By Patricia Lee Sharpe
(Thoughts provoked by Jill LaPore’s review, in The New Yorker, of new dystopian novels. The title of her piece: “No, We Cannot: The New Pessimism Comes of Age.”)
The Arab Spring was the apotheosis of deconstruction, it seems to me. Break it up. Pull it down. Assume the arrival of something better, like mushrooms appearing after rain. But watch out. Deadly amanitas often resemble the edible varieties.
The shattered regimes in Libya, Syria and Egypt were indubitably corrupt, abusive, unworthy of respect. They deserved to go. But little attention has been paid to the fact that they did one thing rather well. They kept diverse populations from beating up on one another. As we applauded the well-meaning rebels determined to pull down oppressors who had stayed on top by torturing, imprisoning or slaughtering opponents, we forgot about that aspect of governance. Only Tunisia so far has escaped the fate of internecine chaos or reversion to the status quo ante — and observers are still holding their breath over that one.
Institutions Are Vital
Democracy is a wonderful ideal, but to function it must be institutionalized—and hordes of honest, hard-working, knowledgeable people are needed to run those institutions. When Mubarak fell, only the Islamists had the organizational skills to grab the reins, which led disgruntled liberals to take to the streets again. Twice defeated by an inability to institutionalize their ideals, the reformers ended up with yet another military dictator instead of democracy.
Donald Trump, for his part, is very good at tearing things apart. Alliances. Agreements. Contracts. Duties. Obligations. Marriages. Whatever. He’s the proverbial bull in a china shop. Smash! Smash! Smash! And then he walks out without paying. That’s his reputation as a businessman, and he’s doing his best to recapitulate those self-proclaimed successes as President. Whatever his predecessor built he's determined to tear down. His accomplishments so far? Endless tweets. Strutting selfies. Over-staged signings. Showy John Hancocks. Institutionalized change? Minimal. Fortunately.
What a great organizer Donald Trump is! What a great leader! Corraling his whole Cabinet for the purpose of entertaining their declarations of humble, unadulterated loyalty (so unlike the mere honesty of ex-FBI director James Comey, that ungrateful wretch), Trump smiled happily as his minions (Pentagon chief Mattis excepted) piped up. “You’re the best, Oh Great One! We love you, oh master!” What a scene! And it was all for attribution, with cameras rolling, after which the Preener-in-Chief agreed. “I’m the best.”
No Money, No people, No Democracy
This isn't to say that Donald Trump hasn't been weakening and undermining U.S. and international institutions as much as he can with great glee, and he’s lit upon two astonishingly simple ways to bring down the entire American government: cut the budget and don’t staff political or civil service vacancies. As a result, the Trump administration is increasingly presiding over a pyramid of Swiss cheese. Critical departments, not only State but even the Treasury, are riddled with vacancies he can’t blame on the Democrats, because he hasn’t come forth with qualified, willing nominees. Hundreds of positions that don’t require a Senate vote are also yet to be filled. Even if Congress got generous and fully funded every department in the U.S. government, little would get done. There’s no one to do it!
In short, Donald Trump has been systematically hollowing out America’s organizational infrastructure while equally methodically destroying her network of political and economic alliances. He’s even managed to exacerbate a Russian-inspired rift among the states occupying the Arabian peninsula, one the site of a sensitive U.S. air base.
Thus, although Trump has few good words for diplomacy, he has created a need for many more diplomats than Congress has allowed the State Department to recruit for lo! these many years. One by one posts have been closed. The remaining posts struggle on, pathetically understaffed, even when all currently authorized slots are occupied. Yet Donald Trump has recommended further, far more drastic cuts to the State Department budget.
A Frightening Big Picture
Stupidity? Malignity? Blundering egoism? Any of these would be bad enough. But considering the pattern more dispassionately (and absolutely certain that The Donald is clever if not brilliant), I can’t help seeing something more insidious. It appears that our president is knowingly and methodically destroying the institutions that are needed to make our country work. At the same time, he is severing us from the sympathy and support of long standing allies. The convergence of these destructive trends would create...are you ready? A weak defenseless country.
A funny way to “make America great again.”
Why would Donald Trump chose to do this? I don’t know. Perhaps the multitude of investigations already under way will give us some answers. Perhaps psychiatry would be a better guide.
The Bait-and-Switch Gambit
It’s said that Donald Trump’s core supporters are still happily rejoicing in his victory over arrogant elites, but a whopping 65% of the country takes issue with that base and with the sycophantic billionaires in Donald Trump’s Cabinet. This majority is deeply distressed, even depressed, about the trajectory of his presidency.
In fact, a persistent low grade depression appears to be the new normal for a country that used to be ebulliently full of optimism. Is anyone feeling the can-do spirit these days? Is anyone busting out with ideas that will get America going again? (Actually, sober analysts insist that the U.S. has recovered nicely from the recent recession, but what good is that if so many people don't feel it?) Even the most ardent Trump supporters don’t evince the let’s-pitch-in-and-get-the-job-done elan that used to characterize all sorts of Americans. They’re waiting for Daddy to take care of them. Soon, soon, they pray, Daddy will pop in the door with a bagful of delights.
A Master Builder?
Sorry, Virginia, Sugar Daddy Trump won’t be bringing any goodies any time soon. Forget about decent jobs, honest health care, a salubrious environment, a strong secure position in an orderly world. You’ll have to cuddle up with promises, promises, promises, because Daddy is too busy coddling himself (note the gathering legal storm over his financial entanglements) and figuring out how to lower taxes on his fellow denizens of the financial stratosphere.
When I think of deconstruction, as too often practiced, I visualize the bully on the beach, kicking down the little kids’ sand castles. I think of the two-year old who loves to knock over towers he’s still too immature to build. I think of too many males, taught to strut and never to serve. I think of Donald Trump, the prince of bling, bilking and bankruptcy. I think of poisonous mushrooms that look delicious from the outside.
For instance, how can America rebuild and become "great again,” if the Trump budget cuts R & D projects to the bone? How can we improve our infrastructure without serious, strategic investment? Trump has offered one answer to that. He doesn’t want the government to build bridges, roads, high speed rail. He'll enlist the private sector instead. Big contracting companies will make billions. The rest of us will be paying tolls as soon as we back out of the driveway. (Now that China’s President Xi has granted so many favors to Trump-associated enterprises, my favorite nightmare scenario has Trump granting contracts to Chinese companies. Chinese management. Chinese labor. So much for U.S. jobs.) Less fancifully, the private sector has a miserable record when it comes to completing major infrastructure projects on time and on budget, and here’s some evidence.
Pessimism & Passivity: Dangerous Twins
At a time like this, we desperately need an alt-vision. But even our best writers appear to be in the dumps, according to Jill LaPore, who has given herself the unhappy task of reviewing “an outpouring of novels that are pessimistic about technology, about the economy, about politics and about the planet.” Having discussed dystopian novels like Ben H. Winter’s Underground Airlines, Omar el Akkad’s American War and Lidia Yuknavitch’s The Book of Joan, as well as the Amerian TV version of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, LaPore concludes that dystopia has become “a fiction of submission” and that it hits too close to home:
[Dystopia] cannot imagine a better future and it doesn’t ask anyone to bother to make one. It nurses grievances and indulgences resentments. It doesn’t call for courage; it finds that cowardice suffices....It appeals to both the left and the right because, in the end, it requires so little by way of literary, political, or moral imagination, asking only that you enjoy the company of people whose fear of the future aligns comfortably wit your own. Left or right, the radical pessimism of an unremitting dystopianism has itself contributed to the unraveling of the liberal state and the weakening of a commitment to political pluralism.
Passivity always generates excuses. Most of us are too “busy” to participate actively in the business of citizenship. Instead we blame a nemesis like the Koch brothers or George Soros for the disfigurement of American politics. Worse, we look for saviors, and this summer’s movie roster is cursed, as usual, by super heroes who will save us from one fearsome horror or another. (From this point of view, the advent of a well-made Wonder Woman is not good news.) Unfortunately, via saviors and super heroes, lies dictatorship, the kind of regime that Donald Trump would gleefully control should he succeed in smashing the institutions and ethical constraints that presently stand in his way.