On Bombast Bursting in Air

During the 1990's, we had a subscription to Harpers magazine, and one of the highlights of my month was reading editor Lewis Lapham's brilliant monthly essays. His deep knowledge of history and society and his acerbic, biting, take no prisoners approach made his essays a breath of fresh air amidst the daily blather of media chaff.

Of course, my sentiments were always in line with his, so I basked in the eloquence of his dissection of the intellectual wasteland that was American politics(George Bush: two terms? Really?). He put words to what I was thinking, and much better words than I could ever do.  There's also a lot I learned by paying attention: how past history has informed and shaped our modern society. He also introduced me to the Patrick O'Brien Jack Aubrey novels(there was a year well spent, reading the entire series). After a good long run, Mr Lapham retired as editor along with his monthly columns. Harpers lost it's charm for me after that.

But, he's back, at least for one last hurrah. The November issue has him back in full flight with 'Bombast Bursting in Air - The story, so far, of the 2016 election'. In this edition he traces the American pre-occupation with abandoning political responsibility to the 'golden ones' all the way back to Plato's noble lie, running through Lincoln, Reagan(the 'Hollywood drum major'), and Bill Clinton(the 'Arkansas prom king'), where those who are 'mixed with gold' are actually the corporate power brokers that are the real power behind politics, no matter who wins.   

The article seethes with classic Lapham biting wit, incredulous at the vapid obviousness of it all, and lays out how the ancient myth has been made modern and sold and continues to be sold.

The dark, background uneasiness I feel in this American campaign is Donald Trump. At first I thought: ok this is a joke, it won't last. However, the last time I had this thought was in the late 1970s when Ronald Reagan was running for president. I remember attending a party in Washington state during that campaign and having a conversation with local along the lines of: 'Ronald Reagan, Bedtime for Bonzo star running for President, are you guys crazy?' My conversation partner hung his head in shame. Boy, was I wrong.  

Lapham provides a new insight into the Donald Trump fiasco. Trump is bypassing the power brokers and creating his own myth, he doesn't need their money, and they are scared, as they can't control the event (the election, that is).  However, all that history of the electorate abandoning political responsibility is still there, as carefully groomed by the 'golden ones'. Will the new hero sweep in and take the prize?

However, Lapham's essay is less a criticism of the power brokers than of the electorate that has allowed it to happen:

'The electorate over the past forty years has been taught to believe that the future can be bought instead of made, and the active presence of the citizen has given way to the passive absence of the consumer... The wish to be cared for replaces the will to act, the spirit of freedom trumped by the faith invested in a dear leader'.