The Eternal Recurrence of the Same: The Delusional Myth of Generational Change and Seth Moulton

Fresh out of college and never intending to make teaching a career, I returned to the Roman Catholic, all-male high school, from which I had recently graduated — the same school, by the way, which would terminate my contract on the grounds that I cared too much about my students, and that my moral standards were “unrealistically high” — and given some of what I experienced, my termination made perfect sense.

But this isn’t about my termination from a Roman Catholic school for having high moral standards. It is about what happened in the earliest of my days teaching there. A student — who is still in my life as my closest friend — told me in front of the entire class — that the world was a mess and it was my generation’s fault. I was taken aback — after all I was a scant 4 years older than many of my students — if that. His generation, he assured me, would be different. They would make the world better.

I paused, and then told them that I would ask a series of questions and I wanted them to raise their hands if the answer to a question was “Yes.” It took a total of three questions before every hand in the room was raised. These were simple questions — for example, “Have you ever lied?”

When all the hands were up, I said, “Congratulations. Now, you have messed up the world.”

Over the course of my life, I have heard numerous claims to generational purity, and to a generational commitment to save the world from itself. I have faint memories of McGovern, who’s presidential optimism was undone by what Trump would call the Deep State, which, as far as I’m concerned, is not an institution but a commitment to corruption and a systemic desire not to change the American political system, Carter, Clinton, who as he partied on the night of his election was hailed as a generational passing of power bathed in the optimism of the Clinton Generation, and then of course Barack Obama.

Obama spoke to us of change, spoke to the heart of social injustice, awakened in us the belief that the United States could become the moral bastion to the world it always hypocritically proclaimed itself to be. His words became nothing more than rhetoric, perhaps wishful thinking, and while he could sing Amazing Grace and stir our hearts, nothing changed. The illusion that a poor black man from Chicago could rise to the presidency and transform the United States into all that it should always have been ended in the passing of a torch to a racist after 8 years in which nothing changed.

Nothing changed.

Nothing will change.

Except that he now lives in an $18 million estate in Hawaii.

Yet as Jacob Bronowski proclaimed in the Ascent of Man, we are propelled by arrogance, ignorance, and dogma. The arrogance that because I’m under 60, only those of my generation possess the energy and the determination to change the world. The dogmatic assertion of a collection of ill-fated principles and values that not only have little to do with building a constructive future, but which themselves are the embodiment of the moral bankruptcy of the proceeding generation. The ignorance of the past condemns them not only to failure, but to the repetition of the very conceit, lies, and misplaced trust that brought the idealism of previous generations to its knees.

I find the assertion of moral superiority coupled with the pretense of intellectual idealism and the exuberance of youth to be delusional and disgusting. There is no room for self-righteousness in a system that continues to support corruption, that places the good of the few over the many, that continues to stifle the expression of human freedom in the name of Christianity, And which at a very basic level continues to practice eugenics through the passive denial of healthcare.

And so we come to a podcast featuring Joanna Coles of The Daily Beast and Seth Moulton, a 40-something former Marine, who is running for political office in Massachusetts. Moulton was very quick to point out that he’s running against someone who will turn 80 this summer. That his competitor who has been in the Senate for some time is part of the failure of the system and whose age precludes his ability to bring meaningful change. But he in his early ’40s, he and all of his generation are armed with the tools required to save America from itself.

Having fought in Iraq, as a member of the military, Mr Moulton cannot claim either independence from the system or moral superiority. He fought in an immoral war willfully, a war which was not only immoral but illegal given the boundaries of the War Powers Act of 1973, and left behind him a trail of death, destruction, and debris that we engendered on a people without provocation or moral justification. In fact, the feigned existence of weapons of mass destruction was a lie perpetuated by the American government to justify what appears to be a personal vendetta on the part of George Bush to redeem the perceived damage done to the reputation of his father for having failed to overthrow Saddam Hussein in the First Gulf War.

Did Mr Moulton object to the war? He did not. His participation as a member of the American military in an immoral and illegal war removes any pretense of moral superiority on his part. To make matters worse, there is the pretense of moral superiority on the grounds that he fought for this country in a war. Clearly he fails to see that there is no moral superiority in fighting in an immoral and illegal war, or in the murder of innocent people in the name of a lie — not that actually finding weapons of mass destruction would have justified murder..

Moreover, Mr Moulton and those who fight in the military are not heroes. They are mercenaries. They are paid to fight and kill at the discretion of the rich and powerful. Mr Moulton does not see that serving the national interest is not by definition moral. Expedient yes. Moral no.

What do the following people have in common: Nancy Pelosi, Marjorie Taylor Green, Joe Biden, Mitch McConnell, Barack Obama? The answer is simple. They all became rich on the backs of the American people by connecting to the rich and powerful and by taking advantage of a system that rewards politicians who pretend to serve the common American. They’re not alone. Compare the net worth of any politician from the time they entered American government until the time they left. Or in the case of Marjorie Taylor Green and less than two terms in the House of Representatives, she has nearly tripled her net worth. That is not going to happen on the salary she was paid.

At least the Republicans have a measure of honesty absent among Democrats. They are very clear. Their goal is to give as much money to the rich as they possibly can in order to maintain their grip on power. They do so openly and without shame or moral conscience. The Democrats pretend to be the party of the people when in fact they are the party of corporations. I do not know if they are delusional or their consistent rhetoric is designed to woo the poor and those in need of assistance in order to enable them to give even more money to the rich and powerful.

But in the end it doesn’t matter who is in power. The parties will serve the rich and themselves. We are an afterthought. As we have seen in both Trump administrations, the Republicans will go so far as to acquiesce to Mr Trump no matter how outrageous or immoral his requests rather than face the possibility of being voted out of office.

Over the course of my lifetime, every attempt to engage in meaningful reform of the American government has gone nowhere. Insider trading on the part of members of Congress though immoral is still legal. Recent news articles suggest that sexual abuse on the part of a number of male members of Congress was common knowledge to their leadership and yet ignored because the strength of the personalities involved opened the possibility of increasing the power of a party. Citizens United versus the United States opened the door to rampant corruption through political action committees which operate with virtually no regulation, and who’s unlimited financial resources are viewed as tools to sway an election. Money begets power and power begets money. For the few.

I am not sure if the statistic I’m about to quote is still true but not many years ago there were four lobbyists in Washington for every one member of Congress. If there has been an attempt to limit the impact of lobbyists over the course of my lifetime It has in fact failed. It is clear that there is a revolving door between people who serve in the government and lobbying companies and yet nothing has been done to close the door. Politicians just look the other way. And why wouldn’t they when lobbyists carry money and favor and can assure funds for re-election?

If we’re so concerned about the age of people in Congress, why are there not term limits? The answer is clear. The desire for power never abates, and the self-righteous pretense of serving the good of this country outweighs the obvious incapacity of those who should no longer serve. Another part of the American delusion.

So if the projections are correct the Democrats retake the House of Representatives, how will the lives of the American people improve? There will be no meaningful improvement. In fact there will be no improvement. The rich will continue to bend the government to meet their needs, and the rest of us will have to make do with the crumbs that fall from the plates of the oligarchs. The House and the Senate will remain deadlocked unless the Democrats retake the Senate as well.

And here we return to the absurdity of Mr Moulton and his comments to Joanna Coles. According to Mr Moulton, once the Democrats have retaken Congress they will begin aggressively issuing subpoenas and holding hearings to expose the corruption of the Trump administration.

That is laughable.

And exactly what is his point?

Other than the sanctimonious pretense of moral superiority and outrage at the abuse of power what pray tell will any of this do? The answer is nothing.

Mr Trump has exposed a potentially fatal flaw in the American political system. If he chooses to ignore the courts, there is nothing the courts can do. This is especially true given the Supreme Court’s decision to grant him immunity from prosecution as long as he can pretend that what he is doing is an integral part of his office. Even if the Democrats take both the Senate and the House and subsequently impeach him and find him guilty, what will they do if he refuses to leave office?

Other than voice moral outrage, what will Mr. Moulton do? Nothing. There is no mechanism in place to force a president who has been tried and found guilty to leave office.

Mr Moulton reminded us several times during the podcast that he frequently holds Town Hall meetings so his constituents can speak to him. He listens. What precisely is the point of listening when there is no action? No meaningful change? A town hall that is not accompanied by action is nothing more than political masturbation. Mr Moulton can feel better about himself for having listened but it will not put food on the table of the hungry or provide healthcare to those who cannot afford it or bring meaningful tax reform so that the rich contribute fairly to the well-being of all of us.

While he listens, the educational infrastructure of the country will continue to fail.

While he listens, healthcare will continue to become the right of the few.

While he listens, the cost of housing will leave more and more Americans homeless.

While he listens, AI will eliminate more and more jobs,

While he listens, the American Dream will increasingly serve only the white who claim to be Christian.

The founders of this country designed a system that would not repeat the chaos of European parliamentary countries and the turmoil of continuous political upheaval. Stasis in fact provided stability in the 18th century for a country dominated by rich, Northern European whites who’s best interest was served by the government. There were no people of color at that constitutional convention, except to serve their White masters. There were no Asians. No Southern Europeans. No native Americans. No women. What we are seeing and experiencing today, which Mr Moulton as a white, affluent American cannot see, is a struggle between those who want to keep America white and wealthy and those of us who seek a nation that promotes the well-being and common good for all of us. That very stasis now stands in the way of meaningful political and social change. That the Constitution has endured largely unchanged for 250 years is not something to be proud of. It is something that should concern us, for the world as it was 250 years ago is no longer relevant and the United States of America that was white and affluent is not the America in which we now live.

So Mr Moulton, a simple question. Will you leave office when you reach 60 or will you repeat the pattern of remaining an office until you die or are forced out? No need to answer, sir. You will become like those who served before you. In fact, Mr Moulton, you have missed one of the most important measures of reality in our political system. You cannot successfully run for office without embodying the paradigm of the party to which you belong and that party has long ago lost connection to the world in which we live. Your political affiliation is the roadblock to meaningful change.

Grow up Mr Moulton.

Check your self righteousness and moral indignation at the door.

You, sir, are no different than the rest.

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