A commonplace feature of our raspy campaign speech is called the politics of resentment. It explains so much of why voters choose whom they want to represent them in our form of government which lets people choose. Yet little is said about it perhaps because it is unworthy of a nation with our history. It is right below the surface yet few of us want to admit it. Political theorists say it is a capital danger in democratic nations, even those that proclaim representative government: the more we subdivide into tribes and factions, the more we angle to get the benefits of government for our tribe and away from the other tribes.
George Washington counseled against having political parties, which they had in the eighteenth century England he fought against, and elsewhere, too, on the continent. Remember the Whigs and the Tories? Yet he was not granted his wish, despite having fought bravely and at great risk, once deemed by King George III as the most dangerous man in America. Parties arose professing loyalty to merchants or farmers or others. Our foundation documents written by brilliant men in Philadelphia professed ideals about the supposed equality of all people, even if they neglected women, slaves and non-property owners. They said it was evident that all men are created equal.
If my tribe has little contact with or knowledge about other tribes, the ground is set for me to assume that they have more than I have. Without proof I only assume they are wealthier or more favored by government, so I resent their unfair advantage, even if it is evident from a distance that tribes of different color skin have demonstrably less. Drive through Philadelphia, the nation’s poorest large city, and see what they have in the way of housing stock. Read newspaper accounts of crime on the streets with so many handguns wounding and killing people there. Contrast these with life in the white suburbs and ask who lives an advantaged life, made permanent by government.
The government makes possible schools and roads and other benefits since our country requires it by law. Third World countries do not provide for citizens the way ours does, but that is not to say that the quality of these benefits in America are equal in city and suburb. When we hear suburbanites complain that their tax money is carrying loafers and sluggards who don’t want to work and who have higher instances of social mayhem like substance abuse or broken families or unemployment, go a step farther and ask why desperation drives already bruised people to drink, or which tribe does the hiring and firing, among other things. In fact, ask them if they would consent to live for half an hour in the ghetto where resentful complainers see so much “unfairness.” Maybe inner-city parishes should sponsor exchange programs that would familiarize suburbanites who enjoy higher percentage tax rates about how their tax money is not really making a paradisaical life for other tribes. Bus them to the homes of other tribes. Scales will fall from their eyes.
If I am afflicted with this kind of ballot selfishness, I am unready to confess being selfish. I would deny it. I would defy logic and assert that other tribes are better off materially than I am, and I will choose the candidate on the basis of my tribe, not on the basis of the common good, a church term in little use these days. Parties advertise to this mentality. White supremacy versus Black Lives Matter make for copy everywhere. Journalists love it because it sells.
Christians still loyal to their faith attend church each weekend. They might understand the psychological need for the requirement to do it regularly so that they do not fall out of practice. To do so would be to drop out, as many or most have. While at worship they take part in a ritual of listening to what they call the word and gospel of the Lord. That segues into a communal remembrance of the Last Supper, where they are reminded that all tribalism falls into foolishness. The readings and the common meal disavow exclusivist tribal pretenses of superiority, one group over others. The Lord’s charge to wash each others’ feet make it look ridiculous. Maybe that and COVID are why attendance is off.
If you have read this far, I give you credit since scolds like this cause resentment.
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