When the supporters of Scottish independence lost a referendum in 2014, Scottish duo, the Proclaimers, strong nationalists, wrote a song called “What do you do?”. Faced with losing a vote, the rejection of what they believed in, they asked: What do you do when democracy fails you? What do you do when minority means you? After the Presidential election in the States (or “America”, as they like to call it, ignoring the rest of a continent), many people around the world are asking the same questions as the Proclaimers.
Others are confused, wondering how any rational people could choose Trump, with all his obvious flaws and lack of any moral character, by such a wide margin over someone preaching a return to what Abraham Lincoln called “the better angels of our nature”. People were, and are shocked by the choice the voters made, but perhaps it wasn’t such a surprise at all. The size of Trump’s vote shows that this was not just an extreme MAGA phenomenon: people of many differing viewpoints gave him their support for a reason. He gave expression to genuine fears and grievances, as well as aggravating those same fears.
The Democrats expected a rational response to the issues facing the electorate, and depended on voters standing firm on one version of the American Dream, the idea that the States as a whole is the “city on a hill”, spreading the light of democracy and freedom to the world. But the sad fact is that this version of the United States is not the only, or the most realistic one. History shows little support for that view of the States and their history. The kind of political philosophy demonstrated by Trump and his MAGA movement is also at the very heart of the American story.
This is a nation, don’t forget, whose Founding Fathers wrote that “We hold these truths to be self‑evident, that all men are created equal”, yet many of those founders owned slaves and saw no conflict, no hypocrisy. That nation explicitly tried to wipe the Indigenous population out of the country, resorting to violence again and again in imposing their “Manifest Destiny” on all those who stood in their way.
While claiming to stand for freedom against aggression and tyranny, the United States invaded the Phillipines, Hawaii, Mexico, even Canada. They went to war in Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Panama, Santo Domingo, and elsewhere. They used their economic clout to impose themselves on other nations, and then condemned other countries when they did the same. In the recent election, traditional supporters of the Democrats couldn’t vote for a party that condemned Russia for invading Ukraine, yet supplied weapons and logistical, as well as political, support for Israel’s invasion of Gaza and Lebanon, even though it involved the criminal and savage bombing of tens of thousands of civilians. The hypocrisy was obvious to everyone except the Biden administration, including Kamala Harris.
The United States produced the Ku Klux Klan, the American Nazi Party, Southern segregationists, white supremacists, and murdered those who fought against those evils. Yes, it wasn’t all bad: but the negatives have always been there and surfaced on a regular basis throughout its history. The words inscribed on the Statue of Liberty about welcoming “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest‑tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” ring hollow in the era of MAGA and nativism. But nativism, the fear and rejection of the foreigner, has always been a part of the American psyche. Historically, the Know Nothing Party stoked fears of immigrants who would threaten the purity of American ways. This was in the 1840’s and 1850’s, but remarkably similar to what we’ve seen triumph in the last elections. There has always been a strain of conspiracy theories in American politics: think of the McCarthy anti-Communist witch hunts in the 1950’s, for example.
This is not to say that the same elements can’t be found in most countries – again, recent events around the world have shown this – but the United States has always portrayed itself as the “New World”, a freedom-loving nation above the tawdry bigotries and corrupt politics of the “Old World”. Alas, we find we’re all the same, really, all open to the same fears and reactions when we feel we are threatened. But the trauma comes when we find ourselves in the minority, when what we assumed to be basic and true in our national character proves to be less than what we hoped.
What do you do when democracy fails you? What do you do when minority means you? You face the truth, hold on to your hopes and ideals, and get back in the fight to convince the majority that there is a better way and that history has a habit of bringing things around again. As Martin Luther King said, in hope and faith, “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” We may see things in the coming years to make us doubt that, but as another great saying puts it: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”. One last thought (and quote) to hold on to, this one from Nick Lowe:
“And as I walk on through troubled times, My spirit gets so downhearted sometimes. So where are the strong, and who are the trusted? And where is the harmony, sweet harmony? ‘Cause each time I feel it slippin’ away, just makes me wanna cry: What’s so funny ’bout peace, love and understanding?”