Whether Trump is an unique hero or a narcissistic demagogue, he cannot save a nation committed to patriotic symbols instead of civic principles.
Lone heroes cannot save a democratic republic. Only an informed and engaged citizenship living by the principles of a democratic republic can do that. A president “presides” over that process. Only in times of war does the president become Commander in Chief.
Demagoguery is inevitable in a land where everyone praises the nation but each of us thinks of ourselves as the exception to everyday civic responsibility.
With Donald Trump soon to be inaugurated we have been promised mass deportations, removal of further environmental protections, and further demolition of the wall separating church and state. I understand many people cannot help but choose despair at this time, but it will be important for as many of us as possible to live as examples of the kind of people that make the social contract possible in the first place.
In an age of memes, propaganda, AI, and outright lies, some of us need to become better examples of truth seekers. We must go to boot camp to remember that wisdom must be built upon facts discerned by reason and science. We must fact check our every public utterance as a sacred duty owed to truth.
In a time of cruelty and arrogance, we must go to boot camp to remember that justice must begin with compassion and empathy, not with judgment or vengeance. A national unity built on scapegoating outsiders and dissidents is not love of nation, just hate and fear of the “other.”
In a time of gold encrusted bibles and crass wealth held by fewer and fewer hands, some of us must go to boot camp to remember that nature and human beings have a worth far beyond their price tag in capitalism.
Our nation will not be saved for long by patriotic emotionalism combined with the principles of Wall Street. My hope is that many Americans will go to boot camp to learn and then live the principles that will make a democratic republic possible in our time.