American politics can be understood as two competing versions of exceptionalism.
Denialist/reactionary versus guilt-pride/savior
The denalist rejects the criticisms of the US, capitalism, colonialism, racism etc. These things are either not problems or are basically good.
Guilt pride is accepting that there are problems, like racism, but because they recognize this they become self righteous so as to antagonize their denialist opponents. They basically co-opt anti racism into an American exceptionalist weapon. By taking pride in their guilt (white guilt from colonialism) they weaponize their guilt against reactionaries as well as the colonized. It’s like a virtue signal of guilt, not any guilt that can push someone to empathy, it is a chuavanism.
The two sides disagree on the oldest and most formative questions about America’s foundation. What do we do with colonized people? Reactionaries embrace that deep down you have to be white to be American and you can only assimilate so much so we may as well treat them as sub human and that if we actually let them in it could compromise the project by empowering them to break free–a slave revolt. Saviorists say that assimilation could strengthen the project because assimilation and the selection process will basically monitor and compromise colonized people into becoming better subjects, in fact the saviorist fears slave revolt will occur if they don’t try to accommodate colonized people.
You can see these dynamics all over the place. One example is the prospect of a Truth and Reconciliation Council in California. Reactionaries will balk immediately at any conversation about genocide. Guilt pride will lead saviorists to make it about how good they are for accepting something bad happened in California and will balk when it comes to action because it is a performance of exceptionalism that is tidally locked with reactionary views.
This relationship and discourse is what drives colonial discourse and is what protects the discourse from being compromised or stagnant. They both embolden the other which makes it difficult for colonized people to get anything done. You ask why libs feel this way about Trump and its because he is a denalist while they believe in there own guilt pride. Both are competing versions of white supremacy trying to prevent their nightmare of slave revolt.
American politics can be understood as two competing versions of exceptionalism.
Denialist/reactionary versus guilt-pride/savior
The denalist rejects the criticisms of the US, capitalism, colonialism, racism etc. These things are either not problems or are basically good.
Guilt pride is accepting that there are problems, like racism, but because they recognize this they become self righteous so as to antagonize their denialist opponents. They basically co-opt anti racism into an American exceptionalist weapon. By taking pride in their guilt (white guilt from colonialism) they weaponize their guilt against reactionaries as well as the colonized. It’s like a virtue signal of guilt, not any guilt that can push someone to empathy, it is a chuavanism.
The two sides disagree on the oldest and most formative questions about America’s foundation. What do we do with colonized people? Reactionaries embrace that deep down you have to be white to be American and you can only assimilate so much so we may as well treat them as sub human and that if we actually let them in it could compromise the project by empowering them to break free–a slave revolt. Saviorists say that assimilation could strengthen the project because assimilation and the selection process will basically monitor and compromise colonized people into becoming better subjects, in fact the saviorist fears slave revolt will occur if they don’t try to accommodate colonized people.
You can see these dynamics all over the place. One example is the prospect of a Truth and Reconciliation Council in California. Reactionaries will balk immediately at any conversation about genocide. Guilt pride will lead saviorists to make it about how good they are for accepting something bad happened in California and will balk when it comes to action because it is a performance of exceptionalism that is tidally locked with reactionary views.
This relationship and discourse is what drives colonial discourse and is what protects the discourse from being compromised or stagnant. They both embolden the other which makes it difficult for colonized people to get anything done. You ask why libs feel this way about Trump and its because he is a denalist while they believe in there own guilt pride. Both are competing versions of white supremacy trying to prevent their nightmare of slave revolt.