Symmetric political moment

I don’t usually write about politics but America is at a unique political moment, one of supreme balance between opposing, well, either personalities or civilizations, you pick.

On the one hand, we have a politician who speaks words only as a performative utterance, a speech act designed not for its veracity but its effect. This is the cynical politician who will say anything it takes to get elected, then implement an agenda that was hidden from the people, but not to those in the know. The experts agree this is the proper way a democracy should be run, the best way to get the people to agree to what is good for them. If it should increase the cynicism of the people, that is a small price to pay.

On the other hand, we have a non-politician who speaks words with no concern for how they might be construed or offensive. This is the citizen who thinks there is freedom of public speech, to be passionate in public, to have an authentic public persona. There is nothing too negative that can be said against the non-politician, nothing too demeaning for after all they have demeaned and said negative things first. If the non-politician should puncture through the general cynicism, the consequences are fearful to imagine.

It’s the devil we know too well vs. the devil we might not want to know. One uses noble-sounding ends to justify their deviousness, the other uses authenticity to justify their questionable ends. Cynicism vs. naivety. Corruption vs. craziness. A perfect balance. Interesting times or the end of the age, or both.