At Atlantic Conor Friedersdorf expounds on the same subject touched on in the paper to which I linked over the weekend, party and ideological differences:
When a New York Review of Books reviewer sees “fascist mysticism†in Jordan Peterson, or the Southern Poverty Law Center misallocates scarce resources warning its audience about Christina Hoff Sommers, I despair at how much work is needed to bridge gaps far narrower than some factions on the left imagine. And when Noah Smith, a very smart guy whose sincerity I never doubt, stakes out a series of claims about the right that strike me as clearly contradicted by lots of available evidence—well, I figure one of us is very wrong, and that I’d better put forth my thinking and hear his so we can figure out who that is.
He concludes his Twitter essay, “The age of Trump is one of racial and gender animus. Trump’s divisiveness and hate have infected every corner of our intellectual landscape, poisoned every discussion.†With his last sentence I concur: “American intellectual life is just one more thing that won’t be healthy again until Trump is gone.â€
I think they’re all making one common, grave error. We need to distinguish between ordinary people on the one hand and public intellectuals and political leadership on the other. I don’t think there’s an ounce of sincerity in our political leadership, Democratic or Republican. And I think that public intellectuals largely follow the leads of the political leadership.
For example is it true that
“On the left, the drive to purge racism, sexism, etc. from American society is very strong,†he tweeted, “and most discourse concerns this drive––either decrying examples of racism/sexism, discussing institutions that maintain these -isms, or discussing how to effect change.â€
How, then, can you explain why there has been no substantial racial progress in Illinois, where Democrats have complete control of the state government? I think it’s obvious. Racial equity sounds good on the stump but they don’t really give a damn. What they do give a damn about is beating down their political opponents and calling Republicans Nazis and Klansmen is a darned good way of doing that.
I think what most divides us is our political leadership, our would-be ruling class.
There is a bit of truth in what you say, but I would also disagree and say that they largely don’t know how to accomplish the racial progress they want. I think it is a bit like science. From Planck…..
“A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it.”
So they have tried a lot of things that have not worked. At this point I think we need deep cultural changes that mostly time will bring about. (We can help around the edges by not locking so many people up and making pot legal.) Look, I think that most conservatives actually do believe that smaller government would be better, they just try to accomplish it via magic. You know, cut taxes—MAGIC—smaller government.
As to Trump, I have no idea if he is really a racist. I do know that since he became president I now hear more n*gger jokes and harsh racial accusations at our small rural hospitals. I don’t see Trump as anti-gay, but his supporters seem empowered to go after gay and trans issues more aggressively.
Steve
I think that the cultural changes have been moving in the wrong direction for the last 25 years.
Your example of small government conservatives is apt; they’re obviously insincere. Who eliminated exactly zero federal agencies and presided over an enormous expansion of government? Reagan.
I’ve pointed this out before but neither left nor right idealists have the Sitzfleisch to run the government.
@steve
I am inclined to believe that there has been an increase in racially insensitive or racist actions motivated by Trump’s election. But, it could be that the number of incidents has not changed, but they have become more newsworthy.
I am also inclined to believe that many racial/racist incidents are exaggerations or fabrications. When everything is racist, racism is a meaningless concept, and according to the left, everything is racist.
(This is not limited to race. When everything is a sin, wrongdoing is a meaningless concept, and according to certain religious groups, everything is a sin.)
TB- I am just talking about what I hear at work. Sometimes things are slow at our smaller rural places. I sometimes go hang out with the construction guys a bit to see how remodeling is going, plus we swap dirty jokes and talk sports. For 5 years never a n*gger joke. Trump wins the nomination and they start right up. These guys almost all love Trump. Could be just a coincidence, but i don’t think so. To be clear, I don’t think they became racist because Trump was elected, I think it was just OK to be more open about it.
Steve
Steve, that’s curious, I remember those jokes, they were dumb, racist, and would get you fired today.
But the reason they’ve gone away is this. Hey, asshole, my Grandson is Black. Or, in my case, my wife, children, grandchildren are native.
You see, now, with intermarriage, you don’t know, so however you feel, you watch you’re mouth.
I haven’t seen that at all, but I’m probably in a unique position – the biggest Trump supporters in my extended family are black.
Even casually I haven’t noticed any difference. Actually, what I’ve noticed is the people are much less willing to discuss politics at all with people they don’t know.