On Political Conversions and the Howling Void of Our Politics

By Nate Bethea

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There's a part of me that wants to say I don't trust anyone who isn't just a little bit bonkers since Trump got elected. I'm willing to grant exceptions -- too busy, disconnected from politics, avoiding it for mental health reasons -- but it's hard to not believe that any empathetic person who doesn't grapple with the howling abyss of our current day-to-day life is potentially suspect. And I don't say that as some Beltway liberal who mourns the death of an idealized America that never existed, or who yearns only to return to those halcyon days of the past decade when basically 70-plus percent of our problems were still there. I just say that as someone who wants to be optimistic that we'll turn the corner, who hopes that people can see what's going on all around them.

Of course, people who were radicalized under Bush are now invited to say, "Yeah, but what the hell took you so long?" I don't really have an excuse -- I wasn't a child. I was a few weeks shy of 17 on 9/11, 18 when Iraq started, and 20 when Bush was reelected. Looking back on it now, you can clearly draw the lines between events and determine that our current crises stem from actions taken post 9/11. The Iraq war (and the utter and complete lack of consequences for those who created it) solidified a culture of political impunity that had emerged post-Watergate and Iran-Contra. Our domestic response to 9/11 solidified an American tolerance for endless war, endless fear, and endless contempt for not just the rest of the world, but for dissenting Americans. It's only now that, after having felt the interminable fear of wondering whether one of my battalion's wounded soldiers would recover from his wounds, after having felt the combination of pride and remorse upon his receipt of the Purple Heart, that I can comprehend (however glanciningly) the horror of that 2004 RNC photo where a Bush supporter has adorned herself with Purple Heart band-aids to mock John Kerry's wounds received in Vietnam. The truth is, at the time I didn't care. It didn't seem like a big deal.

Seeing the war up close made me change my mind, but so did seeing the utter misery of poverty in Anchorage, Alaska (one of the wealthiest states in America). Seeing young Americans and even younger Afghans die for nothing made me change my mind, but so did reading Eco and speaking with actual socialists. Seeing the total emptiness behind our supposed foreign policy goals for Afghanistan made me change my mind, but so did working in Honduras and seeing the effects of the drug war, neoliberal economics, and exploitation. It was human relationships, one-on-one encounters with the undeniable, that made me shift leftwards from centrist to liberal to socialist. In some ways, we can instigate those encounters by being humble and available. In others, there's nothing we can do if someone isn't ready. I suppose this is what the online anime fascists refer to as "redpilling," and while I want to see them driven from their crusty basements with a flamethrower, I think there's truth in the idea that sometimes people aren't yet ready. 

There are glimpses of hope: you see political activism and radicalization that are shaking people out of their comfort zones. People that I know in real life who would have scolded you two years ago to dream any bigger than Dianne Feinstein and a smarter, more Ivy League educated version of endless war (with women drone pilots!) have realized that it's a fool's errand to accept half-measures and technocratic fixes. More people I know in my personal life have admitted to themselves that our current situation is untenable, and that radicalization sticks with people. Whether that radicalism translates into increased civic action or simply just being louder about it online is unclear, but I have to hope that we'll see more of the former.

If there were any one message I could leave you with, it's to say that people's politics and opinions can change, and more readily so if they trust and respect the person selling them on new politics. I changed my mind, and many of my colleagues did as well. I don't think we should look at politics as proselytizing as much as simply offering a route to a better life -- as encouraging buy-in to an idea of communal worth -- but nevertheless we will experience conversions along the way. I'm in no position to say, "You must be humble about it." I'm not always humble about it. But I think humility helps, and I think that people will behave at their most erratic and self-defeating when they think they're being disrespected.

That said, some people have to come to the conclusion on their own before they're ready. Sometimes it's better to dialogue with and organize around the ones who already have.