The Way to Beat Trump is not to Become Like Him

In my recent post I noted that progressives’ stock-in-trade has been a “liberationist” agenda, which in an odd way mirrors the “freedom to do whatever I damn well please” of the right-wing. Parts of the left tell us, for example, that gender is a social construct to be deconstructed, while the right insists on being able to carry guns everywhere. But for many voters, social disorder is maybe the more pressing concern, with strong social bonds and reliable, viable communities an acutely felt need.

To reprise a quote from that earlier essay: “The central argument of the 21st century,” writes David Brooks, “is no longer over the size of government. The central argument of this century is over who can best strengthen the social order. In this contest, the Republicans have their champions and the Democrats aren’t even on the field.”

So I was cheered to read a call for a different kind of agenda for the Democratic Party by former Obama administration member Michael Wear at “UnHerd”. Wear, president of the Center for Christianity in Public Life, argues that instead of joining Trump in the degradation of our common life by aping his vulgarity and mean-spiritedness, Democrats should take up and champion a “pro-social” agenda for America.

What would being “pro-social” mean? Wear explains:

“What America needs today is a Democratic Party with a pro-social vision advanced through pro-social means: to defend human beings as fundamentally social, cooperative, and mutually dependent, both in the way they campaign and in the policies they promote.

“In order to regain Americans’ trust and deserve to govern, Democrats must become a pro-social party that filters all policies, tactics, and communications through a pro-social filter. Put simply, a pro-social filter means that what Democrats support and oppose must meet the test of improving our common life together, rather than just representing a hodgepodge of policies that please certain advocacy groups and the interests they claim to represent.”

Lest “pro-social” be thought nothing but a lofty abstraction, Wear tags a number of specific issues that at least some Dems have been raising, starting with the explosive sports-betting industry and moving on to the almost-as-explosive marijuana business. He also cites the tolerance of generally progressive prosecutors for shoplifting and evading fares for public transit. A sane immigration policy might also be pro-social instead of the current dragnet, which is leaving companies and communities without long-term employees.

But the overall point is that a pro-social agenda — in contrast to the crassness, cruelty, and vulgarity of Trump and the movement he has unleashed — is about valuing social order, cooperation, and our common life together. I suspect that many Americans, as David Brooks suggests, are ready for a politics that builds up our common bonds rather than giving both implicit and explicit permission to the mean-spirited and vindictive. A pro-social agenda is not just politically wise; it is what we really need, and what we have most lost.

Wear cites a number of examples of Democrats seemingly aping Trumpian crassness, including vice presidential candidate Tim Walz, who termed “Mind your own damn business” as a new “Golden Rule.” Here’s Wear on the folly of Democrats’ adopting Trumpian moves:

“Progressives who dismiss critiques of Democrats as ‘false equivalencies’ miss the point. It is no coincidence that Trump employs vulgarity, derision, anger, and fear; these are the social and emotional conditions that justify his antisocial politics. The nature of these tools does not change just because Democrats use them. Democrats help Trump when they appropriate his style — even when they ostensibly aim to oppose him.”

To be credible as pro-social, Democrats will need to do some deep thinking about what “pro-social” really means today (not just slap it on as a slogan) and will need to take on some things like sports betting and marijuana that have deep pockets and that haven’t been seen as blue issues.

These and other corrosives that we have grown to accept are the things that are eating away at American society and making us a more fearful and less trusting people.