Not Quite Social

Something else that is worth noting is that although the Red “Tsunami” or Red “Wave” has been watered down to a resurgence at this point, one should not discount or dismiss the political and social clout which Donald Trump still wields amongst Republicans. For one, about 90 percent of Trump-backed candidates won their primary elections up until the midterm election. Thus, the reasons for why the “Tsunami” or “Wave” got knocked down to a resurgence is not because people in the Democratic Party suddenly like Joe Biden or because people in the Republican party suddenly dislike Donald Trump. Rather, the reason for the downgrade from a “Tsunami” to a resurgence is due to the threat which many American women and minority groups in America felt as a result of an activist Supreme Court (SCOTUS) which is now dominated by right-wing extremists as evinced when Roe v. Wade got overturned recently. 

In fact, it is quite possible that the outcome of the 2024 presidential election may come down to these handful of extremists who control SCOTUS, although anything is theoretically possible. I commented on all of these issues and points a long time ago, and perhaps many folks wrote me off as crazy or insane. The point of reiterating the points which I have made before is to demonstrate and illustrate that the prospects of these points ending up being real and true down the road have only increased since I last made them. 

Another important factor – and perhaps the most important factor of them all going forward – is the personality factor. Personality truly does matter in politics. In fact, personality has essentially shaped an entire political party within a two-party system in a single person’s image. Moreover, personality alone is one of four major theories which aim at wholly explaining politics and international relations, in addition to money, realism, and the nature or structure of social relations and social interactions. 

The issue of whether an individual personality shapes a broader social structure or whether the broader social structure shapes the individual personality is subject to debate and deliberation. But what is clear is that the individual personality and the broader social structure must end up working towards a “collective end” per se, and that “collective end” is the establishment of order out of a state of flux. That is essentially the task at hand for all of us, namely, the establishment of order out of what is now a state of flux on both a domestic and international level. 

Although the aims and pursuits of the individual personality may not have been understood at first, the aims and the pursuits of the individual can be appreciated, elucidated, and understood once they are juxtaposed with the “collective end” of the broader social structure to which the individual belongs. An individual can either wield a kind of power which enables him or her to serve as an anchor for order and stability in the broader social structure, or the power can be used to sow anarchy and chaos, which is what certain individuals and groups have sought to do. Quite often, the agent for good is alienated, ostracized, and written off as the bad guy, whereas the anarchic and chaotic one is given all the fame and publicity and is enabled by all of it. We tend to overlook the fact that many people still do not know the difference between right and wrong, despite their wealth and social status. As Robert Frost wrote in a poem titled “Not Quite Social”: 

Some of you will be glad I did what I did, 

And the rest won’t want to punish me too severely 

For finding a thing to do that though not forbid

Yet wasn’t enjoined and wasn’t expected, clearly.

To punish me overcruelly wouldn’t be right

For merely giving you once more gentle proof

That the city’s hold on a man is no more tight

Than when its walls rose higher than any roof. 

You may taunt me with not being able to flee the earth.

You have me there, but loosely, as I would be held.

The way of understanding is partly mirth. 

I would not be taken as ever having rebelled. 

And anyone is free to condemn me to death – 

If he leaves it to nature to carry out the sentence. 

I shall will to the common stock of air my breath

And pay a death tax of fairly polite repentance.