As he so often does, @ayjay looks at the reality with just enough of a perspective shift that what appeared to be utter chaos becomes intelligible. This is especially appreciated considering my expression of political alienation yesterday.
The United States of America has long had a two-party political system, but it now has a two-party social system also. The social system is not divided between Republicans and Democrats but rather between Manichaeans and Humanists. The Manichaean Party is headed by Donald Trump. He works in close concert with Ibram X. Kendi, Eric Metaxas, Xavier Becerra, and Rush Limbaugh, but really, the Party wouldn’t exist at all without him. The Humanist Party, by contrast, doesn’t have an obvious leadership structure and doesn’t make a lot of noise; its chief concern is less to enforce an agenda than to make it a little harder for the Manichaeans to enforce theirs.
The Manichaeans say, all together and in a very loud voice, You are wholly with us or wholly against us! Make your decision! I don’t know when I’ve had an easier choice.
I think this perspective pairs well this this analysis by Paul Miller. My response to this at the time was it might suggest that the best voting strategy for a believer (or the humanist in Jacob’s framing) is to always vote against the incumbent in order to slow both sides in the realization of their ends.