The 250 Paradox

Celebrating America, hating its current direction, and seeing hope

Image credit: Dori Drebek, Unsplash.com

With the approach of the 250th anniversary of my country’s independence, I, like many opponents of the Trump administration, have mixed feelings.

Obviously, we feel great patriotism and pride that our country has been a world leader in many ways, economically, militarily, morally, culturally, etc., for much of our history, particularly over the last century.

While our country has serious problems, and always has, generally, we’ve been respected and admired for much of that history. In recent years, that has changed, and our government under Trump has betrayed so many of our founding principles and sullied our reputation.

It seems a tricky balance then to celebrate our country and, at the same time, be horrified about what its current government is doing.

There’s also apprehension that the administration will turn a truly historic anniversary into a garish, coarse display of militant nationalism and cult of personality, and ignore that our true strength lies in how we behave in pursuit of our founding principles. This apprehension was born out in the tawdry, corrupt display of the UFC fight on the south lawn of the White House this past weekend. A paltry 16% of Americans, including only a third of Republicans, approved of holding the event at the White House.

But there’s been an interesting confluence of events recently, and I feel something is shifting.

Since the start of the World Cup, I’ve been seeing stories and videos of foreign visitors’ amazed reactions to American culture. From the Tartan Army of Scotland drinking Boston dry to visitors from many countries marvelling at free refills, large portion sizes, the vastness of Costco, and our beautiful national parks, these videos bring an involuntary smile.

But more important than our prosperity, you also see stories about how foreigners find everyday Americans to be so warm, friendly, and welcoming. I know that many of these experiences occur in both urban and rural areas — in politically blue and red America. It just reinforces the basic goodness of American citizens everywhere.

These scenes also remind me that part of why we feel so divided is that, to some extent, that division is intentional. It’s intended to distract us from solvable problems, from minority rule through undemocratic means, to fear monger and blame “others” for failures of government leadership, and importantly, to profit from our algorithmically enhanced conflict.

Another refreshing reminder of America’s greatness is the recent opening of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago. Featuring past presidents — both Republicans and Democrats — and the soaring rhetoric of both President Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama, it reminded me of a time of competence, compassion, and disagreement without demonization. For all of us, particularly younger people, it can seem hard to remember those times being not just possible, but routine.

The final event driving a shift in mindset is the Iran war.

The core of the current president’s personal brand is strength. To demonstrate that brand, he tries various horrible things e.g. cracking down on immigrants, prosecuting enemies. And to preserve that brand, he quickly pivots away and commits some other headline-grabbing act when his demonstrations go south — ie. Minnesota fights back, the cases against his enemies fall apart.

The Iran war debacle has severely damaged that brand because — so far — he hasn’t been able to pivot away. The Iranians have him on the hook, they know it, and he can’t distract his way out of it. His capitulation this week is probably the best he can salvage. Even his allies are criticizing it.

The weakness and poor judgment shown by the war, combined with his obvious physical and mental infirmities, lead to an encouraging conclusion: Trumpism is nearing an end.

Regardless of the outcome of the midterms, Trumpism is a fading brand as there isn’t a figure on the right that can continually churn up and harvest toxic energy like the president has over the past ten years. To be clear, enormous damage can still be done by Trump and his enablers. Obviously, we need to resist, organize, and vote. But the basic goodness of Americans demonstrated by our treatment of foreign visitors, the reminder of competent, compassionate leadership demonstrated by the Obama Center opening, and the decline of Trump, should give us hope for the future.

Happy 250th America! We’ve gone through a lot. We’re going to go through more. But we’re going to be alright.

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This article is 100% human written.