Welcome to the End (Beginning) of Political Dialogue [And Click the Link to Find Out Why]

Post-Modernism. One of those pithy, esoteric philosophical terms that both mean nothing and everything simultaneously. Any good student of Post-Modernism (PoMo) will tell you that transformation of America’s epistemology is not complete (or if you are crazy enough, has already ended), but there is a clear distinction between Modernism and Post-Modernism. [Or Post-Post-Modernism…that’s right…Post-Post-Modernism, be afraid, be very afraid.]

Logistically, PoMo has meant many things for America, and the world as a whole. Greatly inspired by the philosophical movements of French Existentialism and Deconstruction, Post-Modernism embodies pluralism, tolerance, and individuality—to the extreme. In that sense, PoMo is very much a post-1960s world view. The “enlightened” masses have come to accept basic human rights as valuable, that civil rights and equality are necessary regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation, and embraced the pluralistic “don’t-judge-me-unless-you-know-me-but-you’ll-never-know-me-so-forget-it” mentality of my (unfortunate) generation. [Some philosophers put it one generation back, for those who reached puberty in the 1980s.]

Here’s the big question, I guess: What does PoMo mean practically, and how will it affect me (if I even realize it exists)? I read one commentator who compared Modernism to Post-Modernism as one would compare Kennedy Space Center to a shopping mall. Modernism represents the collective will, the triumph of the human spirit, the progress and enlightenment of man. When President Kennedy proclaimed that we would send a man into space, it didn’t matter that Joe Six-Pack would not be the one to do it. It was his goal. It was his desire. He would support and uplift it as a symbol of the power of America and its spirit.

Conversely, PoMo lacks the collective will (or even the capacity) to unite behind a single idea. Every idea is valid, every pursuit worthy, every cause noble. Thus, Joe Six-Pack has no need to unite with his fellow Americans and shop at Wal-Mart, and drive a Chevy, or pursue the American Dream. Joe want’s to shop at Hollister, he wants to drive a Honda, and he wants to be left alone in his world of consumption. In PoMo, everyone can experience space—space in one’s individual conception of space.

PoMo is changing everything, one just has to look. PoMo has an emphasis on connection (though it remains disconnected). PoMo has and emphasis on the individual (though it feigns community). PoMo desires clarity and sincerity (though it is bogged down my meta-narratives). PoMo wants honest dialog (though everyone’s language is incomprehensible). PoMo desires change (though it is the afterthought of real change). PoMo promises a world of both/and (though it works under the past of either/or).

I will admit (and I’m kind of ashamed to admit it) that I fell in love with the idea of Post-Modernism. It was not about the promises of “community,” “sincerity,” or “individualism.” I was attracted to the pluralism of its politics. I don’t consider myself a Republican or Democrat. I hate the term “independent” and “undecided” is even worse (effing fence sitters). To be completely honest, I have some very hodge-podge political views. I support smaller government, but believe there is a need for government involvement in education and civil rights. I support the right to privacy, yet oppose gay marriage. I do not support abortion, but recognize its need to exist. I’m a free market capitalist who would support property redistribution if Americans understood and held a “collective” good. I believe that environmentalism is important, that poor people should be helped, that hungry people should be fed, that homeless people should be sheltered, that equality (social, political, economic) is desired; but I also believe in rugged individualism, social Darwinism, and traditional progressivism. Thus, PoMo was very attractive to me. It seemed to have a place for me politically. It could have been my home.

[I also struggled with much of the same issues in my personal faith. I am a Christian, but was looking for the middle. I though I had found it in PoMo.]

However, like a kid finding out for the first that Santa Clause is not real, I found out that PoMo and its movements were not what they appeared. After hours of contemplating Christian and political PoMo, longing for sincerity and truth, I discovered that the movements were a guise for political liberalism. The Emergent Church—the forefront of PoMo Christianity—preached moderation and middle-ground. However, when they released their causes and goals that they hoped to focus on for 2008, I finally understood PoMo in its true light. There document was a point-by-point reiteration of the liberal platform—from social justice, to abortion, to damn-near socialism.

I was heart broken.

But the pain gave me insight. Post-Modernism is the ultimate meta-narrative. Post-Modernism promises things it cannot deliver, in an effort to surpass and disguise its true intentions.

The Presidential Election of 2008 embodies Post-Modernism like no election has. First is the makeup of the candidates. There is Barack Obama who is calling for Hope and Change—meta-narrative themes if I’ve ever heard them—looking for more accountability and sincerity in government. It was not a reality based campaign; people were moved, at an almost spiritual level, to follow Obama. (The Right didn’t call him the “messiah” for nothing.”). Obama’s candidate surpassed the nominal level of everyday politics. Col. Powell called Obama a “transcendent” figure. Obama was not a person or a candidate. He was an idea. Never mind his experience. Never mind his thoughts or beliefs or relationships or affiliations. At the end of the day, Obama represents two things—Hope and Change.

However, the democrats were not the only party to evoke PoMo. Both John McCain and Sarah Palin used PoMo to attract voters. John McCain is a “maverick” who challenged his own party on sincerity, honesty, and openness. “Joe the Plumber” represents the ultimate meta-narrative. Yes, there is a Joe, yes he is a plumber, yes he is a conservative, and yes he is fearful of Obama. But that information had no bearing on the context of “Joe the Plumber.” He represented “Joe Six-Pack” (another awful meta-character) Americans. He became a verbal weapon used to bash opponents. Sarah Plain, and her small-town ethic, represented PoMo to the extreme. Almost all of her images were “meta” in nature. Pit bulls, hockey moms, lipstick, Joe Six-Pack, terrorists, small towns. PoMo removed there initial value and substituted instead other values, above their normal context.

What is the result?

Never before in the history of America, has there been an election where we knew less about the candidates, less about the issues, less about foreign policy, and more about Hope, Change, and a Plumber from the mid-west.

PoMo does not offer any clarity; it only blurs the issues into negligibility.

Worse yet, the feigning of sincerity attract those Americans who are looking for honesty in politics. Do you think it is coincidence that Obama invoked the methods of Lincoln and Regan in his political addresses? Where is the bipartisanship promised? Tax cuts or tax credits? Middle-class equality or social welfare? The language used to discuss policy has made sustentative debate impossible.

When Obama says he will cut taxes for 95% of Americans, he invokes traditional conservative values. But these “tax cuts” are actually tax credits. His policies result in a net tax increase and more money back after taxes. But because the tax credits will make those increases (in some cases) negligible, he can claim them as tax cuts, despite the meaning of “tax cut.” Likewise, when Obama plans on “balancing the budget” and “pay-as-you-go,” they are polite ways of saying tax and spend (which in itself is loaded). How can Obama balance a budget but offer trillions (literally) in new spending?

The problem is the narrative has surpassed reality. And in a PoMo world, perception is reality. The meta-narrative complicates what is actually being said. It is much like doublethink and doublespeak in 1984—except real. When one word (like tax cut) means something to a majority of people, but can mean something different to other people, how can we understand the word “tax cut?” The political narrative no longer focuses on strong and fair tax policy, but the definition of even the word “tax cut.”

Aye, there’s the rub: In a PoMo world, language is individual amongst groups and individuals. To understand one another, we must speak each other’s language. Thus, people’s stories, their lives, their personal selves are necessary to understand one another. This explains the shift in art, literature, and film towards narrative type story-telling. It is emotionally driven; character development is key. Tricky plot lines are difficult to follow, but understanding the characters is key. Shows like Lost, Heroes, 24, etc. are popular because they are a series of little stories, about characters and centering on character development, while at the same time offering plot. PoMo explains the huge success and growth for TLC and Discovery Channel.

The biggest argument against Post-Modernism is that it rejects absolute truth. Although the philosophy does not directly state this, the logical conclusion of its pluralistic nature and view of “language” leads to that assumption. I though I could fight this view. Here is how:

If PoMo is represented by the various languages spoken by groups and individuals (no languages as in French and English, but nuance, sarcasm, idioms, inside jokes, etc.), and the only way to understand those languages is through narrative communication and involvement in a group or with an individual, then in theory, Post-Modernism should allow for a heightened need and desire for dialogue. PoMo, by its very nature should promote substantive dialogue—political, social, and religious, etc. PoMo however does not do that.

Post-Modernism, by blurring what language means, and by focusing more on the individual, while feigning community, completely obliterates the opportunity for dialogue. After all, we can never truly understand each other! So much for round tables! So much for diplomatic missions!

How the hell does Obama expect to talk to crazy fucking ARABS WITHOUT PRECONDITIONS IN A POSTMODERN WORLD? DAMNIT!

Now that that is out of my system, I would still like to offer a critique of Modernism & Post-Modernism.

Before I discovered Post-Modernism, I thought I was in the middle of the political spectrum, leaning mostly to the right. After my tryst with Post-Modernism, I’m confused. I am now in the middle of the middle?

There is certainly more to come, about why post-modernism makes everything worthless. I’ll write about it late. I’m too pissed off to continues.

The dialogue is a like, the meta narrative is empty, and lacks of absolutes only result in more separation and worthlessness.