Nihilism is a Thing
Rethinking the ‘Party of Opposition’
Economist Paul Krugman summarizes his observation on the Republican Party’s fiscal position, February 4, in the New York Times Opinion section, (1) thusly:
But the most important difference is that this time Republicans aren’t making coherent demands. It’s completely unclear what, if anything, they want in exchange for not blowing up the economy. At this point they’re blackmailers without a cause.
Answering his rhetorical question, why would a political party attempt to undermine a provision for fiscal determinacy that the party has previously advocated for, e.g., a vote to extend the debt ceiling, Krugman, the skeptic, reveals a chasm in America’s body politic:
But it’s hard not to be worried. It’s dangerous when a political party is willing to burn things down unless it gets its way; it’s even more dangerous when that party just wants to watch things burn.
Consider that on the eve of the State of the Union Address, a challenge for Democrats will be convincing America that a political party does not believe in goal setting. And that’s not simply the ‘new Republican Party.’
Consider the trajectory that Krugman has revealed. Since before the mid-term elections, America has entertained the notion that one political party no longer espouses the values and positions it once embraced. Post-January 6 and the mid-term elections which validated — in some races — the notion that Biden was duly elected President, the party’s titular leader, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, has delivered on promises to seat ‘election deniers’ in critical decision-making committee assignments.
Consider that what once one could hardly call the ‘Republican Party’ has become the party of insurrectionists, of nihilists, of abnegation.
Consider that even abandoning principle, the ‘opposition party’ at least espoused a performative goal — block the Democrats’ agenda. Or so we presumed:
Unfortunately, the emptiness of Republican fiscal posturing is no guarantee that we’ll avoid a debt crisis. If anything, it may make a crisis more likely. MAGA may lack policy ideas, but it’s rich in nihilism; Republicans don’t know what policies they want, but they definitely want to see Biden fail.
So far, the Biden administration’s strategy seems to be to flush Republicans out of hiding, force them to propose specific spending cuts, then watch them retreat in the face of an intense public backlash. There are also, I presume and hope, contingency plans to avoid crisis if this strategy fails.
Meeting with President Biden last Wednesday, House Speaker McCarthy opined about the ‘purpose of government:’ to appear to govern while undermining principles and achievements.
‘Congress is about compromise,’ which is why I am meeting today with the President.
American opinion is that the purpose of government is about deliberating what’s best for America and Americans. Indeed, the President’s speech on Tuesday will be a reminder of precisely this (2).
But then McCarthy’s eyes are hollow orbs, always calculating.
We know nihilism is a harbinger of autocracy. Does nihilism beget domination? Rationalists like Krugman argue, is there a before and after?
The answer can be found today in Putin’s ‘imperial’ Russia (3)…in the ‘imperial prerogative’ of profit over climate justice… the racist dominance of white supremacy…of political violence…
If Krugman can pronounce it, nihilism is a thing.
February 6
Notes
1-The government is basically an insurance company with an army. (sltrib.com)
3-https://www.newyorker.com/news/essay/the-war-in-ukraine-is-a-colonial-war
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