There was a slight ripple of agitation in the American pundit corps recently when never-Trumper Joe Walsh lost his patience and temper by flatly declaring the approximately 350 million souls of American citizenship, in this horrible mental knifing age of Trumpism, to be flat-out stupid clods of dullard humanity, they are the ones ultimately responsible for the searing daily infliction of degradation President Trump has inflicted upon America.
Paul Krugman countered gently a few days later that no, Americans are not stupid, just doing the best they can in a ruthless, seriously demanding, confusing environment, perfection has never been expressed consistently in any human endeavor, why should we expect it in politics?
For political junkies it’s always been an interesting issue and its possible answers directly vital to the application of present politics, so I will weigh in with my esteemed opinion here. Who listens to me? Nobody, that’s who, but in my little people way I am an expression of the American experiment, surely as proud citizens of the United States we can agree that is then enough validity for political opinion. Right?
First of all I would back up around 350 years or so to see political philosophy and opinion horrified at the idea of democracy, real human minds of serious intellect and regard for the little people completely aghast at the notion somehow effective national politics of any country could ultimately reside in the uneducated, superstitious, uninformed, basely callous mass of common little people, how could one be possibly be serious?
We now know how that worked out, we take it as a total mental given as Americans that–of course–naturally good national politics derives from the direct will of the little people, but man for all of the recorded and pre-recorded history of humanity that has very much not been the case, we are just a bright new flicker of change in the course of humanity, still so very much in the experimental stage of something that turns actually out to be very difficult to do well.
Meaning that as Americans, you and me, all of us, every single soul is responsible for safeguarding and nurturing the new idea and implementation of democracy politics. It is never casually given over or won, what we own in the Bill of Rights is not history at all but still a new experiment. When it is given a chance it is a direct duty of every citizen to participate and give voice to how it should be run or it can be so easily lost.
The Constitution of the United States of America does not exist as pigment on paper under a glass case, it resides in the hearts and minds of every American in the present, we are responsible for modern American democracy on the legacy that has been given us, not solely on the ideas and minds of the Founders. Thank god for that.
American democracy always needs work, always needs improvements and refinement, as liberals and Democrats we can look around and certainly see there’s still a long way to go.
How does the evolution of American democracy over 234 years express the will of the little people? Fairly well, given a terrible start and horrifying result in 1860. From that re-boot, compared to other forms of governmet we have done very well, how could one then describe the American little people as stupid?
One can’t, as with so many human answers it’s muddled, contradictory and unclear, American little people are certainly not stupid but for liberals trying to safeguard the rights and happiness of us all there’s certainly reasons to be worried.
Our voting participation rate is appallingly low at 67%, that’s 31st among all planetary democracies. The participating electorate is riven into opposing camps, the Republicans currently in ripping regression. Hey Joe Walsh, approximately 90 million Americans of the Republican tribe are smashing us backward, don’t you dare look at me and my liberal brothers and sisters for the Trumpism mess we’re in.
Yeah. The point being that although as Americans comparatively and historically we have done well as little people, we are not stupid, but the American experiment is not nearly done in implementation, there’s obviously a long way to go and my god we could actually lose it next year if somehow Trump were to win.
I’m confident we won’t for the third time, tyranny and fascism simply won’t be chosen by our little people, even if our pathetic journalism corps tries to cover for it.
Stepping way back again I would say democracy has been an imperfect, messy, fitful implementation, no surprise there, but it has shown a very good ability to throw the bums out who are screwing it up. That, ultimately, may be the best expression and effective use of democracy, and I’m confident the American little people are smart enough to keep using it.