Biden should avoid liberal follies | Guest Opinion
People are naturally tribal, which today manifests in political parties. Toward their own tribesmen, people often show loyalty, compassion, and an exaltation of leaders, while simultaneously being excessively critical of people from other tribes who are obviously somewhat “idiotic” and “immoral.”
A political blindness, hence, develops concerning critical evaluation of one’s tribal actions and leadership. Moreover, partisan planks develop, to which one must conform or risk being cast out as a heretic.
As we begin four years of “liberals” occupying the White House, it’s an appropriate time to examine some of the Democratic tribal beliefs that could perhaps do more damage than benefit to our nation. These issues involve globalization, policing, political correctness, and immigration.
Over the past 50 years, the middle- and lower-income citizens of the world have been shortchanged by globalism and the globalists who direct it.
Donald Trump mined the justifiable resentment that many people feel toward the inequities inherent to globalization and its international trade agreements, which often run roughshod over common peoples’ rights and economic welfare.
Joe Biden would be wise to shun globalists (liberals and conservatives alike) when formulating his policies, and instead focus more attention on the needs and concerns of common folks, particularly in rural America.
The lingering pain and injustice of racism reared its ugly head last summer when a bad cop callously suffocated the life out of George Floyd. Protests were understandable, and if done properly, useful.
However, knee jerk reactions, such as “Defund the Police,” are not. To be fair, many people using that slogan actually meant “reform the police,” which is an entirely different proposition. Nonetheless, the solution to police brutality entails improving police training, addressing poverty, and ameliorating the racial schisms in society. Impulsive policy initiatives, such as “Abolish ICE,” are usually not the solution.
Political correctness has a legitimate role in ferreting out language and actions that are hurtful to many people. But, on the other hand, excessive political correctness can also be offensive. With just a single violation of a PC rule, someone feigns outrage, and someone can find themself the target of an inquisition (“Confess, Confess… Repent!”), until they capitulate to someone else’s worldview. Excessive politically correct rules are rather arbitrary, often oblivious to context, and suppressive. The enforcers can be good people yet engaged in a process that is easily weaponized.
Undue political correctness is also being applied to historical figures and relates to the contemporary “cancel culture” rage of some Americans.
George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were great men: dignified, intelligent, and dedicated to founding a republic based on democratic principles. Their image should not be besmirched because they owned slaves at a time when doing so was common. People should, instead, usually be evaluated within their historical context.
Ethnocentrism is negatively judging other people using the standards of your own culture. To disparage Washington, Jefferson, etc., is a type of historical ethnocentrism.
Concerning immigration, when a Native American speaks proudly of his/her land and heritage, we often applaud, and I’d say rightfully. But if other Americans speak of wanting to retain their world against foreign intrusion, they are often labeled a bigot.
In reality, it’s natural for people to feel revulsion at the thought of being inundated by outsiders. Failing to recognize this and not understanding that any apparent relaxation of our immigration laws only encourages a new wave of hopeful people on our doorstep, the Biden administration has already worsened the problems at our southern border. Liberal attempts to be benevolent, ironically, often increase the suffering.
Generosity in allowing people to come to America when they have useful talents or humanitarian needs is, I believe, admirable. Families should be reunited, people given safe haven, and new entrepreneurial energies introduced.
But a continual, excessive flow of immigrants, who now exceed the natural growth rate of our resident population, is socially and environmentally problematic. The thought of seeing America’s magnificent wild and open places gradually covered with endless housing subdivisions is very disheartening.
Ladies and gentlemen of all political persuasions: Don’t adhere to beliefs just because they are partisan creed. Shun propaganda outlets masquerading as news and fanning the flames of anger and societal division.
Instead, think each issue out for yourself. If people try, they can find common ground with folks from a different tribe. Why not strive to understand each other’s concerns and negotiate a reasonable compromise?
Mark Mansperger is a professor of Anthropology at Washington State University, Tri-Cities. His research includes cultural ecology, societal development, and political economy. The views presented in this column are his own and do not represent those of WSU or WSU Tri-Cities.
This story was originally published March 22, 2021 at 6:00 PM with the headline "Biden should avoid liberal follies | Guest Opinion."