A friend invited me to a discussion of blasphemy in Islamic law. Watching, I realized that the issue was sparked by extremist reactions to complexity, modernity and changes that make our lives more complex, and affect all of us, all religions, races, and nationalities.
To liberals, conservatives look like cowards, terrified by complexity and science, intolerant of differences, scared of dealing with people of color or liberals without the aid of bang-bangs; they look like scaredy-cats who become, support or protect, terrorists, traitors, racists, and misogynists – causing very serious injury. Underlying the alt-wrong’s extremism and name-calling, liberals see fear.
If the liberals correctly understand the alt-wrong’s motivation for hate-speech and hate-crimes, some of their fears could be lessened in ways that strengthen rather than weaken the country.
Smart economics would moderate the blows to blue-collar workers. I suspect Biden will be working on that. But the loudest-yelling conservatives reject government effort to ease the blow to blue-collar workers, reject funding infrastructure, reject expanding the safety net, reject programs to help parents take care of their kids. Their stereotypes tell them that others would benefit, not them. The screamers would leave workers to their own devices, or to go down the tubes. Yet a safety net and paths to good jobs so people could support their families would calm some of the angst. If the economy is handled properly, everyone would benefit. That’s a liberal solution but one that could weaken support for conservative scape-goating.
But the confusion of that economic problem with other issues undercuts the blue-collar case among conservatives. People who are better off have repeatedly divided and conquered the working class with social issues – the many disputes over the place of women, African- and Native-Americans, other people of color, and people with different native languages and sexual orientations. Conservatives fuss about what they call identity politics, but bring it on by refusing to treat people properly.
It’s tempting to think social differences might be eased by a version of when in Rome do as the Romans do – often expressed as federalism in American constitutional law. But federalism is unacceptable when used to deprive others of essential freedoms. Conservative demands, which they describe as freedom for themselves, are all about denying freedom to women, Blacks and others. That’s not freedom but a throwback to slavery. And federalism doesn’t work when their actions affect us all – like gerrymandering congressional elections or encouraging the spread of the pandemic. If some of the most prejudiced parts of the country could live their pre-modern lives without hurting the rest of us, they could be backwaters in an otherwise progressive country. But those lines are very hard to draw. As John Donne wrote centuries ago, none of us is an island, entire of itself. Given that conservatives don’t just want to be allowed to live their own way, but to turn it into law that binds, limits and even destroys the lives of others, there are no good solutions for the social issues as there are on the economic issues.
I feel very lucky that I’m not in Biden’s shoes. I had the same dream that many other Americans have growing up. Now I think Biden’s job is just too darn hard. But at least the economic issues can be solved.
Steve Gottlieb’s latest book is Unfit for Democracy: The Roberts Court and The Breakdown of American Politics. He is the Jay and Ruth Caplan Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Albany Law School, served on the New York Civil Liberties Union board, on the New York Advisory Committee to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, and as a US Peace Corps Volunteer in Iran.
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