We ducked a big one in France. That sentence says everything we need to know about what was at stake. But we do not do binary thinking in this space. It is too simple to say that globalism triumphed over nativism. It is too either-or to believe that openness is now the rule. It is not merely that the sides in today's disputes are amorphous. So are the issues. We need to think triadically.
Inching toward the future
The sub-head above is the thesis of this article. Macron did better beating Le Pan than Trump did beating Clinton and it is very likely that if we held an election today Trump would lose to any Democrat capable of standing up.
But here in "America" our thinking is doubly amiss. It is amiss because Trump is still a potentially lethal force and we think wrong if we do not see that he must go. It is also amiss if we think removing Trump will suddenly bathe us all in the happy glow of saving democracy and reclaiming the American way for all citizens.
Why Macron Won: Luck, Skill and France’s Dark History https://t.co/xHoXFlb2Sn
— Stephen C. Rose (@stephencrose) May 8, 2017
A Noah's Ark leap
The world will not solve its problems until there is a consensus on much more than the fact that we do not want an Illamophobic, race-baiting neoliberal administration in power. We do not want such people running the world and, believe me, now they do.
They do not operate with the blunt banality of a Donald Trump or a Steve Bannon. They are the Federalist Society folk whose candidates Trump is about to nominate for judgeships all over. I have not seen any politician emerge who will simply articulate that what we need is a move to the world whose active values consist of tolerance, helpfulness and democracy.
That understanding embraces triadic thinking, nonviolence, and basic income. None of this is found in the binary responses of today's political opponents of Trump. Will Macron articulate such a platform?
Getting rid of Trump
Cleansing our government of a palpable danger is a good exercise and should be pursued. Trump endangers tolerance, helpfulness, and democracy with every stroke of his pen.
But Chris Hedges is correct in saying that Pence is probably as dangerous as Trump. He says more dangerous. But because getting rid of Donald will involve a split among Republicans the installation of Pence would likely modify any too-obvious assaults on our basic values.
Vive la France!
Yes, this morning we can exhale and give lusty voice to praise yesterday's predictable but relieving result. But the most important thinking that must underlie the construction of a viable future has yet to be done. We are on the cusp of it. Time will tell.
