So - I like writing about things political - but I don't like writing about politics. That is to say, I've got a lot to say about capitalism and things of that sort, but you don't find me writing a lot about politicians - mostly because I think they're boring as subjects to write about. But like so many academic types, I am spending this morning trying to understand my world. And here's what I got (and no it will not be satisfying.)
I think this election may have come down to an issue of narrative. Okay - so here's what I'm saying: the meaning in this election was bound up with Trump. Now of course, Clinton would have been the first female president, but that didn't seem to be at the forefront of most of the talk during the campaign season. If Trump lost - the nation could say, "Look, we're not a bunch of xenophobes" or whatever. But the meaning would still be coming from the Trump side - not Hillary. But if this were a Hollywood movie - which is the only narrative people seem to understand anymore - Trump has to win. Think about it: one guy who parades around and is generally accepted as "outsider" battles 16 establishment candidates of one party and beats them all by "plain speaking," none of that "politically correct" bullshit. And after that he must take on the establishment candidate from the other party - the heir apparent. (This is sort of the political equivalent of that JCVD flick "Bloodsport.") According to everything we know about narrative logic - there's only one way for this film to end.
So am I saying that people voted for a clearly unstable person to run the world because of the story? Maybe. So does this election come down to to a failure of imagination? Perhaps even more so from the DNC? Without a doubt.
Here is what I do know. People are not logical. And neither are you, reader of this post. (and neither am I, just to be clear) It's not how people work - and we've never worked that way. There's just too much evidence to the contrary to really believe we are beings devoted to making rational sense. We are the kinds of beings who find meaning in the stories we tell. We need to start telling different stories. It may turn out that those crazy people in those crazy humanities fields may be the ones who help in these soon-to-be crazy times we are all going to be in.
There is a recent story which concerns me greatly. Our new president-elect is telling the heads of the NY Times and Washington Post that they got it wrong. We will soon have a leader of this nation that truly understands how to not only create a new narrative, but to defend against it any opposing ones. And worst, there are many who have and will buy into this narrative. I disagree in the statement that we are not rational beings. I believe some are and are more capable of critical thinking, with the ability to question what they are fed.
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ReplyDeleteHowever, putting my bitterness and butt-hurtedness aside, I really like this post. The narrative that rang the bell of truthiness the hardest with the current electorate is the one that won out, not unlike Obama's message of hope that brought people to the polls in 2008.
ReplyDeleteI don't mean that people don't ever do things that make sense. But there is no person that walks around being rational all day - perhaps you remember our college days? I mean if an electorate was making rational decisions we'd have a whole different kind of world, and in that world we would have candidates who were very, very different.
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