Thinking (and acting) slowly in a fast-moving world

Your humble writer finds himself in an interesting situation.

On the one hand, the speed and breadth of news that has been generated since the election has been nothing short of breathtaking.

On the other hand, one can get the sense that we’re not only in the midst of a paradigm shift in politics, but also in Western culture.

While there are many individual stories and issues that could be addressed, perhaps now would be a good time to try answering one really big question.

Is there any way of making sense of the times in which we currently find ourselves?

This post is a perhaps-feeble attempt at answering that question.

While much of the media’s, and the left’s, attention has been directed towards Trump, it is almost as if Trump, as a person, matters less than what he represents.

For decades, the American left has steadily moved society to its ever-evolving version of “the next step”. Little has evaded its grasp; the family, sexuality, gender relations, employer-employer relationships, education, music, sports, and speech have been impacted, and usually for the worse.

It’s not as if everyone who voted for Trump agreed with him, let alone liked him. However, they saw Clinton’s election, and the consequences of that election, as a far greater threat to what remains of their livelihoods, their liberties, and their culture, to anything Trump would do.

By electing Trump, a large portion of the American electorate basically said to the American left, “no más”.

And the left has had nothing but a collective hissy fit ever since.

That’s because the left isn’t afraid of Trump per se, but what he represents to those who elected him.

Americans who voted for Trump did so primarily to deliver one message to the left.

Stop.

We are not objects with which you can mold into your New Man. Or Woman. Or whatever nonexistent gender you want to create.

We do not understand what type of New Society you want to create, and something tell us you do not either.

We would rather not be your guinea pigs while you are figuring that out.

We are tired of being demonized because we live in the wrong state, or have the wrong skin color, gender, or sexual orientation.

We are tired of being dealt with based on no other reason than your always-evolving concept of identity.

We are tired of being demonized because not only do we believe in God, but because God cherishes life for what it is, we do too.

In other words, we are pushing back against whatever narrative you have trotted out today. We have heard your lies before, and we don’t believe you anymore.

And the left can not stand being told they are no longer in control.

After all, if they are not in control, what reason do they have to exist?

The left does not hate Trump because he is a racist, a misogynist, or an Islamaphobe. Everything that Trump has done, the left has done as well.

The left hates Trump because it can not control him or his supporters. Trump represents the non-left’s pushback against the left. Therefore, all the left will be doing is push right back.

It will not change.

It will not learn.

It will not use new arguments, because the left has forgotten how to argue. All it knows is how to demonize.

It will do the only thing it knows: attempt to re-seize power, by hook or by crook.

Unfortunately for the left, and fortunately for everyone else, it will not work.

The veil has been lifted.

Americans now know what the left looks like, and do not like it one bit.

While it is too soon to tell, the collective hissy fit in which the American left is currently engaged could be greater than merely reacting to Trump’s moves.

They could be existential in nature.

To give one very small example, leftists were prepared to fight Trump’s Supreme Court nominee before he even announced it.

To prepare for such a fight so early does not tell me that the left is concerned about an individual’s history on the bench. Rather, they are concerned about losing control over “the narrative”.

However, the more the left tries to control the narrative, the easier it will be for it to slip through its fingers.

You would think that the Star Wars fans among them would have remembered Princess Leia’s sage warning to Darth Vader.

In short, as the left has become increasingly irrational, it is shown to be increasingly ridiculous.

We might actually be on the verge of witnessing the collapse of an ideology that has held sway over American political thinking since the turn of the 20th century.

I have no idea what would possibly replace it. That could be the topic of another post.

However, if the left is indeed in the process of falling apart, I have only one piece of advice.

As it is falling down, stay out of the way.

 

 

 

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