National Post (National Edition)
You can't judge the U.S. by its politics.
YOU CAN'T JUDGE THE UNITED STATES BY ITS POLITICS. IT'S SO MUCH MORE
HE GOT WHAT HE WANTED: HE BECAME PRESIDENT, A TITLE THAT, IN THE UNITED STATES, FOLLOWS ONE AROUND FOR LIFE AS IF IT WERE AN EARLDOM. — COSH
WE'VE SEEN FIRST-HAND ITS DECENCY AND GOODNESS.
It's been a stressful few days to say the least. The protracted ballot counting, slow yet steady shifts in state-level results and President Donald Trump's unpresidential behaviour have contributed to heightened tensions in American society. One gets the sense that the entire country has been suspended in a temporary yet fragile ceasefire as we await the final outcome.
These strains have even been felt by those living outside the U.S. borders. My friend J.J. McCullough, for instance, recently wrote in the Washington Post about how exhausting it all is from his vantage point in British Columbia. As he puts it: “today too many of us are menaced by U.S. elections.”
It's one thing, though, to talk about the extent to which the intensity of U.S. political polarization permeates its borders and another to exaggerate the instability of America's democracy and its broader society. The growing punditocratic industry of articles, columns, op-eds, blog posts, videos and tweet storms about how “American society is broken” or that “America is a failed state” is not only boringly conventional. It's wrong.
My wife and I have lived in New York City for just over a year. We're actually returning to Canada this weekend, but that has nothing to do with the presidential election and its possible outcomes. It's a total coincidence. It's the draw of family and friends rather than political considerations that's
bringing us home.
That our time here has coincided with the global pandemic and a tumultuous election has given us a window into both the best and worst of American society. It's complicated to be sure. Lincoln's famous admonition about an “imperfect union” remains deeply true today.
We've seen how the country's dynamism and inequities are two sides of the same coin. How its national politics can seem so dysfunctional when its localized civil society remains robust in most places. And how
a small share of the population — including those whom New York Times columnist David Brooks has called adherents to the secular religions of “Trumpism” and “Wokeism” — has come to disproportionately shape how we think about American culture and politics.
This isn't an apology for
the obvious flaws of American society. There's too much inequality, racial injustice, and social and political discord. These trends are self-evidently bad. They've contributed to a decline of trust, solidarity and national purpose.
One example from our own experience: the racialized
politics of gentrification in parts of New York City is a far more serious issue than in major Canadians cities. It has the potential to become a flashpoint in the coming years as more white, professional-class households congregate to “superstar cities” like Brooklyn and Boston and in turn displace traditional, minority communities.
Yet, notwithstanding these challenges, it would be wrong for readers to write off the United States. It's still the most innovative, dynamic and charitable country in the world. It's still the place that people like my wife and
I come to from around the world in search of new and exciting opportunities.
We've seen first-hand its decency and goodness. I often say that, if you want to feel good about America, go to Prospect Park in Brooklyn on a Saturday. You'll see families and friends pour out of their apartments into the park to celebrate birthdays, bar mitzvahs, weddings and graduations. The park is temporarily taken over for an afternoon each week by balloons, barbecues, laughter and love. It's a rich tapestry of culture and civil society that reflects de Tocqueville's essential insight about Americans' unique mix of individualism and associationalism.
Spending a day in the park surrounded by these beautiful scenes of community is a useful reminder that American society isn't defined by the loudest voices on Twitter or cable news. Most Americans aren' t seized by Donald Trump's latest incendiary tweet or left-wing protests. They're doing their best to raise their families and contribute to their communities.
Their lives are a rejection of the overpoliticization of modern American culture. It's a lesson that a lot of elite commentators ought to learn. National politics shouldn't matter that much. It's not a source of meaning and it can't be a path to salvation.
As I write this column, Joe Biden is approaching victory. His success, in part, reflects this anti-political persuasion. His principal campaign proposition was to restore a degree of normalcy to national politics and record numbers of Americans voted for him. It's a sign that most people want politics to recede to its proper place in a liberal society and a rebuttal to those who've once again prematurely written America's obituary.