Aping America

Who knew it was going to take this long to get the orange joke out of the White House.

Not content with suffering under four years of the reign of His Royal Pain, millions of Americans went to the ballot and voted to suffer for an additional four. Which boggled every pundit’s mind, because the expectation was, there would be a landslide this 2020 presidential elections, and Joe Biden would cruise to victory.

No such cruise in sight yet, as the Donald is digging in his heels, and in further damage to the venerable institution that is democracy, he did exactly what everybody wanted Obama to do, and is refusing to transfer the seat of power to his challenger.

But Trump is being enabled by these millions of his followers, who subscribe to his point of view, who put their faith in his empty promises, and who unquestioningly endorse his actions. What gives, America?

We have been indoctrinated to believe the American myth, that the US of A is the pinnacle of democratic achievement, that we must aspire to reach the heights of civilization by adopting well-thought through systems of governance - all by just looking at and then aping America. But what we see today isn’t lofty or awe-inspiring or even just inspiring, in general.

We see a fractured nation, one of many (not just one) divisions, a country that radically disagrees with itself to the point of self-destruction.

We never bother to focus on the meaning of the “United States of America” - or the word “United”. But if we were to think about, we see no such thing. Instead, we are witness to fissures on so many levels that perhaps, it is better to contemplate a scenario where like-minded states, those that are indeed united in their thinking, simply go their separate ways.

So why not split America into three or four regions? The coasts could go their separate ways, California and neighbors being rich enough, and the East being smart enough, to stand alone. The middle could go their Trumpist path, pushing back immigrants, disallowing abortions, hosting conservative pastor-based faiths, and in general just farming corn and breeding cows. And maybe the south can merge with Mexico or something, let’s see how well the gringos blend in.

(Oh yeah, not an original idea, by the way. I’ve seen science fiction writers like Richard Morgan create alternative futures where the states have pretty much split along ideological lines, and Jesusland reigns supreme in the middle.)

Might not that be the solution? It’s just acknowledging reality, anyway. America has been divided ever since, including on soul-baring issues like slavery, or inane but deeply consequential dilemmas like liquor bans. Now, those divisions run the gamut, with extremely disparate viewpoints on abortion, LGBTQ rights, religion, race, and even science, for crying out loud. (Should they set aside a separate territory for Martian-loving, alien-fearing Qanons?)

If the ideological divisions are so far away from each other, including on fundamental notions of respect, justice, and values, what are they united about, exactly? They’re not united against China. They’re not united on respect for human rights. They’re not united on a peaceful electoral process. What are you uniting for, exactly?

Tell us. As an outsider seeking to understand you, give me the goods. Serve me the dish. School me. Don’t see no unity there, as yet. Did you want to do some soul-searching first, and get back to us, the rest of the world?

So, president-elect Biden, the task of uniting is formidable, but I guess that’s your job now. Best of luck from a democratic-ish nation, this side of the world. Maybe we can learn from you, but the damage has been done. We’re now looking askance.