Is Jeremy Sherman's "structure by cynicism" (my words) — the American Republic's only hope of repair?

© 2020 Peter Free

 

06 August 2020

 

 

Today, I'll start from where we are

 

Proceed through how we got here.

 

And end with, where we'll wind up.

 

 

Regarding present time's arguable unpleasantness

 

I have mentioned that Donald Trump honestly symbolizes America's questionable genius for Avarice and Looting.

 

The President's many character-besmirchers miss this essential point. When badness is lauded by much of the American public, Trump's character shortcomings are a strength.

 

Belaboring his alleged Evil, merely puffs the balloons of his appeal among those who like or want to emulate him.

 

 

How we got to this societal place

 

Here is what Jeremy Sherman, PhD (indirectly) wrote about Trumpian Times:

 

 

Though many [Founding Fathers] were Christians, they knew better than to bring . . . blind-faith optimism to the crafting of our city on the hill.

 

Their true genius was in expecting of humankind what humankind inevitably delivers, corruption, backsliding and backlashes . . . .

 

Our founding fathers were cynics, not romanticizers of human nature.

 

That’s why our democratic republic lasted as long as it did. It was the founding fathers’ paranoid checks and balances against backlashes, backbiting, backsliding and the irresistibility of power grabs. No one leaves power on the table or . . . someone’s bound to grab it . . . .

 

If you’re not addressing the fact that 3-5% of us are outright psychopaths and the rest of us will cut corners in a pinch or when the opportunity arises, you haven’t begun to think realistically about social engineering.

 

If your vision doesn’t foresee the effects of degradation, erosion and death by a jillion cut corners, you might as well be playing with Legos.

 

Three-pointed hats off to our founding fathers . . . for expecting atrocious behavior.

 

Though the founding fathers set up all sorts of locks to block con artist asshole tyrants, it looks like the current bunch have run the gauntlet and are very close to unlocking the last of the traps.

 

If November doesn’t end us, we could be in for a US renaissance, a renaissance of the healthy cynical distrust of human nature that would enable us to reset all the traps stronger . . . .

 

© 2020 Jeremy Sherman, The Founders Tried to Guard Against Con Artist Tyrants — but Our Democratic Republic May End Anyway, Smirking Chimp (06 August 2020)

 

 

Dr. Sherman is more optimistic than I am

 

There is not going to be a "reset".

 

 

Democracy has been over in the United States for quite some time

 

The very system that Dr. Sherman lauds, is the same one that makes it impossible to fix it.

 

With a structurally imposed Constitutional bias against getting anything actually done, it ultimately prevents opportunities to sweep the rascals out.

 

Amending the Constitution in any arguably humanity-favoring direction (today) is a political impossibility, given:

 

 

the Oligarchy's power

 

and

 

the fractious compartmentalization

 

of American-lauded "diversity"

 

through which

 

Plutocracy's pillaging Corporatism runs wild.

 

 

In simple (cynical) principle

 

Democracy — among hundreds of millions non-homogeneous, ignorant, complacent, scrabbling, scrapping (and often astonishingly stupid) people — cannot possibly work.

 

If perspectives continually clash, as they do in the United States, coming up with the noticeable homogeneity (in outlook) of Scandinavian and Swiss style democracies is an impossibility.

 

Too much avarice. Too much contentious self-righteousness. Too many power-hungry fingers, pulling in uncountably opposed directions.

 

 

And . . .

 

Into this ocean of frothy waters, float the Oligarchs.

 

Who buy Government and Media — and then propagandize themselves into fully controlling our miserably failed society's loot-collecting pipeline.

 

 

The moral? — People are, generally speaking, Adam Henrys . . .

 

Democracy only works, when they are Adam Henry-ish in similarly chosen directions.

 

This is not the case in the United States.

 

Each passing year, diversity (of both genuine and invented kinds) makes sharing a robust and societally guiding outlook more improbable.

 

When Americans cannot even agree that they should eliminate the plutocrats and corporations — who are strangling both Public and Commons in absolutely plain sight — you have to conclude that the American democracy experiment is over.

 

Hysterically milling American sheep, of all colors and origins, cannot put their fool heads together enough to batter a hole in their cage. Whoever heard of an effective stampede of wool-bearers?

 

We got what we deserved, if cynical realism be the metric.

 

Old-fashioned Christianity would probably not assess this experiment any more favorably. Original sin and all that.