Ruled by tweets
The Founders helped save us from ourselves
If you’re over the age of 40, you probably are not on Twitter — the social media platform that allows people to make short comments to their followers. I am on it, mostly for professional reasons. I wish I did not have to be. Privileging snarky comments and crude asides, it tends to coarsen the discourse more than anything else.
Still, it has its occasional insights. Given the rapid-fire nature of the platform, it lends itself to knee-jerk reactions. In so doing, it provides a cybernetic view of what we might call the American id, and thus reminds us just how much Americans are capable of hating one another.
This was on full display last weekend, in the wake of the horrible shooting at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas. Almost as soon as news of the Sunday morning massacre broke, liberals poured scorned on conservatives, Christians, politicians and the National Rifle Association for failing to enact gun-control legislation. This was before any facts of the case were known — and indeed, in the aftermath it became clear that, by law, the assailant should have been denied permission to buy a gun.
One of the most extreme reactions came from actor Michael McKean, famous for staring in “Laverne and Shirley,” “This Is Spinal Tap” and “Better Call Saul.” “They were in church,” he said of the victims. “They had the prayers shot right out of them. Maybe try something else.” What a vile thing to say, especially so soon after the attack.
It seemed to me that a lot of people took to Twitter to vent pre-existing grievances they had against their fellow citizens, and that the attack in Texas was merely a pretext. It was fascinating, if macabre, to watch this splenetic rage unfurl in real time on social media.
This is a good reminder about exactly what kind of nation we are.
We Americans tend to presume that we are one people, or at least that we should be. But for all practical purposes, our country is characterized by factionalism — conflict between groups with their own values and interests, often distinct from the welfare of the whole nation.
An enduring hallmark of American factionalism is mutual disdain. People of different regions, races, ethnicities, religions, economic circumstances, sexual orientations, ideologies, etc., cast those who are different than themselves as enemies. Some of this is rooted in real differences of opinions or interests, but a lot of it has to do with the frailty of human psychology. We seem to be on the lookout for people to dislike.
Fortunately for us, the Founding Fathers appreciated what James Madison aptly termed “the violence of faction.” The system of government they designed, rather than denying the inherent tribalism of humanity, instead tried to rechannel it, to make it less likely to undermine good government or assault individual rights.
This is the biggest reason we have institutional safeguards such as separated powers, a bicameral legislature, federalism and guaranteed protections in the Bill of Rights. The Founders feared that, if some faction came to encompass a substantial majority of the population, under a simple democratic system it could use the vast powers of the state to abuse the rights and interests of the minority.
In the 21st century — with our advanced medicine, postgraduate degrees, high-speed travel and information technology — we fancy ourselves pretty sophisticated. But we are still human beings, prone to the “violence of faction,” just as our forebears were some225 years ago.
I, for one, am glad that the Founders recognized this basic flaw in human nature and crafted a government designed to contain it. Democracy is of course essential to good government, but it is dangerous in its own ways. It has to be channeled, checked and tempered.
Otherwise, government would be like Twitter. What a terrifying prospect!
In the 21st century ... we fancy ourselves pretty sophisticated. But we are still human beings.