culture
politics
Can the United States Be United Again?
Columnist, Washington Post
President, Eurasia Group
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Genesis
Response
Penultimate
Finale
July 13th, 2020
I agree, it’s hard to survey the history of the United States and identify a moment where the US was truly “united.” The closest we ever got was after World War II—the greatest generation fought an existential crisis against fascism, won, and the country had its exceptional moment. Yes, we were still divided amongst ourselves, but at least we all shared in the “American Dream”, and while it was a dream easier realized for some than others, it was a common dream. Those heady days after World War II didn’t get us where we needed to go, but they pushed us closer together; the economic reality of the moment meant that we really needed labor, ushering in and integrating large numbers of Americans and reducing inequality. Big wars tend to do that.
Eugene’s piece is compelling—particularly the megatrends he identifies—but there is one critical part I disagree with, and forcefully; the idea that the divisions will be magically transformed back into a “customary dull roar” if Donald Trump is defeated in November. As difficult as it is to accept, there’s no going back to a pre-Trump America.
As Trump prepares his base for a potential November loss with cries that the election is being rigged against him—through his coverage in the mainstream media, through mail-in voting, through economic shutdowns—it is increasingly clear that our country is hurtling towards a constitutional crisis in November. Most on the left will never accept the legitimacy of a Trump victory following four years of Trump using the powers of the presidency to benefit himself and his reelection prospects; most on the right will never accept a Trump defeat they think is being orchestrated by establishment forces.
Meanwhile, inequality continues to grow in this country, supercharged by the coronavirus pandemic. Until this underlying issue of inequality is addressed—inequality of education, inequality of healthcare, inequality of income, inequality of opportunities—a Trump defeat in November may feel like a return to a “dull roar” to establishment/globalist oriented elites comfortable in the Acela Corridor and Silicon Valley, but not so much in the country as a whole.
So while I wish I shared Eugene’s optimism that Covid-19 “will ultimately force us to relearn how to work together, whether we like it or not,” I don’t see that happening. History has shown that it is monumental events like world wars and pandemics that force us to change; Covid-19 has the potential to be such an event, but the inadequate response in the US has only served to polarize society further. Rather than rewriting the social contract, coronavirus has frayed it further. That’s a reality the next president will have to grapple with, no matter who wins in November.
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