07-03-2022, 03:43 PM
I see a merger of unrestrained greed befitting Calvinist theology and a populist contempt for rational processes. Such makes the fascism of the Trump-era different from other expressions of fascism in other lands. Germany was not Calvinist; Japan was in no way Christian; Italy was Catholic. People brought up in a Calvinist tradition (like Trump, nominally a Presbyterian and hence connected to a Calvinist heritage) usually take a look at the stuff about God blessing the successful as a sign of His Favor. One looks at such an assumption and recognizes by that that a highly-successful gangster has the Blessing of God and a destitute toiler does not. I refuse to see slaves, children with incurable diseases or Jews that the demonic Nazis damned to mass murder as cursed of God.
OK, I don't see Divine Meddling as an explanation of much in our world unless we have a God Who is little more than an expre4ssion of random chance. We all have a choice between Good and Evil, and it is generally wisest to choose Good.
It used to be that the Mountain South was largely Presbyterian as a pattern of settlement from late colonial times. Over time, the economic reality of the Mountain South (there was no easy way in which to make a living) muted the Calvinist assumption that personal wealth shows the Blessing of God. American Presbyterians seemed to look the other way about any nexus between personal success and the Will of God until they got mobile. Then they created a big chunk of what is now the Southern Baptist Convention, which wholly endorses such a nexus. .Of course if one believes in that nexus and finds oneself below average in economic attainment, then what can one do? One can get very resentful toward minorities doing well. That is much of the populist appeal of Donald Trump.
The "new" part of the Southern Baptist heritage carries on the anti-intellectualism of the old Mountain South. This is where Fundamentalism demanded Biblical Inerrancy as a test of the validity of one's faith. One believes in the Genesis account of Creation or one risks eternal damnation.
With this comes an acceptance of pure plutocracy -- that those who own the assets are uniquely qualified to rule over Humanity. I'm not convinced that any social class has any particular virtue. The poor are often poor because they have such faults as limited intelligence, mental illness, or poor impulse control, or that they have made very bad decisions in life (like teen pregnancy). The rich can get away with extreme vices and are able to impose destructive tendencies upon politics because they can buy the political process and the mass culture. The middle class can get complacent about economic realities so long as things go well... while ignoring that their mass consumption may be devouring resources and soling the environment.
We are in a dilemma -- don't think, because if you do you will come to recognize how nasty things really are. But if you don't think, you have no idea that things could be going very bad very fast.
OK, I don't see Divine Meddling as an explanation of much in our world unless we have a God Who is little more than an expre4ssion of random chance. We all have a choice between Good and Evil, and it is generally wisest to choose Good.
It used to be that the Mountain South was largely Presbyterian as a pattern of settlement from late colonial times. Over time, the economic reality of the Mountain South (there was no easy way in which to make a living) muted the Calvinist assumption that personal wealth shows the Blessing of God. American Presbyterians seemed to look the other way about any nexus between personal success and the Will of God until they got mobile. Then they created a big chunk of what is now the Southern Baptist Convention, which wholly endorses such a nexus. .Of course if one believes in that nexus and finds oneself below average in economic attainment, then what can one do? One can get very resentful toward minorities doing well. That is much of the populist appeal of Donald Trump.
The "new" part of the Southern Baptist heritage carries on the anti-intellectualism of the old Mountain South. This is where Fundamentalism demanded Biblical Inerrancy as a test of the validity of one's faith. One believes in the Genesis account of Creation or one risks eternal damnation.
With this comes an acceptance of pure plutocracy -- that those who own the assets are uniquely qualified to rule over Humanity. I'm not convinced that any social class has any particular virtue. The poor are often poor because they have such faults as limited intelligence, mental illness, or poor impulse control, or that they have made very bad decisions in life (like teen pregnancy). The rich can get away with extreme vices and are able to impose destructive tendencies upon politics because they can buy the political process and the mass culture. The middle class can get complacent about economic realities so long as things go well... while ignoring that their mass consumption may be devouring resources and soling the environment.
We are in a dilemma -- don't think, because if you do you will come to recognize how nasty things really are. But if you don't think, you have no idea that things could be going very bad very fast.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.