America self-corrects, when will we?

Photo: AFP

JOE BIDEN, president-elect of the United States, said this in his victory speech:

“Once again, America's bent the arc of the moral universe more towards justice.”

I’m a little bit of a nerd about quotes and their origins. (https://quoteinvestigator.com/2012/11/15/arc-of-universe/)

Here is the first known record of this concept, in the writings of Unitarian minister Theodore Parker in 1853:

“Look at the facts of the world. You see a continual and progressive triumph of the right. I do not pretend to understand the moral universe, the arc is a long one, my eye reaches but little ways. I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight; I can divide it by conscience. But from what I see, I am sure it bends towards justice.”

A somewhat more famous version of the concept/quote was written by Martin Luther King, Jr in 1958:

“Evil may so shape events that Caesar will occupy a palace and Christ a cross, but that same Christ arose and split history into A.D. and B.C., so that even the life of Caesar must be dated by his name. Yes, ‘the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.’ There is something in the universe which justifies William Cullen Bryant in saying, ‘Truth crushed to earth will rise again.’”

I may attempt a three-part series of articles about the American presidential election of 2020; the second article will resonate with the theme of truth being crushed to earth but rising again, while the third will be about democratic systems, processes, and institutional resilience.

In this first part however, I’d like to talk about self-correction, and about long arcs bending towards justice.

I think this saying implies that the trajectory of human history will be a bumpy one. There will be ups and downs, and there will be deviations from the course towards the ultimate goals of justice and progress.

I think four years of President Donald Trump was a major deviation, and a major down period. It was a period that began to undermine the most fundamental notions of scientifically determining what was true, and what was not.

When even the simplest basics of what was fact and what was not can be compromised, it is a sure sign that society is spiralling into dystopia.

The good news is of course, that Biden’s re-election appears - for now at least - to have checked that spiral, and re-bent the proverbial arc back to its long term destination of justice.

America has self-corrected.

A funny and deep cutting little picture emerged of Biden and his wife in their home after his victory, with an old sign that originally read: “Home to Dr and Vice President Biden”, with Biden’s wife now blocking out the word “Vice”.

In this photo, Biden was wearing a dark blue baseball cap that said simply: “We just did.”

This was perhaps the most devastating mic drop moment I had seen in the campaign.

This hat of course was a three-word response to Trump’s ubiquitous red baseball cap which read: “Make America Great Again (MAGA).”

MAGA was a fascinating phenomenon in and of itself; it was arguably the extremely effective campaign slogan that was most responsible for propelling Trump to victory in 2016 (some say that dubious honour belonged to “lock her up”).

Those simple four words evoked an idea that America had lost its lustre - implying perhaps that eight years under Barack Obama had run America to the ground, where an excess of liberal policies and loose morals were siphoning off America’s strength to foreigners and God knows who else.

MAGA evoked a time of American greatness, an unchallenged political and economic power, and home to flourishing domestic prosperity.

The power of evoking such ethos cannot be understated. Indeed, Biden did the very same in his victory speech. A few excerpts:

“I sought this office to restore the soul of America, to rebuild the backbone of this nation, the middle class, and to make America respected around the world again.”

“The American story is about slowly yet steadily widening the opportunities in America. And make no mistake, too many dreams have been deferred for too long.”

“I've long talked about the battle for the soul of America. We must restore the soul of America. Our nation is shaped by the constant battle between our better angels and our darkest impulses. And what presidents say in this battle matters. It's time for our better angels to prevail.”

The phrase “better angels” was not lightly chosen. In the American context, it was made most famous by Biden’s predecessor, Abraham Lincoln in the closing paragraph of his first inaugural address in 1861, when America was at the brink of civil war:

“I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”

Such words would surely resonate at a time when - as has been frequently observed - America is at its most divided.

In its context, it was somewhat comical that Trump’s most recent tweet at time of writing read: “71,000,000 Legal Votes. The most EVER for a sitting President!”

It is comical because he chose to boast of such a thing at such a time in his trademark style. Make no mistake though, while Trump has lied about countless things, he was not lying about that.

Indeed, Trump got the most votes in a presidential campaign ever - except of course for one other person: Joe Biden, who got about 75 million (equally legal) votes.

A historical record of some 146 million Americans voted in 2020, more than ever before (this number is still startlingly low, for a nation of 328 million people).

This means more Americans than ever thought there was a lot at stake in these elections, and views about which direction America should move in were split right down the middle.

Biden is fully aware of the division and challenges that he thus inherits. But he also has a rich national history, legacy, and ethos to draw on in his endeavour to bend the arc back. In this vein, he used his victory speech to recall some key points in American history:

“America has always been shaped by inflection points, by moments in time where we've made hard decisions about who we are and what we want to be. Lincoln in 1860 coming to save the union. FDR in 1932 promising a beleaguered country a new deal. JFK in 1960 pledging a new frontier, and 12 years ago, when Barack Obama made history, he told us yes, we can.”

Biden looked to the past, both for inspiration, and to provide inspiration.

He told a tale of an America that had emerged through times of incredible divisiveness and national crises together.

He drew a picture of a resilient nation, committed to a clear set of ideals and values that were as American as apple pie, as it were - ideals and values that would form the bedrock of his administration, the basis for a renewed push for unity, and the anchor that would bend that arc back to the right direction.

It’s hard to overstate how important it is for a nation to have an ethos like this to draw on.

Ours is a much younger nation, perhaps still in the midst of defining itself, of finding what ideals and values are as Malaysian as nasi lemak, as it were.

Perhaps it is because we have postponed time and again this important process - this soul searching to really define what it means to be Malaysian, and to live together as Malaysians - that Malaysia is now facing the crippling problems, disunity, and challenges that it does.

Perhaps our first step towards self-correction and a formation of our own national ethos must be a reckoning with ourselves, and an honest, unflinching look at the question of who we want to be, as a nation.

Only then, do we stand a chance of creating a resilient identity, and of becoming all that we can be.

NATHANIEL TAN works with Projek Wawasan Rakyat (POWR). He can be reached at [e-mail].