The Danger Is Real

I’m reading a book titled “UPSWING,” by Robert D. Putnam. It’s an analysis of the upswings and downturns in social, cultural, political, economic, religious and ethnic thinking and conditions in the last 125 years. One chapter, “Culture: Individualism vs. Community,” seemed especially relevant to the dangers emanating from the 2020 elections.

The campaign starkly revealed the opposite poles of that chapter’s title. Of course we don’t normally think of those terms as representing anything other than individual liberty (good), as well as community responsibility (also good). Democracy is supposed to be the ideal mixture of the two. But what we saw in the 2020 campaign was divisive individualism (“Lock her up!”) vs. emphasis on community, with its clarion call for unity (“We are not red states or blue states, we are the United States!”). I don’t have to tell you who espoused what.

The favorable results, however, while setting us on a path toward unity of purpose in the fight against the pandemic and for equality of opportunity, did not eliminate the poisonous affliction of divisiveness propagated by President Trump. And he’s doubling down on it. At this writing he is still insisting that the election was stolen from him, and is encouraging his supporters to continue the fight against the results, despite his having lost by 7 million votes. And his multi-state legal attempts have been tossed out of court by every judge — Republican as well as Democrat!

But we can’t ignore the fact that Donald Trump — after four years of blatant incompetence, racism, incessant lying (most deadly about Covid-19), and enriching himself as well as the already wealthy (He reportedly told his cohorts at Mar a Lago after passage of his tax plan, “I just made you guys a lot richer”) — received over 73 million votes!

There are elements among those voters who are out-and-out racists and neo-Nazis. They will have to be dealt with lawfully if and when they stir up violence. But the vast majority of his supporters are decent, law-abiding citizens, who, for one reason or another, were taken in by Trump’s con man anti-politician tactics.

The only way to deal with this dangerous situation is to work toward unity via the programs put forth by Joe Biden, and even to press for greater reforms enunciated by Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.

A major impediment toward moving our country forward, however, would be if the Republicans keep control of the Senate. The elections in Georgia on Jan. 5 will be critical. We should do all we can — especially financially — to support Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff in their senatorial bids.