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As America Collapses, More Reactionaries Will Rise to Push Their Agendas Printer friendly page Print This
By Dallas Darling
Submitted by Author
Friday, May 24, 2019

For every action there’s a reaction, especially when societies are collapsing. As for America, it entails reactionaries who’ve adopted an ideologically driven view of the world that is tragically at odds with reality. Seizing on a source of authority and power they once had, they are more inclined to rule over others through punitive consequences or something worse: over-reactionary wars. Meanwhile there’s the other vice, how many just standby and tend to under react.

Reactionary Minds Can’t Help Themselves
Even televangelist Pat Robertson, for instance, who has adamantly opposed abortion for years, criticized Alabama’s recent abortion ban that makes it punishable for up to 99 years in prison. Neither did it exempt such cases as rape or incest. In the meantime, other states like Missouri and Virginia are following Alabama’s lead. Driven by a fear of a collapsing society and its complexities, it’s bound to only get worse. The reactionary mind can’t consequently help itself.

The same goes for President Donald Trump and the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus (HFC). Trump, who has decided to depart from fact-based analyses to appease his war-minded cabinet, vowed to bring about “the official end of Iran.” The HFC overreacted to Rep. Justin Amash’s (R-Mich.) call for impeaching Trump. Along with condemning him and calling him names, always two signs of reactionary thinking and troubling inflexibility, the group plans to censor him.

Alabama’s Reactionary Measure
James Madison warned of reactionaries more than two centuries ago by calling them “sects.” One kind he mentioned were “religious sects” which “may degenerate into political factions.” Clothed in self-righteous garb, a reactionary religious group did just that by passing a near ban on abortion. It not only lacked an exemption for rape and incest, but it included the punishment of up to 99 years in prison for doctors or anyone else trying to perform an abortion.

The measure, sponsored by Rep. Terri Collins, an ultra-conservative Christian, and Eric Johnston, who founded the Alabama Pro-Life Coalition, would also make it a felony for any woman seeking an abortion, with a prison sentence of one to 10 years. Missouri followed suit with other states considering similar legislation. As for Robertson of the Christian-based “700 Club,” he called the law “extreme.” He also thought the law “lacked compassion” and “had gone too far.”

Trump’s Many “Over-Reactions”
Another extreme, over-reactionary move was Trump’s tweet ratcheting up a war with Iran. “If Iran wants to fight” he tweeted, “that will be the official end of Iran.” It ended with: “Never threaten the United States again!” Although it’s unclear what prompted this tweet, it’s hard to deny that he’s one of the most dangerous, reactionary presidents the U.S. has ever had. And it includes a militant sect within his administration headed with individuals like John Bolton.

His threat moreover came on the heels of other reactionary executive orders, ranging from militarizing the border with Mexico and pardoning war criminals to giving the federal government the power to block U.S. companies from buying foreign-made telecommunications equipment deemed a national security risk. In the meantime, and declaring it an act of treason, he continues to peddle a die-hard conspiracy where the Obama Administration, FBI, and CIA spied on him.

Reactionaries Kill Rationality

The downside of faith-, fiction-, militant-, and conspiracy-based politics-all which are usually over-reactionary-is that they attract those who don’t adhere to a more rational, decision-making process. No wonder the HFC took such an extreme position condemning Amash’s call for impeaching the president. It’s easier to manipulate the facts in service of a total ideology than mustering the courage to face one’s dissonance-let alone a leader who’s dishonest and uncivil.

In this case, the total ideology is Trump. Many Republicans would rather ignore his many lies, his obvious racism and sexism, and his coordination with Russia to manipulate the 2016 election-as the Mueller Report suggested-instead of following the rule of law or checks-and-balances. This includes challenging other misconducts like paying illegal hush money, tax evasion, money laundering, obstructing justice, or accepting large donations from foreign entities for favors.

A Warning from Orwell
British author and journalist George Orwell captured the epitome of such over-reactionaries when he wrote: “We are all capable of believing things which we know to be untrue, and then, when we are finally proved wrong, impudently twisting the facts so as to show that we were right.” But make no mistake, religious, political, and power-hungry ideologues and extremists’ distortions of reality have a way of eventually bumping into reality, of making alliances with Hell.

Some just hope that when a more constant reality comes crashing down on the distorted realities of those just mentioned, it won’t include America. Indeed, the historic temptation for all extreme reactionaries has always been to subordinate the rule of law and the will of the people to their ideological fervor. Even if it means using force. This includes over-reactionary politicians whose core beliefs are wildly at odds with t the opinions of the majority.

The Real Dangers
In this, America is not exempt. To be sure, and unless something is done, more harsh and legalistic laws await most Americans. In the meantime, American Exceptionalists at war with Iran’s Islamists would surely be an over-reactionary conflict to the bitter end. The same goes for reactionaries who over-react by punishing their own outspoken members but remain under-reactionaries to the real danger.  


Dallas Darling is the author of Politics 501: An A-Z Reading on Conscientious Political Thought and Action, Some Nations Above God: 52 Weekly Reflections On Modern-Day Imperialism, Militarism, And Consumerism in the Context of John’s Apocalyptic Vision, and The Other Side Of Christianity: Reflections on Faith, Politics, Spirituality, History, and Peace. He is a correspondent for www.WN.com. You can read more of Dallas’ writings at www.beverlydarling.com and www.WN.com/dallasdarling.



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