One moves right, the other left. They despise each other. Apparently, superficially, accidentally they contrast; but interiorly, in essence and form, they are identical.
It is the anguished scream of the afflicted underclass, marginalized from power, economically depressed, caught in the smothering culture of poverty, bereft of hope and agency, and self esteem.
It is the culture of father-less-ness: male impotence, promiscuity and faithlessness; the absence of protection, provision, authority, steadfastness, tradition, discipline, and gentle strength.
It is the very bottom of a highly stratified, meritocratic, class society which extravagantly rewards the privileged, the competent, and connected...of whatever skin color...and afflicts the poor, the incompetent and the unconnected...of whatever skin color. (How absurd to see Oprah Winfrey, Lebron James and a host of NFL players lecturing us on social injustice from their perch at the very top of the economic pyramid!)
In two forms, it is an incoherent, convoluted politics of rage, anxiety, resentment and irrationality. It is a scapegoating: on the one side an alleged "systematic racism" and the vicious police; on the other side an influx of criminal Mexicans and Moslems. In neither movement is there intelligence, vision, or logic. Both spring from fear and hatred and are energized to destroy, but not to build or reconcile.
Class Not Race
The underclass is one class. In this I resemble a classic Marxist: identity politics, of the right or left, is a distraction from the core economic injustice and serves the interests of the rich. Virtually all elite institutions, especially the global corporations and the prestigious cultural organizations, have jumped on the BLM bandwagon: intuitively they know that they can parade their "anti-racism" and it will never cost them an iota of power or money; indeed, it enhances their prestige. The hatred of the white and black underclass for each other keeps them polarized and powerless; and leaves the power structure firmly in place.
Culture Not Race
The underclass, black and white, are caught in the same Culture of Poverty: a complex web, a multi-universe of negative dynamics...economic, spiritual, emotional, moral, educational, medical, and on and on...which keep the poor poor and allow the most narrow window of escape, mostly for the exceptionally competent who are able to climb the meritocratic ladder of achievement and merit. This culture is kept in place by a stratified class system but is even more deeply structured by toxic religious, moral, cultural and familial dynamics. It is very powerful. Throwing money at it will not change it. Eliminating the alleged "systematic racism" will not change it. Building a wall will not change it.
Path Forward
There are three promising paths forward.
First of all, the grace of God will need to descend upon the lower and the upper classes, bring change of heart; bringing the joy, strength, energy of faith; turning our hearts toward each other regardless of class or race; and especially reviving a confident, generous, strong but gentle masculinity and paternity.
Secondly, starting with the family and the presence of the father, intermediate institutions need to be rebuilt: schools, neighborhoods, extended families, faith communities and all sorts of smaller organizations. Yuval Levin is very helpful on this.
Lastly, the underclass, along with allies higher up, must rid itself of identity and racial politics and form a coalition to address economic injustice and the desperate needs of the one class. In this regard, Bernie Sanders did have an appeal, even to this arch-conservative, in his untiring focus on economic injustice.
Personally, I dream of a new, post-Trump Republican Party, which retains its current defense of traditional moral-cultural values (the unborn, suffering and powerless; traditional marriage; religious liberty) with a genuine economic populism that actually addresses the injustices. It is hard to imagine this happening since the party is traditionally wed to the interests of capital. But the Trump event, while unfaithful to its commitment to economic populism, has placed a wedge between the party and capital. It has been true to its moral-cultural commitment. It has created a coalition of the underprivileged (white) and the religious against the powerful, rich and secular elite. Conservative thinkers like Douthat, Levin, Vance, Reno and others are thinking this way. If the largely working class Catholic Democratic Party of my childhood could transfigure itself into the party of sexual liberation and identity politics and the Republican Party of capital change into the party of Trump, it is not inconceivable that the Republican Party, already reconfigured, might adopt an authentic cultural and economic populism, an alliance of the religious, the working class, the poor, and their allies among the powerful. It would take a politician with the charismatic appeal of JFK, Reagan or Obama to embody such a synthesis. It is a good hope and a great prayer!
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