The Left often sees Jean-Jacques Rousseau as a champion of equality and uses his criticisms of economic inequality and elite power. Take David Lay Williams, for example, a Rousseau scholar who recently claimed in the New York Times that Rousseau can give us special insight into Donald Trump. Supposedly, Rousseau can help us see why Trump thrives by stoking division—he pits Americans against each other in order to distract them from growing economic inequality. As Williams quotes Rousseau in the Second Discourse, “Chiefs foment everything that can weaken assembled men by disuniting them.”
But this kind of interpretation misses something crucial. Rousseau didn’t just warn about money and class in his writings: he was also worried about the breakdown of shared identity and culture—that is, citizenship. The Left loves to champion Rousseau when it’s convenient, but they ignore his warnings about what happens when people no longer see themselves as part of a shared community.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau the champion Reign of Terror of the French.--what a great authority.
ReplyDelete"Trump stokes division among Americans to distract from the growing economic inequality"? That's a rich statement when millions of Americans are existing at or below the poverty level partly because of Biden's high inflation. They can’t afford lots of things that the current government is handing out free to millions of criminal invaders who were allowed and even encouraged to come in by the Democrats.
ReplyDeleteThe left are the ones that focus on differences and division. The left are the racist wallowing in ancient history and blaming white children for things that happened 160 years ago. The left are the ones screaming that men must fail so that women can succeed.
ReplyDeleteAn excellent read - thanks. I have sometimes tried to start a discussion regarding the difference between a nation and a country, but without success. A country is simply a geopolitical entity. Rousseau's remarks regarding a shared set of ideals and/or identity ring true, IMHO. Without that, a nation can't exist, except in name.
ReplyDeleteThe United States is a country, but not a nation. This is not a long-term viable situation.