I sometimes get a bit of pushback or disapproval from a friend who finds me to be too critical, perfectionistic, negative, and judgmental about politics, economics, and America in general. He tells me to relax, and de-focus, because a) life sucks when you are in a dark place, and b) America is and always has been mostly good. In other words, he is saying that yes, we have our problems here, but why dwell on those; there are so many positive and just and progressive and hopeful things about this country that could just as easily be considered. That’s fair enough, as far as it goes. This blog is about social criticism and the spirit of American political liberalism/progressivism. From the Vietnam War era “love it or leave it!” to culture warrior Ann Coulter’s belief that liberals are cowardly foolish traitors to America, the question is whether America is above reproach, or rightfully deserves a cold, hard look (as always, for the purposes of making this country better). My belief is not simply that “We are the best country in the world!” but rather We have more potential than any nation in history, so why are we so unimpressively selfish, ignorant, reckless, warlike, materialistic, distractible, misled, and tribal?
Indeed, Bob and I will often engage in some spirited debate about the status of modern America. Though he is sometimes likely to use a rhetorical technique of downplaying, de-focusing, obfuscating, or excusing (when it comes to my criticisms of Trump and the GOP, for example), he also points out that America is more positive and hopeful and good than it is dysfunctional, sclerotic, or due for a karmic ass-whipping. Though I sometimes seem like a “negative Nelly” to me, he sometimes seems like an apologist for a quasi-authoritarian, narcissistic, smarmy, incompetent billionaire in our highest office. I think it stems from a deep desire to see the liberals and “elitists” such as journalists and politicians get their comeuppance.
“Certainly, it is very hard for most Americans to be patriotic when there is no agreed-upon country to cherish, only warring tribes and, over all, a National Security State to keep the lid on $300 billion a year for law and order. There is one nation for a black, one for a boat-person, a third for a Cherokee, and milk and honey for that one-fifth of the population with money.” ~ Gore Vidal
In other words, Donald Trump is to many on the right a culture warrior who has broken the mold and does rough justice to those individuals and institutions that the “Make America Great” crowd, the Tea Party, and the “alt-right” folks disdain. Many on the right don’t really expect that government can achieve much, deserves much respect, or is worth saving. Thus, when Donald Trump acts like a boorish, childish bull in the proverbial china shop, they feel a sense of schadenfreude and righteousness. This, of course, is extremely galling to me, and does little to assuage my deep concerns about America’s present and future.
My thesis is that it doesn’t diminish America to criticize it. That is something the greatest Americans have always done. Our values will always be more important than any other consideration, including patriotism, offending white people, and making the powerful uncomfortable.
In fact, I consider social criticism to be one of my areas of interest when it comes to writing. I am following a long and proud tradition in that regard. It is my belief that it is better to criticize America and be truthful with ourselves because a) we are an 800-lb. gorilla on the international scene, and what we do really matters. As well, b) America has no guarantee from the Founders, from God, or from the Supreme Court that we will continue to thrive or even to survive on into the future. Just like an alcoholic drunkenly meandering down a street at 2 a.m., bumping into lamposts and walls along the way, this country has no right to think that it can tolerate forever an absolutely broken political system, ever-increasing national debt, the near extinction of unions and the rights of workers, human-caused global warming, and the corporatisation of our institutions. America has, over the decades, increasingly felt that it was special, a true “city on a hill,” the possessor of a “get out of jail free” card.
How many Hurricane Katrinas, September 11ths, Cuban Missile Crises, assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jrs., and all the stuff the Right and Trump have engaged in do we really think we deserve? How much flexibility and grace do we believe this country has? Are we as special and sacred and inviolable as we would wish? How long can a country go on without facing a full reckoning for its missteps, mistakes, and misdeeds?
Social criticism is a virtue, not a pathological and unappreciative attitude. Some considerations:
- The pro football players take a knee to protest injustice and police brutality, and they are framed as ungrateful rabble-rousers. Could they not also be seen as principled pursuers of equal justice before the law, social justice, and fair treatment of African-Americans?
- Black Lives Matter is created as a reaction to the relative disenfranchisement of African-Americans – America’s original sin. Instead of a national movement dedicated to righting wrongs, this legal and appropriate movement that is fairly called social criticism and racial justice is vilified and denigrated by many whites. It becomes a matter of “not supporting law enforcement,” being uppity, and distracting from all the good that blacks have enjoyed since being released from 400 years of involuntary bondage. Rapper Kanye West recently noted that slaves always had a choice as to whether or not they would submit or rise up and free themselves. “Blue Lives Matter” is a type of soft racism, connoting Most cops are much better and deserve more respect than those black criminals and other lowlifes they protect us from.
- Think of the faults and truth of our uber-capitalistic system (well, it’s both extremely capitalistic at the same time that it is crony-capitalistic; what one could consider “the worst of both worlds”) (and we do have some socialistic programs, such as the way veterans receive their health care). But if one points out the issues and the side-effects of free-market capitalism or crony capitalism, one can easily be labeled as a “glass-half-empty” observer who misses the wonders our system purveys and provides.
“A liberal is a man who wants to build bridges over the chasms that separate humanity from a better life.” ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt
It is true that there are many wonderful aspects of our mostly capitalistic economic system. Politics aside, it does provide much opportunity and much luxury. In fact, Americans constitute 4.4% of the world’s population, but we consume/use/waste way more than 5% of the world’s resources (we also have about 20% of the world’s prisoners, by the way). In a recent study of 17 countries, we come in dead-last. That is nothing to brag about. It’s worthy of some sound social criticism. Here is a source for this lopsided population/consumption proportion.
To not criticize the fact that we are leading the charge toward our own destruction would be irresponsible of me. You’ve heard the oft-mentioned warning that we are ruining the planet for our grandchildren? That is not an exaggeration. Despite the climate-change deniers who are 99% in the Republican Party, Americans, Chinese, and Indians are putting the world on-track to species-wide extinction.
“Americans’ love of the private automobile constitutes a large part of their poor ranking [in the study of 17 countries]. The National Geographic Society’s annual Greendex analysis of global consumption habits finds that Americans are least likely of all people to use public transportation—only seven percent make use of transit options for daily commuting. Likewise, only one in three Americans walks or bikes to their destinations, as opposed to three-quarters of Chinese.” ~ Scientific American
The way Bob and I typically argue about this phenomenon is the following. I point out a problem or a flaw or a mistake in how America is conducting itself (the social criticism) and he points out why that is not the right way to look at it. We can agree that perspective is everything. There is no capital-T Truth in such matters. For example, I might note that income inequality is significant and deeply troubling (the social criticism) and the response might be “But just the other day in the news you probably read that pay is up!” I could point out that African Americans are still in a second-class position in this country, and Bob would probably point out the ways in which they are better off than ever before (he does cite stats).
Just now he emailed me a link to an article that contends that the Nordic countries are in fact not as socialistic as one would imagine (Source). That is a way of disarming proponents of democratic socialism and political and economic progressivism, and dampening social criticism. Yet, the Internet is rife with articles about how the socialism of the European countries, Venezuelua, the former Soviet Union, Scandanivia, and Australia/New Zealand/Canada are flawed, foolish, and foundering. How can it be that such countries are both a) mistaken as being socialistic and b) ailing because of state socialism?
“Our unexamined belief in American exceptionalism has allowed us to imagine ourselves above anything so constrictive as international law. American exceptionalism makes our imperialism altruistic, our plundering of the world’s resources a healthy exercise of capitalism and ‘free trade.’” ~ Joyce Carol Oates
There are problems with state socialism (typically called authoritarianism or capital-C Communism). One can see this in the gradual movement of China from a Maoist-style authoritarian/Communistic economic system to a hybrid, incorporating many free-market aspects and allowances. Certainly, Venezuela is a nightmare. But I don’t think that a) democratic-style socialism, say, France or Norway can be considered wrong or foolish, and b) I don’t think that America can be called particularly functional or enviable. We are, currently, the laughing stock of the rest of the industrialized world. Trump has taken over the GOP and driven old-school conservative thinking into the ground, replacing it with a grossly cronyistic, largely incompetent, lazy, dangerous, semi-authoritarian, quasi-racist/nationalistic farce. “Fake news” is the rejoinder when someone in the media criticizes the President or his policies; individuals have been kept off Trump’s Twitter feed so that the fair social criticism is dampened and deflected (until a court forbade this).
The point I will now arrive at is that social criticism is actually a virtue.
True, one doesn’t want to wake up and start worrying and criticizing and looking for issues. But frankly it’s becoming impossible to ignore the repugnant and reactionary Republican Party and its so-called leader. As well, the powers that be, if you will, would have us be divided, confused, distracted, and ignorant. This is one of the main themes Noam Chomsky has been proliferating for decades now. Here is a source. Below is a quote by New York Times reviewer, Daniel M. Gold:
Citing Aristotle, Adam Smith, and James Madison, among others, he melds history, philosophy and ideology into a sobering vision of a society in an accelerating decline. He never raises his voice in this easy-listening jeremiad. ‘There’s nothing surprising about this,’ he repeats gently in describing what he sees as a 40-year trend of government bent to the will of the superrich at the expense of everyone else. ‘That’s what happens when you put power in the hands of a narrow sector.’
Jared P. Scott describes the compilation of Noam Chomksy interviews/sound bytes thusly:
“REQUIEM FOR THE AMERICAN DREAM is the definitive discourse with Noam Chomsky, on the defining characteristic of our time – the deliberate concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a select few. Through interviews filmed over four years, Chomsky unpacks the principles that have brought us to the crossroads of historically unprecedented inequality – tracing a half-century of policies designed to favor the most wealthy at the expense of the majority – while also looking back on his own life of activism and political participation. Profoundly personal and thought-provoking, Chomsky provides penetrating insight into what may well be the lasting legacy of our time – the death of the middle class, and swansong of functioning democracy. A potent reminder that power ultimately rests in the hands of the governed, REQUIEM is required viewing for all who maintain hope in a shared stake in the future.”
“I have a problem with people who take the Constitution loosely and the Bible literally.” ~ Bill Maher
I have always been impressed by social criticism coming from the mouths and the pens of folks such as Noam Chomsky, Jane Addams, Bernie Sanders, Paul Wellstone, H. L. Mencken, Bill Moyers, Norman Mailer, Gore Vidal, Howard Zinn, Katrina Vandenheuvel, Eugene Debs, Eleanor Roosevelt, J. K. Galbraith, A. J. Muste, Neil Postman, George Carlin, Dennis Miller, William Greider, Upton Sinclair, Barbara Ehrenreich, Bill Maher, Michael Parenti, Albert Einstein, Mohandas Gandhi, Louis Brandeis, Harper Lee, Martin Luther King, Jr., Eric Alterman, Thurgood Marshall, Christopher Hitchens, Reinhold Niebuhr, Herbert Marcuse, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Muhammad Ali, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Fareed Zakaria, Henry A. Wallace, Kurt Vonnegut, Rachael Carson, Al Sharpton, W.E.B. DuBois, Lincoln Steffens, Clarence Darrow, Naomi Klein, Erin Brockovich, Oliver Stone, and many others. There are also many individuals from other countries, such as George Orwell, Karl Marx, and Charles Dickens, as well as individuals who criticize religion and other governments, such as the inimitable Salman Rushdie.
Think of how many educators, African Americans, writers, playwrights, artists, historians, atheists, progressives, thought leaders, revolutionaries, and philosophical thinkers have not chosen to sugar-coat the truth, but have stared it straight in the face, and engaged in the important act of social criticism. They are our heroes as much or more so than any military man or political figure. Very rare indeed is a person such as George C. Marshall or Cincinnatus, who can hold power and not be sucked in by the gravitational pull of either status quo or personal interests. We also should not expect our visionaries and activists and thinkers to be above reproach. The fact that Einstein was not terribly nice to his wife, or that Gandhi wasn’t, bears little relevance to their public merits.
“Yes, I had to admit: Germany was dark. But with no social democracy, it would have been a lot darker. Meanwhile, American had become dark. There was the nightmare of Bush v. Gore. We did not seem like a democracy. We had big tax cuts for the rich, and payday loans for the poor.” ~ Thomas Geoghegan
Indeed, Peter Dreier puts it this way: “A hundred years ago, any soapbox orator who called for women’s suffrage, laws protecting the environment, an end to lynching, workers’ right to form unions, a progressive income tax, a federal minimum wage, old-age insurance, the eight-hour workday and government-subsidized health care would be considered an impractical utopian dreamer or a dangerous socialist. Now we take these ideas for granted. The radical ideas of one generation are often the common sense of the next.”
Peter Dreier is so astute, I must quote him at length:
“Unfortunately, most Americans know little of this progressive history. It isn’t taught in most high schools. You can’t find it on the major television networks or even on the History Channel. Indeed, our history is under siege. In popular media, the most persistent interpreter of America’s radical past is Glenn Beck, who teaches viewers a wildly inaccurate history of unions, civil rights, and the American left. Beck argues, for example, that the civil rights movement “has been perverted and distorted” by people claiming that Martin Luther King Jr. supported “redistribution of wealth.” In fact, King did call for a “radical redistribution of economic power.” Using his famous chalkboard, Beck draws connections between various people and organizations, and defines them as radicals, Marxists, socialists, revolutionaries, leftists, cultural critics, progressives, social commentators, or social justice activists—all of which leads inexorably to Barack Obama. Drawing on writings by conspiracy theorists and white supremacists, Beck presents a misleading version of America’s radical family tree.”
Just because someone criticizes doesn’t mean they are meritorious or correct. Often, it’s just griping and bellyaching and being negative. “Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain – and most fools do,” noted New Rule: If America can’t get its act together, it must lose the bald eagle as our symbol and replace it with the YouTube video of the puppy that can’t get up. As long as we’re pathetic, we might as well act like it’s cute.” One of America’s finest, Mark Twain, wrote many wonderful quips and criticisms, hardly ever taking a day off, and I will share but one: “Before long you will see a curious thing: anti-war speakers will be stoned from the platform, and free speech will be strangled by hordes of furious men who still agree with the speakers but dare not admit it….”
In sum, I don’t engage in social criticism for the sake of social criticism, if you will. I don’t wake up with a chip on my shoulder, and I’m not a professional protestor, as the right would say of folks who spend a lot of time organizing, protesting, and leading. No, I would rather just read, hang out by the beach, play with my dogs, talk to my wife, or take care of my yard. It is only because I feel compelled toward justice, truth, and progress that I bother with social criticism in the first place. I get that America has glory in its past, some progress in its present, and some hope for its future. Abraham Lincoln wrote, “He has the right to criticize who has the heart to help.”
It is because I care about this country and all the people in it that I worry about gays, ethnic minorities, liberals, atheists, dissenters, artists, and nonconformists in the first place. I often vote against my own economic best interests, and I do it out of principle. We should take our hats off to America’s greatest progressives who have engaged in social criticism and political action, and kneel during the National Anthem if we damned well feel like it.
But don’t take it from me. I was not even a fetus when many great individuals were working hard to criticize society, and those of us who appreciate a 40-hour workweek, clean drinking water, or clean politics should be happy they did! Read their books.
“Look at the others: Ireland, Portugal, and even Spain. They were not broke or staggering under any great fiscal debt when the meltdown came. They went bust because of a US-type banking crisis, i.e., because the Europeans had to bail out European banks that took our worthless U.S. subprime debt, or behaved as recklessly as our banks did. But that’s not a crisis that comes from Europe’s ‘socialism.’ It comes from the ‘socialist Europe’ taking part in our U.S. capitalist-type scams.” ~ Thomas Geoghegan
“For where independent thinking dies out, whether from lack of courage or absence of discipline, there the evil weeds of propaganda and authoritarianism proliferate unchecked. The stifling of criticism is thus a much more serious thing than many people realize.”
“It’s a matter of taking the side of the weak against the strong, something the best people have always done.”
“There’s no reason for liberals to feel they have to disagree with conservatives simply because it hurts too much to admit they’re right on some issues. Agreeing with the other side doesn’t make you lose your liberal credentials. In fact, in the name of openness and tolerance, it strengthens them.”
If you enjoyed this blog, try this one featuring fifty quotes by activists.
