Trump’s triumph and the revival of America’s creed

Liberty is a cherished human value because free thought, voluntary association, and private enterprise allow human beings to take responsibility for their lives. Hence, we only want the authorities to interfere with our freedoms when there is wide consensus that this is necessary. But consider some of the more controversial ways that Democrats have recently employed public authority. In California, for instance, the law empowers teachers to keep from parents a child’s decision to change their “gender identity”.

What makes such a use of public authority alarming is not that it tries to protect or support vulnerable individuals, which is a perfectly reasonable objective, but how it does so. On the basis of still-controversial theories about gender, it brings public authority to bear on the intensely private, indeed sacred, relationship between a parent and child. It is hard to imagine a policy better calculated to alarm a populace famous for its attachment to “family values”.

If public authority has been used too freely in some cases, in other instances it has been used too little. Consider some of the miseries that afflict America — crime, drug abuse, gang warfare, illegal immigration, and violent demonstrations. In these matters, where public authority ought to be employed vigorously, to police and punish wrongdoers, the Democrats suddenly evince a profound regard for individual liberty. Where does this leave citizens who abide by the law only to watch others — shoplifters in San Francisco and arsonists in Portland, for instance — go unpunished? It is not that Republicans have an enviable track record on matters of law and order; they do not, especially on gun violence and drug abuse. But they do have the bare virtue of being able to call a crime a crime. A border wall, for instance, may prove ineffective, but it is a sight better than Democrat-run “sanctuary cities” that use tax dollars to house and feed illegal immigrants, including those with criminal records.

The long and short of it then is that in some important respects, Democrats have governed America backwards: Where they ought not to meddle, they have; where they ought to show mettle, they have not. This is what Trump wants to change. But what the Democrats have done cannot be easily undone, because of how widely America’s political system disperses power. Consider, for example, the mass deportations that Trump has promised. Such a policy will impose heavy costs, both moral and economic, when non-citizens are treated brutally and citizens see supply chains break down. It will also be fiercely opposed by Democrats who control large states and have powerful allies in media and civil society. The ensuing turmoil may lead the average voter to see Trump as the one abusing public authority.

This means that if Trump wants to create lasting change rather than mere disruption, he will need to refashion American society — to change the mentality of the country at large. Indeed, this has always been the ultimate objective of Trumpism: To revive the American “creed” or the values that reigned in the eras when the United States rose to greatness. This creed is under pressure on two fronts. A sizeable portion of the country has come to doubt the nobility of America’s past. To them, its foundational values have been covers for social and economic domination. It will not be easy for a polarizing figure like Trump to persuade them otherwise. A free society can only be inspired, not forced, to change its mind. Such inspiration cannot be conjured up and it tends to dissipate at the least sign of bad faith.

The other factor weighing on the American creed is the demographic effect of immigration. Because the American creed rests on culture rather than race or ethnicity, it has the great virtue of being transmittable. But it is one thing to receive migrants from near cultures when fertility is high and quite another to receive them from distant places when fertility is low. The former raises the hope of assimilation, the latter creates a fear of inundation. This is because the culture of a people and a place owes much to having elements like language, religion, and history in common. No one of these elements is indispensable, but the less they are shared, the less certain the footing of that culture becomes. The implication is that the vitality of the American creed depends not a little on the willingness of Americans to reproduce more. But this is something that even the most powerful man in the world may not be able to convince them to do.

In sum, the meaning of Trump’s return is that America is beginning to confront the jagged question of our time: Can the West remain “the West”? Different people will see the endeavour differently — as noble, quixotic or dangerous. What we can agree upon is that history is about to be made.

Rahul Sagar is Global Network Associate Professor at NYU Abu Dhabi. His most recent book is Krishna Kumari: The Tragedy of India. The views expressed are personal

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