West writes: "The rule of Big Money and its attendant culture of cupidity
and mendacity have led to our grand moment of spiritual blackout."
Professor Cornel West. (photo: VICE)
Spiritual Blackout in America: Election 2016
By Cornel West, The Boston Globe
04 November 16
The most frightening feature of the civic melancholia in present-day
America is the relative collapse of integrity, honesty, and decency - an
undeniable spiritual blackout of grand proportions. The sad spectacle of the
presidential election is no surprise. Rather, the neofascist catastrophe
called Donald Trump and the neoliberal disaster named Hillary Clinton are
predictable symbols of our spiritual blackout. Trump dislodged an inert
conservative establishment by unleashing an ugly contempt for liberal elites
and vulnerable citizens of color - and the mainstream media followed every
performance (even his tweets!) for financial gain. Clinton laid bare a
dishonest liberal establishment that was unfair to Bernie Sanders and
obsessed with winning at any cost - and the mainstream media selectively
weighed in for pecuniary ends.
In short, the rule of Big Money and its attendant culture of cupidity and
mendacity have led to our grand moment of spiritual blackout. The founder of
Western philosophy, Plato, foresaw this scenario. In "The Republic" -
history's most profound critique of democratic regimes - Plato argues that
democracies produce citizens of unruly passion and pervasive ignorance,
manipulated by greedy elites and mendacious politicians. The result is
tyranny - the rule of a strong man driven by appetites, corruption, and
secrecy. There is no doubt that Trump meets this description more so than
Clinton. Yet neoliberals like Clinton bear some responsibility for the anger
and anguish of Trump's followers - especially those white male working and
middle-class citizens who have been devastated by neoliberal economic
policies of deregulation, NAFTA, and Wall Street protection. The vicious
xenophobia toward women, Mexicans, the disabled, gays, Muslims, Jews, and
blacks are the sole fault of the Trump campaign. Yet the rule of Big Money
in capitalist USA downplays the catastrophic effects of global warming, of
poverty, and of drones killing innocent people - all the common ground of
Trump and Clinton.
For over a century, the best response to Plato's critique of democracy has
been John Dewey's claim that precious and fragile democratic experiments
must put a premium on democratic statecraft (public accountability,
protection of rights and liberties, as well as personal responsibility,
embedded in a fair rule of law) and especially on democratic soulcraft
(integrity, empathy, and a mature sense of history). For Plato, democratic
regimes collapse owing to the slavish souls of citizens driven by hedonism
and narcissism, mendacity and venality. Dewey replies that this kind of
spiritual blackout can be overcome by robust democratic education and
courageous exemplars grounded in the spread of critical intelligence, moral
compassion, and historical humility. The 2016 election presents a dangerous
question as to whether Dewey's challenge to Plato's critique can be met.
Yet Clinton is not a strong agent for Dewey's response. There is no doubt
that if she becomes the first woman president of the United States - though
I prefer Jill Stein, of the Green Party - Clinton will be smart, even
brilliant, in office. But like her predecessor, Barack Obama, she promotes
the same neoliberal policies that increase inequality and racial
polarization that will produce the next Trump. More important, she embraces
Trump-like figures abroad, be they in Saudi Arabia, Honduras, Israel, or
Syria - figures of ugly xenophobia and militaristic policies. The same
self-righteous neoliberal soulcraft of smartness, dollars, and bombs lands
us even deeper in our spiritual blackout. Instead we need a democratic
soulcraft of wisdom, justice, and peace - the dreams of courageous freedom
fighters like Martin Luther King Jr., Abraham Joshua Heschel, Edward Said,
and Dorothy Day. These dreams now lie dormant at this bleak moment, but
spiritual and democratic awakenings are afoot among the ripe ones,
especially those in the younger generation.
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.
Professor Cornel West. (photo: VICE)
https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2016/11/03/spiritual-blackout-america-el
ection/v7lWSybxux1OPoBg56dgsL/story.htmlhttps://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/
2016/11/03/spiritual-blackout-america-election/v7lWSybxux1OPoBg56dgsL/story.
html
Spiritual Blackout in America: Election 2016
By Cornel West, The Boston Globe
04 November 16
he most frightening feature of the civic melancholia in present-day America
is the relative collapse of integrity, honesty, and decency - an undeniable
spiritual blackout of grand proportions. The sad spectacle of the
presidential election is no surprise. Rather, the neofascist catastrophe
called Donald Trump and the neoliberal disaster named Hillary Clinton are
predictable symbols of our spiritual blackout. Trump dislodged an inert
conservative establishment by unleashing an ugly contempt for liberal elites
and vulnerable citizens of color - and the mainstream media followed every
performance (even his tweets!) for financial gain. Clinton laid bare a
dishonest liberal establishment that was unfair to Bernie Sanders and
obsessed with winning at any cost - and the mainstream media selectively
weighed in for pecuniary ends.
In short, the rule of Big Money and its attendant culture of cupidity and
mendacity have led to our grand moment of spiritual blackout. The founder of
Western philosophy, Plato, foresaw this scenario. In "The Republic" -
history's most profound critique of democratic regimes - Plato argues that
democracies produce citizens of unruly passion and pervasive ignorance,
manipulated by greedy elites and mendacious politicians. The result is
tyranny - the rule of a strong man driven by appetites, corruption, and
secrecy. There is no doubt that Trump meets this description more so than
Clinton. Yet neoliberals like Clinton bear some responsibility for the anger
and anguish of Trump's followers - especially those white male working and
middle-class citizens who have been devastated by neoliberal economic
policies of deregulation, NAFTA, and Wall Street protection. The vicious
xenophobia toward women, Mexicans, the disabled, gays, Muslims, Jews, and
blacks are the sole fault of the Trump campaign. Yet the rule of Big Money
in capitalist USA downplays the catastrophic effects of global warming, of
poverty, and of drones killing innocent people - all the common ground of
Trump and Clinton.
For over a century, the best response to Plato's critique of democracy has
been John Dewey's claim that precious and fragile democratic experiments
must put a premium on democratic statecraft (public accountability,
protection of rights and liberties, as well as personal responsibility,
embedded in a fair rule of law) and especially on democratic soulcraft
(integrity, empathy, and a mature sense of history). For Plato, democratic
regimes collapse owing to the slavish souls of citizens driven by hedonism
and narcissism, mendacity and venality. Dewey replies that this kind of
spiritual blackout can be overcome by robust democratic education and
courageous exemplars grounded in the spread of critical intelligence, moral
compassion, and historical humility. The 2016 election presents a dangerous
question as to whether Dewey's challenge to Plato's critique can be met.
Yet Clinton is not a strong agent for Dewey's response. There is no doubt
that if she becomes the first woman president of the United States - though
I prefer Jill Stein, of the Green Party - Clinton will be smart, even
brilliant, in office. But like her predecessor, Barack Obama, she promotes
the same neoliberal policies that increase inequality and racial
polarization that will produce the next Trump. More important, she embraces
Trump-like figures abroad, be they in Saudi Arabia, Honduras, Israel, or
Syria - figures of ugly xenophobia and militaristic policies. The same
self-righteous neoliberal soulcraft of smartness, dollars, and bombs lands
us even deeper in our spiritual blackout. Instead we need a democratic
soulcraft of wisdom, justice, and peace - the dreams of courageous freedom
fighters like Martin Luther King Jr., Abraham Joshua Heschel, Edward Said,
and Dorothy Day. These dreams now lie dormant at this bleak moment, but
spiritual and democratic awakenings are afoot among the ripe ones,
especially those in the younger generation.
http://e-max.it/posizionamento-siti-web/socialize
http://e-max.it/posizionamento-siti-web/socialize
