A House Divided
Heartbeat. With a mass media no longer able to provide the kind of cultural glue it once did, what holds a nation together? What is "public opinion," really, in an era of populism and fragmentation where a new aristocracy, the opinion makers, has such influence? The determination of what constitutes "public opinion" is crucial. John Lukacs, in his book Democracy and Populism, makes a strong case that it is "the accumulation of opinions that governs." The power of "public opinion" and "popular sentiment," selectively defined in polls and focus groups, too often overwhelms individual opinion.
The trends fit into a broader culture of relativism and spin where Oprah Winfrey defended a lying memoir as valuable, short-changing the importance and relevance of truth (before she had her own moment of truth and placed the wretched author under the klieg lights). When the values that prevail are those of the marketplace, and our political dialogue is timed to the drumbeat of the sports stadium, we are in trouble.
America has always flourished when it listens to the heartbeat of the people, when centrist leaders have sought consensus, as John P. Avlon vividly documents in his new history, Independent Nation. Today, America has unprecedented responsibilities, but it is difficult for a superpower to discharge these duties with its domestic political house in disarray. How different it was during World War II, which we fought as a united nation, against two enemies--Germany and Italy--that had not attacked us. Today, sadly, our divisions encourage our enemies, dishearten our allies, and sap our resolve. We must change gears.
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