The fact that we’ve reached a point where citizens can feasibly debate whether the leading candidate for the presidential nomination of one of our two major political parties more closely resembles Hitler or Mussolini is worrisome.
But America isn’t Germany between the wars, and these Third-Reichian accusations against Donald Trump are overwrought. Certainly, Trump has tapped into a subset of American sentiment that thrives on a sense of grievance, threat from outsiders and alienation from the mainstream. In his politics, a reasonable response is resentful belligerence — fighting back, sometimes literally.
But this sentiment isn’t new, and it ebbs and flows in response to circumstances and to the success with which politicians are able to agitate it.
Merle Haggard died on April 6. He climbed the charts in 1970 — in the middle of the Vietnam War — with “The Fightin’ Side of Me,” a song based on the distinction between the singer’s “country” and the malcontents “harpin’ on the wars we fight and gripin’ ’bout the way things oughta be.”
The song serves as “a warning” that the dialogue has reached the point of fisticuffs. Its refrain relies on an intolerant and arguably un-American sentiment: “If you don’t love it, leave it.” Actually, “The Fightin’ Side of Me” could serve as the Trump campaign’s theme song.
Trump’s rise is bad news for the country. But there’s good news, too: Our nation’s been able to overcome this type of demagoguery in the past, and it will this time, as well. Our better instincts will prevail, and the collective voting will of the people will express its wisdom: Trump will never become president.
If I’m wrong about this, well, everything has changed.
But in the midst of an ugly presidential campaign, there are other good signs out there that imply a healthy national trajectory. It’s a good time to notice some of them.
For example, we continue to demythologize the Confederacy. All across the country statues of Confederate heroes are being removed from public places. Schools and parks are being renamed, and the Confederate battle flag has been removed from capitol grounds.
This movement is largely the result of pressure applied to legislators by citizens who recognize the terrible irony of using public space and money to celebrate men who fought to preserve slavery.
Of course, there are still plenty of towns and parks and streets named after Confederate generals, but there are unlikely to be any new ones.
What else is there in the way of good news? SeaWorld has decided to stop breeding killer whales in captivity. Ringling Brothers has retired its traveling performing elephants to a refuge in Florida. Walmart has decided to sell only cage-free eggs.
The motives of big corporations are usually mixed; sometimes they do the right thing in response to pressure from consumers, as in these cases. But when they do the right thing, they should get credit for it.
And a number of corporations and other organizations are doing the right thing in North Carolina, as well, in response to its legislature’s passage of a law that blocks local jurisdictions from implementing measures against discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identification. A number of events scheduled in North Carolina have been cancelled and the Center for American Progress predicts an economic impact of a half-billion dollars.
Of course, not everyone agrees that these are good tactics or supports their goals. Still, during a presidential campaign that has opened a door on our unseemly potential for mean-spirited intolerance, it’s worth noting, as well, our enduring inclination toward open-minded inclusion.
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