The Key Conundrum: Fight fire with fire or sugarwater?
David Brooks’ piece in today’s NYT “The Era of Dark Passions” goes to the heart of one of the key questions confronting America today. Is the response to what is happening in America “to go low or to go high.” At the ripe young age of 71, I have often seen that “good guys finish last.” A similar learning, particularly after some time spent on Wall Street, is that the only things that motivate human behavior (certainly as embodied in “the market”) are fear and greed. Brooks’ piece spotlights these observations on what drives behavior – politically and otherwise.
It is easy to look at the realities, rather than the aspirations, and see that the Hobbesian view of the world is, indeed, grounded in fact. Trump, Putin, Xi, Orban, Kim and many other autocrats clearly govern according to the Machiavellian fear and greed principle. But helpfully, Brooks also cites some counter examples: MLK Jr, Vaclav Havel, Abraham Lincoln, Nelson Mandela. Of course, one could observe that the “high road” examples tend to take longer (like a lot longer) and in some cases, end up getting you killed (like MLK Jr and Abraham Lincoln). This prospect could be, to put it mildly, a deterrent for many to take the “high road.” And of course, it should also be observed that history has many more “low roaders” than” high roaders.” While the low roaders are also occasionally killed (Hitler, Stalin) there are also plenty of low road success stories where the penalty might be light and tolerable (as in Richard Nixon or Bolsanaro).
We are thus left with the quandary of figuring out the right road to take in the present moment. For me, personally, the right answer is a Goldie Locks version of some of each. I do believe that there must be a strong, loud, consistent opposition that fights back as rigorously as possible – think Cory Booker vs Amy Klobuchar. This includes not just the hundreds (thousands?) of court battles fighting the Trump tsunami but also fighting fire with fire as in the case of the redistricting battles (a la Gavin “thank you for attention to this matter” Newsom). By the same token, ignoring the genuine fed-up-it-ness of the electorate with the generally subservient and emasculated tact of both establishment political parties (or more accurately, monopoly political corporations), is not part of the answer. For me, in the upcoming election cycle, the answer is “none of the above,” i.e. supporting what I call the “renegade” politicians. In my home state of Maine, that translates to the one Republican, now Independent candidate for Governor, Rick Bennett, and the clear, outspoken, virile outsider, Democrat Graham Platner. In the case of Platner, I believe he is the best shot to unseat the poster child of milk toast we have as Senator, Susan Collins. Senator Collins is perpetually “troubled” by the slide of our country into fascism (and amateurishness at the highest levels of government) her Party is leading us toward, but nevertheless votes 96% of the time for that same onward march.
I am certain others feel the same quandary that David Brooks highlights. Perhaps each of us can find local candidates who we can actively support, who may be able to lead us out of the darkness.
Source
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/18/opinion/trump-kirk-rage.html