Viewing the Greater Good as Nostalgia

The Constitution's first 10 amendments are known as the Bill of Rights; it's a list of the basic rights of a citizen. Thus, among other things the Bill of Rights appears to recognize that protecting every person's dignity is a worthwhile pursuit for a Democracy. 

Yet, "majority rules" is at the heart of democracy; as a principle it appears to recognize that what's seen as best for the community is sometimes more important than any one individual's rights and desires. 

 

As those two basic vantage points often conflict with one another, an orderly society needs governments to strive to serve the greater good. It needs laws and courts to settle arguments, establish guidelines and set absolutes. 

 

As well, society has had customs and it has had standards of morality. However, in the current age, millions of so-called "conservatives" seem to think that caring about their neighbors' interests is old hat. 

Collectively, the MAGA cult appears to believe that most liberals are only pretending to care a lot about the commonweal. That's because, the cultists seem to think that no one really cares about humanity more than they care about satisfying the desires of good ol' Number One.  

It says here that Trump's January 6th terrorists and their admirers view crafting a sensible political agenda, a platform designed to benefit the greater good as a nostalgia trip. To most of today's Republicans, serving society's greater good pretty much became too yesterday the day Trump was sworn in. 

After all, wasn't the turn to the crazy right the GOP made in 2016 powered by gathering and focusing the hateful reactions to Obama's two terms in the White House? To be clear, I'm talking about bitter reactions to enduring eight years of having a Black president?

It's far too soon to say if the Republican Party has begun to recover from its anti-democracy MAGA era. So, Biden still likes to use this spot-on quip: "This isn't your father's Republican Party." 

In 2023, that old saw packs more punch.    

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Words and Art by F.T. Rea