The late, great historian out of Columbia University, Richard Hofstadter (1916-1971), in 1964, in his now must-read again book, "Anti-Intellectualism in American Life," tried to warn us. Here is Hofstadter, at pages 133-134 of his book I am recently re-reading:
"There seems to be such a thing as the generically prejudiced mind. Studies of political intolerance and ethnic prejudice have shown that zealous church-going and rigid religious faith are among the important correlates of political and ethnic animosity (footnote omitted). It is the existence of this type of mind that sets the stage for the emergence of the one-hundred percenter and determines the similarity of style beween the modern right wing and the fundamentalists. In fact, the conditions of the cold war and the militant spirit bred by the constant struggle against world Communism have given the fundamentalist mind a new lease on life. Like almost everything else in our world, fundamentalism itself has been considerably secularized, and this process of secularization has yielded a type of pseudo-political mentality whose way of thought is best understood against the historical background of the revivalist preacher and the camp meeting. The fundamentalist mind has had the bitter experience of being routed in the field of morals and censorship, on evolution and Prohibition, and it finds itself increasingly submerged in a world in which the great and respectable media of mass communication violate its sensibilities and otherwise ignore it. In a modern, experimental, and 'sophisticated' society, it has been elbowed aside and made a figure of fun...(I)n politics, the secularized fundamentalism of our time has found a new kind of force and a new punitive capacity. The political climate of the post(WWII) era has given the fundamentalist type powerful new allies among the other one-hundred percenters: rich men, some of them still militant against the social reforms of the New Deal; isolationist groups and militant nationalists; Catholic fundamentalists, ready for the first time to unite with their former persecutors on the issue of "Godless Communism"; and Southern reactionaries newly animated by the fight over desegregation."
Wow. Fifty-three years ago.
Yes, aging white Baby Boomers, let's look into our societal mirrors. When I read this book in college, I thought we would never succumb to the type of "get off my lawn" racism and xenophobia our parents and grandparents' generations were susceptible to in their politics and zealous religiosity. I laughed at Archie Bunker, and now, I realize a majority of my fellow male and female Baby Boomers were seeing Archie as someone they aspired to become. In 2016, I started re-reading Hofstadter more for commemoration of the centennial of Hofstadter's birth, beginning with "The American Political Tradition," "The Age of Reform: From Bryan to F.D.R.," "The Progressive Historians: Turner, Beard, and Parrington," and "The Paranoid Style in American Politics and Other Essays." When Trump announced in 2015, I had said on FB what concerned me was how Trump was "calling up the demons" long asleep or at least staying on the sidelines in American politics. The Never-Trumpers, you know, the ones on MSDNC/MSNBC (you know these horrible Never Trumpers: Nicole Wallace, Steve Schmidt, Rick Wilson, David Frum, among others) all practiced a dog-whistle politics that played around with racism and xenophobia, allowed urban centers to rot for forty years (Nixon's benign neglect policy, which the original Neo-liberal, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, another jerk of a human being, pushed for Nixon), and pursued a foreign policy and trade policies that made desperate peasants go "El Norte" and decimated industrial communities throughout the center regions of our nation. And the only place allowed in the discourse to their "left" were the corporate Democrats and Clintonites, the ones who played into those same dog whistles and told us there was no choice to march further to the right, to the anti-intellectual fundamentalism, etc. I thought, though, as I read the essays in the "paranoid" politics book, maybe Hofstadter was too credulous at the way in which that paranoid, anti-intellectual politics could re-envelop a majority of citizens in our nation (or at least enough to elect a Senate majority and president). As I started reading Hofstadter's essays and books again, however, I realized I did not have "Anti-Intellectualism in American Life," and ordered the paperback, after two failed times to get the hardback (both were mildewed and had to be returned; a metaphor there, maybe?).
Anyway, I finally came back to this particular Hofstadter book in the last week, noting again one modern irony Hofstadter could have never predicted, which is the way American right wingers have accepted their Dear Leader Trump's cozy relationship with Russians without any shame for the way in which right wingers conducted themselves during the Red Scare throughout the Cold War. However, Hofstadter's insights quoted above so apply to our present when I speak with, read FB posts of, or meet those people, mostly Baby Boomers, who still support Trump--especially as I begin to hear or read how they now think Trump has "kept his promises." If any of them think that, please recognize the only "promises" Trump has "kept" are his promises which promote racism and xenophobia. Hoftstadter makes the point how evangelical white working class people, holding their guns and screaming their love of "God" or "Jesus," are in a coalition with rich people in our nation, allowing rich people to control the economy and our lives. This continues to be one big con job on the working class. Yet, here we are at a point where Trump installs swamp monsters who hate the working class into Cabinet positions, continues to destroy any sense of government as a means to help people in any communal way, and triples-down on racist and xenophobic rhetoric. And yet, a majority of white Baby Boomers continue to lap it up, slovenly, willingly, and with hatred and ignorance to guide them--attacking anything published in the NY Times or mainstream corporate media as completely "fake" and never discerning the distinctions of 100 years of journalistic self-criticism, centered on exposing the "capitalist press" or "corporate owned media," which Will Irwin, Upton Sinclair, George Seldes, I.F. Stone, Ben Bagdikian, Chomsky, among others, tried to teach us. I was privileged to be friendly with the founding dean of the UC Berkley School of Journalism, Edwin "Ed" Bayley, and his brilliant wife, Monica, during most of their retirement years in Carmel, CA. Bayley wrote "Joe McCarthy and the Press," based upon his experiences as a former news reporter who covered Republican US Senator from Wisconsin, Joseph McCarthy, for the Milwaukee (Wisconsin) Journal. Besides providing a blow by blow description of the rise and fall of Joseph McCarthy in the context of news reporting, Bayley posited the best way for a society to stop a demagogue is for the media to print the truth about what the demagogue says, compare what is said with that truth, and do so forcefully and consistently. What Bayley could not foresee is the way in which cognitive dissonance works to filter out the truth and outright avoid the truth, just calling the newspapers liars without, again, any discernment from the type of self-criticism from journalists about how corporate media actually operates.
Not once do a majority of we aging white Baby Boomers look into that societal mirror to see how much our religious fundamentalists here, in hating the modern world, hating intellectuals, especially those in the modern monasteries we call college campuses, resemble the religious fundamentalists our Establishment's foreign policy promoted in the Middle East throughout and after the Cold War, killing off Pan-Arabists, secularists, and the like, and leaving, in the rubble and luxury skyscapers of the Middle East only the religious zealotry. When right wingers tell me, I, as a naive "libtard," do not understand the Arab Muslim fundamentalists, I respond, Yes, I do. I am looking at you and the way you think, too. And to American Zionist Jews of even the liberal stripe--including those relative few who actually read the non-insightful historian, the late Bernard Lewis, or worse, listen to the likes of a Dennis Prager--who tell me, "You don't understand the Arab mind," I answer, "Yes, I do. I understand you. You, with your good versus evil. You, with your kill or be killed mentality when it comes to Arabs and Jews. You, with your cynical and blithe rejection of Jewish rabbinic philosophy's post-A.D. 70 universalism and reversion to Jewish tribalism. Yes, I understand all that, and, therefore understand, but do not agree with, any more than I agree with you, the tribalism expressed by too many Palestinians and Arabs who want their land back."
On a personal note, as I see how much people never click on links, believe click bait headlines, and ask for support for positions I previously and already provided over and over, showing they never got past a one line Twitter style reading of anything, I have wanted to just completely drop out. I have tired of uninformed opinions throughout the Internet, even including so-called journals and newspapers, and uninformed opinions stated with such confident vehemence. This is particularly true regarding the topic of immigration, continues with the actual legal history of the 2nd Amendment, and the continued inability to see how much we, as a people, depend upon government to be a vehicle to help each other (I mean, just look at the smaller rural communities where the biggest employers often are, not Wal-Mart, but the school district or the prison, or state-wide, how often hospitals and universities are the states' largest employers, and not merely Wal-Mart). I realize hardly anyone will read this long post. However, I write for posterity, the modern version of Victor Serge's famous lament that he wrote for his drawer. I figure The Daughter will be my curator at some point in her life....:)
In that sort of frustration, maybe depression over nearly the last year, I finally decided three weeks ago to leave my daytime law job after a many years-long build up of my anger at the litigation system had reached a point where I could not even go into the office anymore. So much greed permeating both sides. So much rancor over the spoils of that greed. The entire tort system in our nation is a sick consequence of our society's inability to care for each other and represents a dog-eat-dog (sorry, dogs!) worldview where we try to bankrupt people and businesses for vengeance, which we mistakenly call "justice." So much creation of after-the-fact blame, finding ways to trap "deep pockets." All instead of simply and directly promoting public policies through our elected governments, policies which promote and help people regardless of whether any individual "deserves" something or not. I often note to people in the litigation world how, in more socialist oriented nations, the tort system is almost irrelevant, as people know, if they are in an accident, they are taken care of no differently than anyone else. Thus, there is less need to sue a doctor for a single mistake, where the cost of care and trial verdict will bankrupt and ruin the entire life of the doctor or maybe the hospital, even above insurance (not that I did that much medical malpractice defense, but I have seen and done some medical malpractice defense and some plaintiff side over the years). There is rarely ever forgiveness in the tort system, often only blame and vengeance.
As I hit the age of 62 at the beginning of this month, and, as The Daughter, next month, begins her final year of college, I finally decided, for my own self-health for once, to make a move to get poorer, with The Wife's and The Children's (and Parents') support, particularly to start myself on a road to become a teacher--though an interesting opportunity for entertainment contracts law is suddenly beckoning, which was, ironically, my first goal as I completed law school so many decades ago. Anyway, at this point, the current plan, as I dry out from 30 odd years of litigation, is for me is to teach High School History, though I admit I had, when arriving in New Mexico, wanted to pursue a PhD in American History and become a History professor--I had some great thesis papers I had wanted to write, too...Anyway, by the time I put The Wife and Family through four years of a thesis paper, I thought, who the hell would hire a white guy in his mid-60s for full professor track in this age of independent contractor-$2,500 a course adjuncts? I don't want to leave this Land of Enchantment. At least, as a History High School teacher, I make a middle "middle class" wage, get health benefits and, for the first time in my life, a promise of a pension. Plus, I adore the high school students as they are beginning to form their own views of the world, are starting to think about what it means to be an adult, and are often looking for encouragement and support in that endeavor. My goal as a teacher is to help the liberal or conservative among them see the contradictions and exceptions to their opinions--we are all wrong at one level or more--and recognize the continuing debate that is "History." I did very well as a Mock Trial teacher-coach in high school back in our days living in Orange County, CA, and have always had a respect and an affinity for youthful thinking and their lack of patience with us Oldsters. I have always lived with the much less known caveat to the 1960s student movement phrase "Never Trust Anyone Over 30, which was "Never Trust Anyone Over 30, Except I.F. Stone." Youth of today are not worried about age as much as Baby Boomers continue to be, though I think youth of today have more reason to hate their elders than our generation ever had, as it is not just about racism and xenophobia this time, it is about survival of civilization and survival of the planet, which transcends skin color and such. When we see young white men killing people, I realize they are a frankly mentally challenged minority among the young and am thankful for that.
But, back to the post.
It is important to repeat the point here: I never thought a majority of our generation of white Boomers would succumb to this current level of ignorance and hatred, and be so willing to destroy the legacies bequeathed from our great-grandparents (the ones who sent the ridiculously named Greatest Generation to war against Fascism after our great-grandparents pulled our nation out of the Great Depression) as my generation and parents' generation curdle up with their guns and hope to kill browner and other darker skin people--and white liberals. But, here we are.
To the Kids of America, my message to you remains this: When we Oldsters rip you for speaking like lazy Socialists, do not lose faith in yourself. You don't really have to know Richard Hofstadter. Neither do your oldster parents and addled grandparents. You just have to know the philosophical world view of your parents is fundamentally flawed and this economic system is rigged against you (I mean, really, what does Trump care about the fact three people own more wealth than half the U.S. population?). The Kids understand economic royalty--not desperate immigrants--are destroying the planet, slaughtering billions of animals in the process, and undermining any sense of community other than one that resembles the town in "Who Shot Liberty Valance?" before Jimmy Stewart's character arrives (Yes, I note the act of violence from the other gunslinger, John Wayne's character, saves the day for Stewart's character to survive and thrive...As I like to say, we are all wrong at one level or another...but isn't John Wayne then an antifa? Hmmm.....). That film may be the film to watch after "The Mortal Storm," which was released just before the U.S. entered World War II, and dramatized how people fall into supporting dictatorships, always thinking the other guy will get his or hers, not realizing how often the people who support the dictators end up suffering, too. You know, sorta like Trump supporters hurt by Trump policies but still support Trump as long as others who are not white "get theirs." Kids, the key is to forget about most of us white Baby Boomers and come out and vote--vote past us. And please ignore every minority Baby Boomer who goes along with the white Baby Boomers who revere Trump. Yes, that has been a surprise to see among the Hispanic/Latino population here in New Mexico. I knew such confused, benighted people from an oppressed minority group existed in CA and also here. But seeing up close and personal Trumpist "minorities" has still been jolting and frustrating. Hofstadter speaks of this phenomenon elsewhere in his book, too, writing how Irish Catholics, long despised and scapegoated among the Protestant class in 19th Century America, began to speak their language of the Know-Nothingness and other reactionary movements against continued immigration. Sound familiar, Sean Hannity? Sound familiar, Pat Buchanan? Sound familiar, Bill O'Reilly? Oh, there we are again.
Even in my despair at the poorly informed, yet highly educated professionals I meet over the years, the poorly informed, less educated and white Baby Boomers glued to corporate cable television news, etc. I realize such people wonder why I continue to cling to the presidential candidacy of Bernie Sanders. I do so because Sanders uses a form of rhetoric and policy analysis which would bring most Americans together, with a focus on public policy making, and directing our anger toward our better selves and better values, hopes, and a re-establishment of a communal sensibility. Where I had disagreed with Hofstadter, and some other historians, is their elitist dismissal of the populist movements as too often animated by reaction and racism. It is important not to throw out the hopefulness that was also an element within those movements. Still, it is hard to discern the wheat from the chaff. I therefore think back to Michael Harrington's last book, "Socialism: Past and Future," from thirty years ago, where he posited socialism will only come when it becomes obvious to a majority of people that we have to pursue kindness and forgiveness with each other, and use our elected government to help us, regardless of circumstances. If our climate change throes do not lead to a ruining of civilization, and destruction of intelligence within society, our children and grandchildren may overcome our generation's and parents' generations' stupidness. In the meantime, knowing I don't count, I retreat at the end of each weary work day into Hofstadter and reflect. I retreat, just before bedtime, into Louis Auchincloss and Van Wyck Brooks, and reflect. I have also gained the courage to retreat into becoming poorer and cutting our expenses--though The Wife said, "Hey, why don't you do a GoFundMe page to see if anyone will pay to read what you write for once?" We laughed at that one! Anyway, the monthly Internet bill is expensive, but it allows me the opportunity to at least communicate with others who have intellectual capabilities and understandings, something cheaper than a therapist.
We will see what 2020 brings across our land. The question is whether the Kids can overtake us aging Baby Boomers and our addled parents at the ballot box. Come on, Kids. Save the planet and yourselves. Save us from ourselves. I would hate to have to see you have to kill us in twenty or less years, for then I know we will have only taught you our own hate and ignorance.
I provide a song for this post...Black Bonzo's "Sound of the Apocalypse"....The use of the song in this post has all the irony of Hofstadter's insight, which is to say apocalyptic thinking is ultimately irrational in most times. Hofstadter implored us to stay with reason, stay with governmental public policy making where we experiment with where particular lines are drawn, not worrying about "isms" whether capitalism, socialism, or the like. Europe fought two horrific wars over "isms" on their own soil, which wars stretched to various places around the world. After their lands and people were ruined, they finally realized the argument over "isms" is terribly wrong. But, with the global economy, we are now in what I may call the Great Reaction against the changes wrought with globalization, and, worse still, more and more of Europe is beginning to succumb to the early to mid 20th Century ways of fascism. It is a shame to admit otherwise enlightened rich people will embrace fascism rather than accept even a bit of socialism for regular people. Trump is part of the Great Reaction, which is an international fascistic movement. Thanks, Baby Boomers throughout the planet, too. Ugh. Oh well. Sing it and play it, Black Bonzo. Sing into the apocalyptic moment.
