Preface
While contemplating the divided states of America, I discovered an interesting theory of political behavior called the horseshoe theory. This horseshoe thesis helps explain why American centrists have lost political battles to fringe fanatics over the last 25 years, although 60 to 80 percent of Americans are centrists. I will attempt to place this horseshoe theory within the history of democracy and America’s current political climate.
A fundamental prerequisite of any democracy is sharing physical and political space with people who are different. The intolerance of other Americans is a clear sign of anti-democratic sentiments. When these anti-democratic beliefs are supported or condoned by a significant minority of Americans, American Democracy is at risk. We experimented with racial and regional intolerance in 1861, which did not turn out well for the rebels or the country.
My subsequent articles explore the evolution of modern democracy, the ever-present possibility of fanatical extremism, and the future of American Democracy. Ultimately, I ask a simple question. Does a country that rejected the European religious wars and autocratic rulers in 1776 now want to accept rule by evangelical religion, financial hucksters, and an autocratic ruler in 2024?
The Miracle of Democracy
I remember when the idea of democracy was like a bright shining light on the tallest hill. It was a fixed element in the minds of almost all Americans. It was a symbol but also a shared activity that drew immigrants from all over the world to practice and improve upon a form of government designed to allow diverse groups of people to live in relative peace. However, for the last 25 years, democracy has been dragged in the mud by some flag-waving and hugging “patriots.” This discussion was initiated by the disconnect between what some Americans say about their country and what
they do.
Despite the recent attacks on democracy, it is still the best form of government invented by humans. It has proven to be successfully adaptive in America for over 234 years. It is still far from perfect, but it persists. However, achieving a self-regulating democracy does not mean it can’t revert to a more primitive form. Democracies and semi-democracies have crumbled and become dictatorships in Nazi Germany in 1933, Ecuador in 1970, Chile in 1973, Spain in 1939, Nicaragua in 1979, and Venezuela in 2002. Democracies are flexible enough to destroy themselves at the ballot box or allow themselves to become weak. If voters suddenly decide to elect representatives who seek to destroy democracy, democracy will be replaced by some form of mindless anarchy or autocracy.
The Lack of Faith in Democracy and Regret
Regret is an interesting emotion. If an ordinary person recognizes a mistake, regret is a natural emotion, and they feel sad or disappointed over a bad decision or a missed opportunity. However, sociopaths and those with intransigent, delusional belief systems will never experience regret. They typically doggedly
dig in their heels and make the same or similar decisions again and again.
The enemies of democracy have techniques to minimize or obfuscate regret. In the short run, they usually fabricate a crisis to convince the frightened ones that anarchy or a dictatorship model is superior to democracy. However, I cannot think of a single long-term case over the last 400 years in which anarchy or a dictatorship proved superior to an active and vital democracy. Can you?
It is safe to say that, except for a few German sociopaths, most Germans by 1945
regretted allowing their little corporal to assume dictatorial powers as Der Fuhrer
in 1933.
America’s Descent into Fanatical Extremism
This is an introduction to a series of short pieces about America’s gradual descent from the world’s first thriving large-scale democracy to one teetering toward chaos, autocracy, and anarchy. We seem to be in a cultural war between those who value democracy and those siding with extremists who have repeatedly acted against civilized behavior and traditional democratic values. I could say it is a war between the woke” and the “unwoke,” but those who are opposed to the “woke” folks do not seem to have a corresponding label. What do we call an “unwoke” person? Are they sleepy? We will return to this conundrum later.
It is human nature to want simple solutions for complex problems. This applies to the fanatical Left and the fanatical Right. Still, some historical examples in future articles discuss the lack of simple answers for complex societies, even 450 years ago. Becoming unhinged and degenerating into anti-democratic chaos is not inevitable. There is hope for America if most of us come to our senses and renew our faith in democracy.
The current fad toward anti-democratic chaos is not an isolated incident driven by the sociopathic activities of the forty-fifth President. The former President is a symptom, not the proximate cause. His name will be mentioned as infrequently as possible in my future discussions. He has become almost insignificant since he has become the bizarre embodiment or golem of the mismatched aspirations of fanatical extremists consisting of white Evangelicals, lifelong TEA Party/John Birchers, libertarians, white nationalists, racists, anti-semites, and classical liberals. Trump is simply the current top dog of a political dominance and submission cult.
If someone like Lindsey Graham barks or objects to a Trump action, Lindsey is summoned to play golf and obediently heels behind his master.
The MAGA base did not elect Donald J. Trump. Trump was elected by Republicans and Independents who favored Trump over Clinton in 2016. This is a historical fact. Fortunately, there are not that many in the MAGA dominance and submission cult…thus far.
As the newly elected President floated down the escalator at his New York residence, his coalition was initially ecstatic. Subsequently, as he led the country into chaos and division, he lost most of the Independents but surprisingly retained most Republicans. The party that once championed American democracy, fiscal responsibility, and law and order now leans toward autocracy and chaos. Republicans could reject the MAGA rabbit hole at any moment. Still, their lethargic inertia and conservative indoctrination will likely force them to double down on their 2016 and 2020 bets and devolve into a party of whipped puppies heeling behind their loser for the 2024 campaign. What did Albert Einstein say about insanity?
The trend toward autocracy over the last 25 years is not necessarily the result of evil, crazy, uneducated, or deplorable Americans. I attribute most of the anti-democratic activities by fanatics on the Right to a) the historical tendencies of some American subcultures to resist urbanization and a more complicated style of living, b) unresolved contradictions that some classical liberals have over the theory and practice of individual freedom, c) the concerted efforts of powerful lobbies to place increasing personal wealth, corporate profitability, and social control above the public good, d) the fragmentation of the public square, and supercharged propaganda systems that target segmented audiences, and e) the human tendency for vulnerable, lazy-thinking people to accept simple answers to complex questions.
There are fanatics on the Left, but the danger of a violent coup or widespread para-military activities by the Left does not seem to exist. Despite boogeyman theories and false flag operations, pockets of isolated left-wing unrest are localized and uncoordinated. In contrast, the fanatics on the Right have, over the past few years, exposed the clear and present danger of criminal violence toward governors, judges, the media, prosecutors, the Capitol police, members of Congress, and even a vice president. This type of violence occurs in Putin’s Russia; how is it happening in the United States of America?
The subsequent articles discuss the complexity and the uncanny similarities between political magnetism and magnetism in the natural world.
By Leland Vandiver without assistance from ChatGPT (Private Circulation)