These days, a lot of Americans are scared. Our entire system of society and culture seems much less stable than it has since the Cold War ended. Since the anarchic alternative would be far less comfortable for almost everyone, increasing numbers of people are willing to fight others if necessary in order to preserve our way of life. The problem, as I see it, is that almost everyone is wrong about what the real threat is.
Many conservatives think the threat is immigrants, but in fact immigrants are generally very law-abiding and harvest much of the food that feeds our country, when they’re not serving as medical professionals or in other practically beneficial ways. Many liberals think the threat is rural white Americans, but in fact they also tend to be law-abiding as a group, and they plant much of the food that feeds our country. Other conservatives think the threat is socialism, but in reality there is no danger of any significant amount of socialism being adopted on a large scale, and on a small enough scale socialism in fact can work. Other liberals think the threat is religion, when in fact religion in general and Christianity in particular have been forces for stability in society (sometimes positively, sometimes excessively, such as when Christians prioritize stability over justice). Other conservatives blame the so-called “deep state” (stealing a page from Turkey’s conspiracy-theory propaganda), but in fact there is abundant evidence that most professionals in government continue to be professional and follow laws and policies (including physically protecting the president). Other liberals think the threat is simply Trump himself, but while I’m no admirer of the president, Donald J. Trump lived seventy years of his life without destabilizing American society. No, all of these are the wrong diagnosis. The real threats to our peace and prosperity are found elsewhere, but are all too present. (more…)
