say that we learn it by doing, whether in family life, in our religious institutions, in our informal civic associations, or in our local political life. We watch, we speak up, we listen, we lead, we follow, we act, we desist from acting. Through all this, our character is developed, and our judgments are formed. Some of us will be very good at it; some not.
If we are to take seriously the idea that we are citizens, equal under the laws, then learning the art of ruling and being ruled must be the most important measure of success in this democratic age. No book can teach it. No state can secure it. Only life lived in our institutions can help us master it. Is it any wonder, then, that as these institutions whither, we witness deeply distorted expressions of ruling and being ruled? Rather than learning humane ways of mastering this art, we observe a citizenry that alternates in a seemingly bipolar fashion between riotous violence in the name of social justice and deferential and unquestioning obedience to the state in the name of public safety. When the art of ruling and being ruled is not learned in humane form in our institutions, then it will appear in inhumane form outside these institutions — where it becomes the despotic art of mastery and servitude.
I was reminded of a passage from Robert Bolt’s play A Man for All Seasons:
This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man’s laws, not God’s! And if you cut them down, and you’re just the man to do it, do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I’d give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety’s sake!
The law is just one institution. So are religion and customs. Philosphers from Confuciuis to Kant have emphasized the importance of respect including respect for institutions.
I would add another item, important in the now hysterical uproar over SC Judge Ginsburg’s passing: Judicial precedent, the act of making judicial decisions today based upon judgments of the past. This is an ancient tradition dating back to Roman Republican times. One might call it a ‘cheat sheet’ so that decisions are not constantly being made de novo but instead build an edifice of reasoned decisions for future reference. If you eliminate the past like the Woke want, what you would then get judicially would be all de novo decisions based solely upon the judgment of individual judges’ interpretation of the law. In effect it would result in a chaotic arbitrary rule of men and women in black, bound by nothing but their own power and position, but with no roots in anything to keep those decisions from being swept away en masse each time a faction seized political power and then call upon the judiciary to justify their assumption of office by fair means or foul.
One wonders how the Democrat Party allowed itself to get sucked in by identity politics and Wokeness. “Burn it down,†“reimagining law enforcement,†the rabid anti-religious Marxist ideology of BLM, destroy Christianity, the 1619 Project in schools, the splintering of gender into absurd shards, courts as lawmakers, and so forth is hardly institution friendly. The Party either explicitly supports these or refuses to throttle the most extreme advocates.
‘One wonders how the Democrat Party allowed itself to get sucked in by identity politics and Wokeness.’
A belief that it was the path to permanent power. Also to excuse collateral damage in pursuit of power. If individuals are actually just members of identity groups, then a loss of a few (or many) on the way to utopia is a small price to pay, since the identity group still survives. Small comfort to those who love people individually.
I don’t think that’s quite right although the net effect is the same. I think it’s more along the lines of vanguardism.
“Philosphers from Confuciuis to Kant have emphasized the importance of respect including respect for institutions.”
Kind of late to worry about this isn’t it? One of the reasons often giving for voting for Trump was to tear down our institutions, and he has done that or ignored them quite a bit. McConnell said, at the time, that the people should have a say as his reason for not voting for Garland, appearing to respect an institution, then turning around and ignoring giving out some weak post hoc justifications. (Also, the GOP likes to forget that this goes way beyond Garland. McConnell refused to vote on or confirm a bunch of Obama nominees so that Trump had a whole horde of court appointments to make.) In essence he made it clear that power is the only institution that matters.
So this question is not even close to the real question here. That question should be where do you stop? How much of a chump do you want to be? The conservatives keep saying the Dems would have done the same thing. Maybe, but we will never know. What we do know is the GOP had a chance to preserve institutions and ignored it. Worst of all it has paid off big time. They will control the SCOTUS for the next 20 years.
“One wonders how the Democrat Party allowed itself to get sucked in by identity politics”
Identity politics is just as strong on the right. The Christian conservative is your base. White nationalism is identity politics too in case you didnt notice.
“destroy Christianity”
You. We liberals all took turns holding down the altar boys. I went in on Tuesdays. It was nasty work but we did need to destroy Christianity. Then we had to convince all those ministers to run scams, convince Falwell recently to watch his wife screw the pool boy(s). We had to convince Christians to support torture, even though it has been prohibited by the church or centuries. So the Chrisitanity has been doing great, but we found ways to mess it up.
“courts as lawmakers”
LOL. Conservative heartily approve of this, as long as the laws are ones they like.
“the rabid anti-religious Marxist ideology of BLM”
Which is not institutionalized in the US. What is institutionalized in our school systems are ebooks and history courses that ignore large chunks of our history. The ones that make us look bad.
Steve
So to make our nation look bad is a goal for your team.
Steve? Steve?.
Rethink what you wanna get done, please?
Lying about our history is your goal? Why dont we just teach what really happened. That would be my goal.
Steve