Yuval Harari in his book, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century writes about the consequences of the death of three stories that have preoccupied 20th century mankind. Simply put it was the fascist, communist and liberal story. The Second World War kicked the fascist story to the wall--although a few still today missed the memo and the communist one fell apart with the collapse of the Berlin Wall. We are still stumbling around to repair the last of the big stories--the liberal one. The liberal view--which is all about expanding prosperity as we continue to globalize is now under attack directly as the global financial crisis of 2008 called into question whether globalization could deliver results. While the wealthy survived the recession and even prospered vast segments of the middle and working classes found their economic dreams either placed on hold or shattered. The jury is out as to whether the right wing narrative that provides those who are not prospering to blame their woes on a host evils starting with llegal immigrants and innumerable conspiracy theories. But as Harari states to be “suddenly left without a story is terrifying.” No wonder there is an increase in the idea that we along with the planet are doomed and that if climate change does not get us, the next pandemic surely will.
The challenge is more complex now people have a myriad sources of information to consult, many of them bogus, some malign and many only superficial and misleading. Thank social media for this which on the plus side has helped to destroy many of the usual sources of authority-politicians chief among them followed by academics and of course religious figures but on the negative side we seem to have replaced too many of these figures with idiots and publicity seekers There seem only a few trusted individuals capable of commanding the trust to surround facts with meaning and who can tell stories using an authentic voice that can resonate beyond a local following.
So how to move forward? While we can fall into despair that there seem to be no more John and Robert Kennedys, Martin Luther Kings or Nelson Mandellas around today—we can and should make more productive use of our energies. We need to find ways to create forums and communities where consensus making is still possible. Yes we may have lost the old forums where a Lincoln versus Douglas type of debate could help settle the momentous issues of the days, and it hard to imagine a forum today where a James Baldwin could take on the likes of a William F Buckley and wipe the floor with him. Without such forums it is difficult to imagine how what remains of the liberal project gets any kind of traction. Republicans are now on record as believing a big lie--a conspiracy theory of gigantic proportions that the 2020 election was stolen? How do you convince something like over 60 percent of Republican voters that Trump was the true victor in this last presidential race?
One answer is to reinvent new forums that can attract real people who are not there to play act but to help solve real issues. The elite leaders of social media that continue to make literally billions off conflict and confusion need to step up here. Using their marketing savvy, they could and working with local communities help restore the notion that well intentioned people from different walks of life can arrive at something resembling truth. How about a series 100 simultaneous Facebook/Twitter town meetings that focuses on an issue like unemployment or immigration well moderated by a team of non partisan experts. The set of meetings designed to identify policy options and gather consensus around them could then be presented for consideration to legislators who would in the public eye actively work for compromise solutions.
It is not easy but civic life must be revived by more than the simple gestures or soundbites that social media encourages. The division between red and blue states and even neighborhoods that the media likes to play up can only be reduced through civil dialogue.
We should also try to revive civics education which somehow slipped from the school curriculum. As an Atlantic article finds :
More than 40 percent of college graduates did not know that the Constitution grants the power to declare war to Congress.
Roughly half of college students could not correctly state the length of the terms of members of the Senate or the House of Representatives.
More than a third of Americans did not know that the Bill of Rights guarantees a right to a trial by jury. Meanwhile, 40 percent mistakenly thought that it secures the right to vote.
Perhaps the billionaire co-founders of Facebook and Twitter could work together to train a new group of civics teachers who could spearhead this effort. University campuses across the country also need to some incentives for university teachers to encourage a new generation of young people to not just be content with academic study and become responsible community leaders as well as figure out ways to make social media a more productive and less divisive tool.
While these actions by themselves will not solve the deep crisis we face but they will provide much needed hope that with other changes we can overcome the crisis. A new story will emerge eventually that will hopefully emphasize (as the pandemic has shown us) that we are all interdependent and that we can only solve our crises by working together. When you find ourselves in a dark place rather than fight about who turned off the power we all of us need to light some candles.