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I haven’t been tuned in to GG long enough to have sorted through possible clues that might suggest where Raj and mbf and others reside. I know that Mr. W-T was in Berkeley, and surmise that he is still.
Point being that in our very large nation of various states, geography matters.
For example, I live in the Bible Belt. Within that already pretty conservative sphere, I work in an especially conformist and fundamentalist sub-culture: Public Safety. I observe daily the reality of mbf’s concerns. The Good Christian (mostly) Men (mostly) with whom I work sincerely believe that ours is a Christian Nation, that dissent is unPatriotic, literally that we are created in God’s image, that America’s Divinely Destined role is to advance Christianity, and that the exterior world is arrayed with Satan against Us. I see every day that, yes, It could happen here. And that this is how It all begins: good people earnestly doing what they think is right for their families. These Good People are vulnerable to, and readily buy into, Hanitty, Limbaugh, Malkin, Kurtz, et al. I see them biding their time to achieve the Nation they believe to be Righteous. They follow those leaders whom they perceive to be on their (God’s) side. They will hasten It by the barrel of a gun, if ordered to, if the opportunity presents, and if they perceive no other way to do it. They are biding their time. They are teaching their children.
Meanwhile, on the other hand, I also know (from my tenures of residency in DC suburban Maryland and San Francisco) that It is not even nascent in some places as in others, for the same reasons: good people doing what they think is right for their families.
[Just for fun: I would guess that mbf lives in a Rural or New South Urban environment and that Raj is in a college town or a multi-cultured large urban center. Doesn’t matter if I’m wrong about where you live…. Just sayin’]
To further complicate things:
Our fundamental conflict concerning how we will rule ourselves has been raging in this nation since before its founding. It’s rooted in the debate over slavery (which was crucial for the economic survival of its practitioners and which de facto required authoritarianism for maintenance). We tabled the discussion via the Missouri Compromise. The vital debate erupted again with the secession of the Confederacy when that compromise expired. It has continued throughout our history. It remains our endemic elephant in the living room. It is not at all inconceivable that our great nation could again be torn asunder over the authoritarian/liberal divide, riven by secessions and wars among two, three, or more moral/religious, socio-economic, or political rivalries, because we are still figuring out how to resolve these issues over who we are. And for some, it seems more important to assert who they are, rather than ensuring that we stick together. All it would take to rapidly accelerate the cleavage (as we all know - sorry for restating the already obvious)) is another 11 September 2001 attack. Or something else. Anyway, part of the existing United States would be enough of a victory, just like the one sought in the mid 1860s. The liberal vision today remains Union.
More idle speculation:
Could one hypothesize an evolutionary psychology that explains how our species has persisted via simultaneous or alternating authoritarian and liberal tribal styles? I think this matters if in addition to the geography considerations, authoritarian v. liberal tendencies - and the responses to same - might be genetically transmitted. As time has marched on and human population increased, the external threats that made authoritarianism useful might have had benefits that are now outweighed by destructive costs incurred by turning us against each other. Or maybe it is a useful mechanism for thinning the herd, enabling optimal distribution of resources? Oy! I’m giving myself a headache. As someone once said: I gotta quit posting.
Peace,
Gordon
