WHAT IS CIVIC REPUBLICANISM?

 

                      …An example of “civic barbarism” on the nation’s Capitol

 

Today, only one of the nation’s two-party system is functioning. 

This term, “civic republicanism” is one of the most important parts of American ideology.  What it means is that we have a just society that is consciously constructed by citizens that possess certain virtues.  For a democracy in particular, it depends on those people who take responsibility for their communities.  They must show an active concern for the welfare of their neighbors, demand integrity from public officials, defend the rule of law, and respect the rights and dignity of others.

Without these moral commitments, a majority is merely a mob, such as the one that under the directions of former U.S. President Donald Trump, it was the “mob” that attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6^th.

The reality is that  Donald Trump’s promise of America’s strength has instead involved the betrayal of the American identity.

What type of citizen has Trump and his supportive partisan media produced?  The U.S. Representative,  Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) still holds her job in Congress, only because she is a representative of ascendant MAGA radicalism. Those who reflect her overt racism, her unhinged conspiracy thinking and her endorsement of violence against public figures are now treated as a serious political constituency within the current Republican Party.  Trump has come down firmly on Greene’s side.  One participant in the Jan. 6 attack actually sent a video to Ms. Greene’s children saying: “We broke into the Capitol. . . . We got inside, we did our part. We were looking for Nancy [Pelosi] to shoot her in the friggin’ brain, but we didn’t find her.”

The detail that really gets to me? The mob participant sent this video to the representative’s children. Ms. Greene was apparently living in a mental world where vile, shameful things that are hers as a parent’s boast.  And she must have seen the mob’s actions as the expression of a public duty, and as an example of her doing her part.

This action is called “civic barbarism”.  Instead of promoting the values of a responsible citizenship, Trump and his media enablers are elevating and blessing the very worst among us.  They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors.  They are doing so, for the reason some of the nation’s Founders most feared: “To lead the mob against true democracy.”

How can anyone view the trashing of our founding tradition as any evidence of patriotism?

This is apparently, because some in America have adopted a very different political philosophy than our Founders held.  This approach to government promises the recovery of a mythical past.  It feeds a sense of White victimhood.  It emphasizes emotion over reason.  It denigrates experts and expertise.  It slanders outsiders and blames them for social and economic ills.  It warns of global plots by Jews and shadowy elites. It accepts the lies of the leader as its deep form of political truth.  It revels in anger and dehumanization.  It praises law and order while reserving the right to disobey the law and overturn the political order through violence.

The 45th president and a significant portion of his supporters have embraced American fascism.  Trump’s buffoonery does not disprove the point.  Though he probably cannot name the political theory he has embraced, his own recklessness, his vanity and his authoritarian instincts have led him down fascist paths.  He displays an intuitive affinity for leaders such as Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Hungary’s Viktor Orban.  In addition, Trump would have subverted the legitimate result of the 2020 presidential election if he could have, which would have broken a constitutional continuity that has endured over two centuries.

Trump did not come particularly close to any success this time.  But the influence of his treacherous ideology is still being spread by many unprincipled people seeking influence and profit.  And this American fascism needs to be aggressively marginalized.

But this won’t happen if responsible Republicans decline to engage the debate or leave the field entirely.  Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), they all need reinforcements. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) needs to be relentlessly ridiculed for his weaknesses.

The task of marginalization will also be more difficult if those on the left try to lump all conservatives into Trump’s camp.  Especially if they argue that fascism is somehow the natural destination of Barry Goldwater’s nomination or Ronald Reagan’s presidency.  This is totally rubbish.  And there is a massive moral gap between the politics of George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, John McCain and Mitt Romney on one side, and Trump’s civic barbarism.

Much about the United States’ political future will depend on shaping a compelling, responsible American conservatism as an alternative to the Trump temptation.

This may or may not happen within the GOP.  But for American democracy to fully function, civic republicanism will eventually need to find a home in the political right. 

As of today, only one of the nation’s two party system is functioning.  Hopefully, the Grand Old Party will gain back its functioning as it did in its former position as a responsible Republican Party.

Copyright G. Ater 2021