More Strands in Tapestry of Government
Entering the "Twight Zone" of explanation
Looking further at the problem of large generalizations about the nature of politics and government, the pages of textbook knowledge, I want to identify more of the “strands” in the structure of society that have explanatory power without trying to aggregate them into still another grand abstraction or rival theory of government.
I am simply suggesting that many potential agencies are presently and will continuously disrupt the apparent processes of control and “enlightenment” described in a former blog as the standard description of “the government of the United States.”
In my last blog I highlighted what I believe to be the greatest of all “wild-cards,” the power of ideas. In this blog I want to suggest several more elements in what I see as a blur of narrative space, a many splendored (if you want to get poetic) pattern of human activity that defies generalization.
First, consider what sociologists refer to as “civil society,” the interrelated patterns of routine and episodic interactions that identify formal and informal groups. While not necessary commenting on “bowling alone” or even bowling at all (the title of a popular book that maintained quite accurately a decline in social interactions in American society), I am simply acknowledging that our communal life from little league teams, to book clubs, and semi-regular meetings to knit and chat at coffee shops, is extensive and dynamic. The shifting from one to another activity, or even the current prioritizing of family and home entertaining, is not usefully seen as any kind of withering away of civil society.
Civil society is still capable of great impacts on government and the political system. Out of what unknown sets of social interactions, for example, did the Tea Party emerge? There was a “before” and there have been many “off-springs” since its arrival on the scene.
Or we can view an economic system based on capital accumulation and dispersal as highly disruptive and upsetting to hierarchy and authority, as well as their warrants. Nothing in our modern world is more likely to disaggregate power and overthrow establish patterns of authority than the pursuit of profit. We may call Capitalism “conservative,” but as Marx said so forcefully, it doesn’t “conserve.” It annihilates and reconstructs. (See Jamelle Bouie, December 2nd column in the NYT, “Before He Takes on ‘Woke Capitalism,’ Ron DeSantis Should Read His Karl Marx.”)
Further perhaps from view, consider the force of underlying interpretations about the nature of good and evil, about the potential and dangers of human activity. They rest, beneath the surface of platitudes and bromides, only to suddenly let lose a rage against perceived deception and deceit. They can be called upon like an incantation, and whether spirit vision or hardened facts of fundamental law, they rule in many ways the direction of our choices.
Finally, consider the disruptive pulses of time. New conditions, now ever more accelerating, meet new generations of people with their knives out to prune and shape, to cut back and cut down, every interpretation of reality in which we have seen permanence. And we would be unseeing if we did not recognize the extraordinary strength and beauty that successive waves of immigration have brought to our shores and, in spite of our remarkable short-sightedness to honor their contributions, will continue to seed our future.
History records the periodic destruction and reconstruction of American government. We may see it as a progressive pattern because we view it from a present that was created by the process. Yet it does appear to be a continual repurposing of government to fulfill a promise (foundational values) and sustain a vision. Whether that is a trope of historical arrogance, or a natural spirit of human aspiration, I leave to those in a higher tax bracket.
But with all that left unsaid, I don’t hesitate to end with a small piece of advice. Don’t plan to find “generalizations” lighting your way along the paths of life. Sell back your textbooks.