Читать книгу Livin' la Vida Barroca. American Culture in an Age of Imperial Orthodoxies онлайн

71 страница из 84

For most Americans today, liberalism is basically understood as the opposite of conservatism, which is to say as mere voting preference within our two-party system. Largely forgotten is its history as a radically transforming social and philosophical movement without which the present governmental system of the United States could not have been conceived, never mind put into practice.

Viewed in this latter context, it is no exaggeration to say that all Americans, no matter what they currently label themselves in our political debates, are spiritual descendants of liberalism in that they operate within a system whose very architecture (except—and it is no small exception—for its historically horrendous disregard for Africans and their descendants) is predicated on the internalization of that historical project’s core values.

Let me correct that. All Americans are spiritual liberals until they aren’t anymore.

What happens then? What happens when large parts of a citizenry, acting out of either clear-eyed volition or apathy, adopt attitudes that are fundamentally incompatible the underlying ground rules of the political system in which they operate?