Hegel and the US Constitutional System, 200-years later

Hegel's Philosophy of Government and History (1822)

[Problem -- Reaction -- Solution]

(quote) "if a people [Deu = volk] can no longer accept as implicitly true what its constitution expresses to it as the truth, if its consciousness or Notion and its actuality are not at one -- then the people's spirit may be torn asunder. 

Two things may then occur:

·         First, the people may either, by a supreme internal effort, dash into fragments this law, which still claims authority, or it may more quietly and slowly effect changes on the yet operative law; which is, however, no longer true morality, but which the mind has already passed beyond. 

·         Secondly, a people's intelligence and strength may not suffice for this, and it may hold to the lower law; or it may happen that another nation has reached its higher constitution, thereby rising in the scale, and the first gives up its nationality and becomes subject to the other nation.

Therefore, it is of essential importance to know what the true constitution is; for what is in opposition to it has no stability, no truth, and passes away. It has a temporary existence but cannot hold its ground; it has been accepted but cannot secure permanent acceptance; that it must be cast aside, lies in the very nature of the constitution. [Hegel adds: "This insight can be reached through Philosophy alone."]

Revolutions take place in a state without the slightest violence, when the insight becomes universal; institutions, somehow or other, crumble and disappear, as each man agrees to give up his rights.

A government must recognize that the time for this has come; however, should it, to the contrary, knowing not the truth, cling to temporary institutions, taking what — though recognized — is inessential, as a bulwark guarding it from the essential (and the essential is what is contained in the Idea), that government will fall, along with its institutions, before the force of mind.

The breaking up of its government breaks up the nation itself; a new government arises, — or it may be that the government and the inessential retain the upper hand." (end quote)

G. W. F. Hegel (Germany, 1820s)

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In this year, 2020, immersed in the current crisis, there exists the perfect inflection point for our government to go through a "Hegelian" type, internal, philosophical, political, constitutional inventory: Problem - Reaction - Solution. Which way will it go? Are these questions rational or logical? How does the Hegelian paradigm work?

Deep concerns surfaced when I read Hegel and a few others, wondering about survival: will the intelligence and strength of our citizens be sufficient to seek and find their true course, will it become subject to another nation, or could it fall apart in order to make way for a new set of "essential institutions" which rise up and become a new kind of American government?

We all have a lot of time to think about these essential questions right now...

Massive change occurs naturally during holistic, governmental crisis, on the scale we're experiencing in the first half of 2020. Like an earthquake, the global pandemic and economic crisis opened a fracture in the earth and the ground shakes with panic. 

This is a philosophical discussion, not just economic speculation, and I'm not making any predictions. The fire is fed by fear, anxiety, and it's ignited by the various media sources fanning the flames. Our culture is not as resilient as the generation forced to fight WWII, and this uncertain interim period lacks the same moral debate of war, because of the mysterious, nebulous, viral enemy. I'm not an economist, nor an epidemiologist, and I realize that this is a complicated scenario; however this is not the rambling of a doomsayer.

Some in the US government are considering huge legislative changes, accompanying large infusions of cash into a broken economy. Chaos in a democracy always allows change-agents, and politicians the opportunity to shoehorn, or tack-on significant deviations from societal norms, while tinkering with the macro-economic challenges of an emergency. We've heard a lot of this already from Democratic candidates for President during the 2019-2020 election cycle. 

Congress is negotiating a gigantic fiscal stimulus package on Sunday, March 22, 2020, with sprawling legislation and billions of dollars of support; but what will be embedded inside the bill, and will this be the only one?

If the crisis extends 18-months or more, with total economic meltdown, it reaches into a zone in which capitalism is not designed to work. If government changes course, to a more liberal, socialist, strongly-regulated environment or direction, there are numerous areas where simple changes in the federal laws would bring about generational shifts.

If I were writing on a whiteboard, these would be the areas that come to mind:

• streamlined voting procedures (online and motor-voter laws)
• lessened immigration controls
• tightened gun-control
• internet free speech limited by federal agency
• universal basic income (cash for all)
• expanded welfare state to combat income inequality
• free, or pass/fail online university degrees
• government controlled healthcare (single-payor)
• elimination of electoral college
• criminal justice and "Bail" reform
• green "New Deal" legislation
• significant carbon taxes on fossil fuels
• restriction on oil & gas exploration & production in US
• legalization of many kinds of controlled substances
• de-militarization of federal government
• revised federal sentencing guidelines
• activist federal judiciary (changes in Article III)
• foreign policy/shifting alliances
• increased corporate responsibility via federal taxation
• 21st Century Bill of Rights very different than current one
  

These are just a few areas (not in any order) where a new government, elected for 2021, enacting numerous changes during a continued societal and economic crisis, spurred on by pandemic and economic collapse, could take advantage of an inflection point or a fork-in-the-road for the American Republic, forcing it to go in a very different direction.

I'm sure there are areas I've not mentioned, or cannot conceive; I'm not a federal expert, and merely an amateur philosopher. Also, this is not all-or-nothing, binary thinking; just a few of the zig-zags listed above could radically change specific sectors. Nevertheless, I'm reminded that the word "decision" comes from the Latin word dēcīdere literally, to cut-off; which tells me that these important decisions can have far-reaching consequences.

In a formal discussion of Hegel's "dialectal" pattern, one might argue even, that current problems facing the US government, give it a unique opportunity to exploit calamity, in order to offer solutions planned long before the current environment, wherein the people react by asking for government help, while giving up certain rights previously held? [Problem - Reaction - Solution - all a part of the plan?]

On the other hand, if Trump is re-elected, and the health contagion were to passover, these essential, "revolutionary" changes would likely not rise up and dominate. The government would stay on the course, probably, as it was from 2017-2020 in Trump's first term. Deep thoughts, as I contemplate which way it will go and what legislative changes could mean?

Predictably, a second term for the 45th President would surely tamp down these potential changes for another decade; retaining the same values that give current institutions the upper hand. The subsequent seven-months will tell how the next generation will run its government; it is a moment of truth which caused me to want to write, and hopefully discuss. At this unique time in history, Hegel came along to prompt the paradigm. Thanks George.  ##

©NoelleBuske (photograph)

©MarkPillsbury (opinions)

How hard is Death... Part 4 of the storm-chaser saga...

And as we stood near the taffrail side by side, my Captain and I, looking at it, hardly discernible already, but still quite close-to on our quarter, he remarked in a meditative tone:

"But for the turn of that wheel just in time there would have been another case of a 'missing' ship."

"Nobody ever comes back from a "missing" ship to tell how hard was the death of the craft, and how sudden and overwhelming the last anguish of her men."

"Nobody can say with what thoughts, with what regrets, with what words on their lips they died. But there is something fine in the sudden passing away of these hearts from the extremity of struggle and stress and tremendous uproar—from the vast, unrestful rage of the surface to the profound peace of the depths, sleeping untroubled since the beginning of ages." [from "The Mirror of the Sea" by Joseph Conrad (Harper & Bros. 1906), page 101]

Decision-making happens along points in time: planning, policies, procedures, precedence, preparation, priorities, programs mean nothing when the urgency of a decision dominates the moment.

With lip service to these systems we hold dear; it is emotion, instinct, intuition, and common sense that often rise up as influencers of whether we move one way or another.

Gathering data like a sponge, comparing it with what has gone before, weighing the costs of one direction with the benefits of another; one cannot know the thinking of decision-makers, we cannot know the games playing in their head.

Assuming that reason, fairness, honesty, objectivity, rational experience, and logic plays into decision-making seems comforting, yet it is no more predictable than the course of a tornado. And if God controls the universe, our galaxy, this solar system and all its inhabitants; then who can know what paths to take?

With momentary inputs we do the best we can, hoping others operate similarly; or even better, actually implement the strategies they worked so hard to devise. Training becomes routine, routine becomes habit, habit roots deep in our brain’s conduits and eventually becomes almost automatic behavior during a regular 12-hour day. This turns into a pretty good life.

Nevertheless, at this crucial point, these junctures seem the same as daily, mundane decisions. For Clay, Rick & Jessica, danger and opportunity meet on a dusty road in Liberty County, Texas. 30-foot high flames roar to life, demanding attention. These young friends peer down the path and discuss quickly what to do next, the heat rising around them. Time, fear, and asphalt roadway limits their ability to operate methodically, with the luxury of balanced discussion. This is a crisis, and the hunters seem now to be the hunted.

(to be continued in Part 5...)

Fiction ripped from the headlines… ©Mark H. Pillsbury (2011)
photo credit, http://vi.sualize.us

Texas wildfires: the escape (fiction ripped from the headlines)

Part 3: The Escape

Ironically, Gregg Allman’s sad dirge, “Midnight Rider” played on Sirius/XM® radio as Rick cranked the Tahoe’s ignition. “Outlaw Country,” Station 332 suited him fine as they wove their way through east Texas to find the ranch.

The lyrics, “I’m not gonna let ‘em catch me no/not gonna let ‘em catch the Midnight Rider,” inspired no confidence as both the weather wunderkinds focused on the red tail-lights of Clay’s truck which sped out the front gate kicking up a blinding dust cloud all the way onto the road, away from the wall of fire.

Nature’s fury has myriad forms, whether 100-feet below the ocean as a rushing current or approaching a massive tornado; Rick and Jessica knew intimately the harm that can come from the physical world in a matter of seconds. Even recognizing how fragile one holds to human life, like everyone they rarely feared imminent death; although frequently exposed to it. Nevertheless, today on a rural road in Texas, they finally took a right-turn which turned out to be a dead-end.

“C’mon Rick; catch up!” cried Jessica.

“Babe, look at the computer, and let me drive,” replied Rick, intently. “See if there is something to tell us where these fires are!” They fled at high-speed but their bandwidth for internet was dial-up slow.

image: Clint Harrington

After zooming down hilly back roads straining the capacity of the Tahoe, clinging to the contrails of Clay’s truck; they swooshed up-and-over a rise in the road finding him pulled over on the shoulder, brake lights glowing devilishly red through a cloud, like evil eyes. Rick didn’t know how far they'd travelled, only that they sped generally in a southeast direction. Both jumped out, approaching the driver’s side of the pickup.

“Can you see down toward the bottom of that next clearing?” Clay said as he looked forward through the windshield, not exactly asking a question, “I see flames and smoke rising above those trees?! Izat what you see?!”

photo credit: Idaho

“Could there be another T-intersection down there before we hit the wall?” Rick responded with panic in his voice, almost a shout; squinting a look down the path, silently agreeing with Clay’s observation.

“Can we at least try 9-1-1?” Jessica pleaded, “Maybe they could bear down on our GPS; tell us which way to turn?”

This turning point hinges on the decisions they make in the next two minutes; however each of the drivers eagerly wanted to get back behind the wheel, with itchy pedal-feet like a gunfighter fingering a holster. The traditional Chinese character for crisis (wēijī), widely abused by western motivational speakers, allegedly means the intersection of danger + opportunity. Danger is there alright, but the secondary word is more of “crucial point,” than opportunity. Crisis visits these young people through dark, hot, encircling flames, and no real exit strategy. As hard as it was to fathom, they are lost on an obscure back road in rural Texas without a credible opportunity for escape. This is the most crucial point in their young lives.

To be continued in Part 4....

©Mark H. Pillsbury (6 July 2011):
This is a work of fiction, and similarities to real individuals or other copyrighted material on cable TV or satellite radio is merely a coincidence