An Echo Without Sugar
Young Americans are skeptical of democracy since [we] have yet to experience it.
Before the 2016 U.S. election I liked to say that I found politics boring. It seemed like banter, and everything would turn out fine anyways. Not anymore. People know me as one who is hard to faze, yet so this 2020 election has caused fear in me.
For the sake of being polite, political discussion is often sugarcoated. But I don’t sugarcoat. When Trump contracted COVID himself, I cringed at the kind words from his political opponents. Why do we owe sympathy to him? Donald Trump is responsible for over 139,000 deaths to COVID-19 [1]. That number is rounded down, and neither does it account for non-fatal suffering, damage by the anti-science ideology which he supports, nor any of that on his other failures from other issues such as environmental protection. Nonetheless, those numbers are on track with some of history’s great dictators like Kim Il Sung.
The key issue that scares me is climate change. This election is going to shift it from either being an urgent, multi-faceted crisis or an existential threat. Though the scariest part is meta: I am among those who were shocked by the prevalence of anti-intellectualism.
Knowledge-Based Education — We oppose the teaching of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) (values clarification), critical thinking skills and similar programs that are simply a relabeling of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) (mastery learning) which focus on behavior modification and have the purpose of challenging the student’s fixed beliefs and undermining parental authority. — Texas Republican Party Platform, 2012, reproduced without stripping from context.
The labels “liberal” and “conservative” are really outdated: today, the Democratic Party consists of moderates and progressives, and the Republican party is largely defined by nationalist-anti-intellectualism. True conservativism is rare nowadays, to the point that we forget their ideals: national security, protection of freedoms, and of fostering a nation of small independent businesses. These are not apparent in the Republican Party’s platform.
However, all of us who were surprised by the 68 million Trump voters are proving one of their points: conservative voices are being silenced and censored. Every major media outlet (e.g. [2]) reporting on the missing “blue wave” is guilty of… Well, let’s think about it. Actually, Facebook [3] and Twitter [4] have special exceptions for their misinformation filters, granting conservative voices more leeway with sharing of false or otherwise harmful information. About half [5] — or up to 4 in 5, depending on how its reported [6] — of Republicans do not believe in human-caused climate-change. Regardless of which figure is accurate, either would reveal that a majority of Republicans reject well-understood scientific research. The issue at hand is one more complicated than silencing of a political voice. Akin to the distinction between the freedom of speech and restriction on hate speech, it is not clear how online media are to handle virulent misinformation and destructive conversations.
With respect to partisanship, would secession be a good idea? If it were possible to separate red and blue states peacefully to form the Union and Confederacy, what would happen? I had this thought experiment for a minute before realizing it would be a catastrophe. Sure, American conservativism is holding the United States back from catching up with other modern countries on fronts such as protection of human rights, education, and climate policy. However this is the curse that we are obliged to bear. The liberal voice in U.S. politics is a safety lock on Republicans from wreaking havoc. Allowing American conservativism to realize their goals would have devastating humanitarian consequences.
We consider one to be “American” for valuing individual liberties and freedoms, and having a common hope of being able to find a safe life for their family and children, but it is not the fact that one is “American” for which makes them deserving of empathy — it is for the fact they are human. We must care for humans, and we must not forget that people of other nations are humans too. United States policies will always have a global impact. Although only U.S. citizens are able to vote in U.S. general elections, all 8 billion people on the planet are affected. That is why the 2016 election was a tragedy: Trump’s deregulations and exit from the Paris agreement have externalized the costs of our indsutry.
On the brighter side, the same surveys by Pew report that young Republicans are more likely to believe in human-caused climate change. This figure is a clue to how American conservativism got muddled with anti-intellectualism. The literal meaning of conservative is one “who favors maintenance of the status quo,” i.e. a preference for stability. Older individuals tend to be more “conservative,” which makes sense. Young people are accustomed to rapid change. In this day and age, traditionalists are losing ground. One fact everyone can see to be true is that industrialization and information technology is changing our world, and that is a problem for one who isn’t fond of change. Change is scary.
Misinformation and tribalism are knee-jerk reactions to change. It’s comfort. Pollution causes developmental disorders in children. Natural disasters are getting worse. Rent is unaffordable. COVID can be fatal. Lockdown is causing businesses to close… Don’t you wish none of that were real? Don’t you just want to be safe? Pollution is not harmful. Climate change is a hoax. Our economy can improve. HCQ can treat COVID. It’s safe for businesses to stay open. You don’t have to think. You don’t have to worry. America is great.
I share these fears. I wish they weren’t real, I don’t want to think about them. Solutions are going to be costly and disruptive to me. My country. My status quo.
Willful ignorance might just do for some…
But I am 20 years old.
I have a life ahead of me.
It’s not their country that they are protecting, it’s my future that they are ruining. I did not ask to be born in a world stifled by conflict, yet I find myself in one. I don’t want any of this, but I don’t have a choice. Inaction is not a choice. Denial is not a solution. To be complicit is morally wrong. I cannot be still and let our world fail.
If you actually read this…
Oh, you’re my best friend, in a world we must defend.
[1]As of today, 2020–11–05, two days after the election. https://trumpdeathclock.com/
[5] https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2019/11/25/u-s-public-views-on-climate-and-energy/
[6] https://www.newsweek.com/poll-republicans-climate-change-human-1512571
