Welcome to the Banana Plantation
Some observations of things large and small indicative of our nation’s decline
In October 2008, as the federal government prepared to bail out the financial institutions whose recklessness had instigated the catastrophic near-collapse of the global financial system, the late Christopher Hitchens published a column in Vanity Fair entitled “America the Banana Republic”. In his typically acerbic style, he pointed out that while many called the bailout “socialism for the rich and free enterprise for the rest”, it would be more appropriate to call the system what it is- a banana republic.
He offered the following justifications:
The chief principle of banana-ism is kleptocracy, whereby those in positions of influence use their time in office to maximize their own gains, always ensuring that any shortfall is made up by those unfortunates whose daily life involves earning money rather than making it…
In a banana republic, the members of the national legislature will be (a) largely for sale and (b) consulted only for ceremonial and rubber-stamp purposes some time after all the truly important decisions have already been made elsewhere...
Another feature of a banana republic is the tendency for tribal and cultish elements to flourish at the expense of reason and good order.
That was 13 years ago and while Hitchens’ intellectual skepticism may have been overwrought, he wasn’t far off the mark about the essential nature of American political society. My own random observations seem to buttress Hitchen’s arguments. The dysfunction of Congress and the descent of our public discourse into divisive and crass tribalism has been apparent for years, but it is now so widespread that it points to a society no longer qualified to accept the responsibilities of representative democracy.
"To suppose that any form of government will secure liberty or happiness without any virtue in the people, is a chimerical idea." James Madison
The Founders in their various writings emphasized that civic virtue- the commitment of the individual members of society to the success of that society even if it meant at times subjugating their self-interest- was fundamental to the success of democracy. The freedoms granted citizens in a democracy come with the responsibility to conduct themselves in a virtuous manner. For the men who drafted the Constitution, that meant a citizenry committed to the rule of law, and to tolerance, possessed of integrity and of the self-restraint necessary to function within the slow and messy mechanisms of representative democracy. For government of, by, and for the people to be successful, the people must have a sincere commitment to the principles on which it is based.
So, 243 years later, how are we doing? Does our national character approach the ideals laid down by the humanistic creators of our government, or are we sinking into Hitchens’ banana-ism? In his essay, Hitchens makes the point that a DOT study found nearly 12% of the nation’s 600,000 bridges were “structurally deficient”. This, he says, “is almost a perfect metaphor for Third World conditions: A money class fleeces the banking system while the very trunk of the national tree is permitted to rot and crash”.
The case can be made that we haven’t improved in those 13 years since Hitchens reacted to the 2008 bailouts. Our history tells us that our system of governing ourselves is not flawless and that cantankerous debate and discord are features of democracy. Still, as a person who came of age in the tumultuous 1960s, this time seems different, more fraught with rage, less amenable to compromise. No leaders have emerged to redirect us back to the righteous path on which we like to pretend we are still marching.
January 6 is the ultimate allegory for our loss of civic virtue: A violent mob assaulted the capital because a segment of the population, including political leaders, refused to accede to the peaceful transition of power, the normal consequence of a free election. The ripple effect of the insurrection is now evident in the almost-daily media reports of incidents such as anti-vaxxers disrupting school board meetings, or altercations on airliners and in places of business over mask mandates.
Our public discourse has morphed into coarse name-calling. We have lost the ability to disagree in a civil manner. Amplified by social media, ordinary disagreements become vituperative confrontations. As ex-Republican campaign strategist Tim Miller wrote in The Bulwark today,
Never in the history of the world have more human dingleberries had larger platforms to spew deranged nonsense about politics than they do right now, at this moment. We are in a golden age for fools with political views outside the mainstream.
My home here in SW Florida is on a canal. It is not unusual to see boats pass by with large banners emblazoned with the words “Fuck Biden”.
What Kind of People Are We?
Professor Tom Nichols of the Naval War College points out in his latest book, Our Own Worst Enemy: The Assault from Within on Modern Democracy ( Oxford Univ, 2021), that narcissistic behavior is the signifying trait of a people ready to jettison democracy for the quixotic promise of stability in an authoritarian state. Nichols and others make the case that this anger and dissatisfaction is occurring in a world that has experienced unprecedented peace and prosperity since the end of World War II. It may be difficult for people distracted by reality tv, or whose idea of athletic success is not physical accomplishment but the drafting of a strong fantasy sports roster, to engage in meaningful discussion on even the most basic level of social, political, or economic issues.
Perhaps we are not the same nation that survived the Great Depression, secured victory in two world wars, created the liberal world order which brought the world the afore-mentioned peace and prosperity, and emerged as the lone super-power at the end of the Cold War. However, it is arguably true that the majority of Americans are decent, caring people who desire nothing more than to live in peace at some level of material comfort. The responsibility of citizenship demands more.
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” -Incorrectly attributed to Edmund Burke
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Something I did not mention about our descent into banana republic status is the dysfunction of the United States Postal Service. The Constitution authorized the government to establish "post offices & post roads".