Balkinization   |
Balkinization
Balkinization Symposiums: A Continuing List                                                                E-mail: Jack Balkin: jackbalkin at yahoo.com Bruce Ackerman bruce.ackerman at yale.edu Ian Ayres ian.ayres at yale.edu Corey Brettschneider corey_brettschneider at brown.edu Mary Dudziak mary.l.dudziak at emory.edu Joey Fishkin joey.fishkin at gmail.com Heather Gerken heather.gerken at yale.edu Abbe Gluck abbe.gluck at yale.edu Mark Graber mgraber at law.umaryland.edu Stephen Griffin sgriffin at tulane.edu Jonathan Hafetz jonathan.hafetz at shu.edu Jeremy Kessler jkessler at law.columbia.edu Andrew Koppelman akoppelman at law.northwestern.edu Marty Lederman msl46 at law.georgetown.edu Sanford Levinson slevinson at law.utexas.edu David Luban david.luban at gmail.com Gerard Magliocca gmaglioc at iupui.edu Jason Mazzone mazzonej at illinois.edu Linda McClain lmcclain at bu.edu John Mikhail mikhail at law.georgetown.edu Frank Pasquale pasquale.frank at gmail.com Nate Persily npersily at gmail.com Michael Stokes Paulsen michaelstokespaulsen at gmail.com Deborah Pearlstein dpearlst at yu.edu Rick Pildes rick.pildes at nyu.edu David Pozen dpozen at law.columbia.edu Richard Primus raprimus at umich.edu K. Sabeel Rahmansabeel.rahman at brooklaw.edu Alice Ristroph alice.ristroph at shu.edu Neil Siegel siegel at law.duke.edu David Super david.super at law.georgetown.edu Brian Tamanaha btamanaha at wulaw.wustl.edu Nelson Tebbe nelson.tebbe at brooklaw.edu Mark Tushnet mtushnet at law.harvard.edu Adam Winkler winkler at ucla.edu Compendium of posts on Hobby Lobby and related cases The Anti-Torture Memos: Balkinization Posts on Torture, Interrogation, Detention, War Powers, and OLC The Anti-Torture Memos (arranged by topic) Recent Posts What country does David Brooks live in?
|
Friday, November 18, 2011
What country does David Brooks live in?
Sandy Levinson
In his NYTimes column today, "The Technocractic Nightmare," David Brooks writes, "At this moment of crisis, it is obvious how little moral solidarity undergirds the European pseudostate. Americans in Oregon are barely aware when their tax dollars go to Americans in Arizona. We are one people with one shared destiny." Really? Were people from around the country lining up to see their tax dollars go to Louisiana to help out New Orleans after Katrina? Does the modern Republican Party, save in its fascistic posturings, believe that we are "one people with one shared destiny" in a way that includes genuinely caring about those who are losing out in the "meritoricratic" society that Brooks often valoraizes? We are, after all, a country that was kept together only by the willingness of an American President (elected with 39.8% of the vote) to to to war in order to keep the Union together, just as the British went to war in 1776 in a failed attempt to maintain the existing Union. King George lost and Lincoln won, but did Reconsrtruction really establish "one people with one shared destiny" or, rather, the American version of "herrenvolk democracy," whose shared destiny was based on the wilful consignment of (at least) African Americans to the metaphorical, as well as the literal, back of the bus. We're certainly better now in that respect, but I still wonder, when hearing the vicious attacks on "blue state liberals" by many of Brooks's fellow Republicans, if he is simply whistling past a graveyard. Recall that the Republican Party was scarcely interested in passing disaster relief legislation after the most recent hurricanes hit Northeastern (blue) states. Perhaps Rick Perry believed that Vermont had earned divine retribution.
Comments:
Were people from around the country lining up to see their tax dollars go to Louisiana to help out New Orleans after Katrina?
You answer this lower down in your post. The modern Republican party is built upon racial bias. They'd have been happy to drain the blue states for money -- that's the principal raison d'etre of the Party -- if it weren't for the fact that much of the money would have benefited black people. It's hardly even code any more.
Although I often disagree with Brooks, on this one I think he got it right. I also think you miss his point about America ... regardless of the vicious infighting, regionalism, statism, racism, and other -isms Americans harbor, at the end of the day all of the -ists identify themselves as Americans. Not true of "Europeans." We are a nation, they are several nations. Your argument that the union was forced on its constituents is more interesting vis-a-vis Brooks post, because Brooks kinda diagnoses the problem as one in which there is a flaw in the construction of the EU, the flaw having something to do with the economic determinism that drives it. In the end, as you seem to suggest, a federation is inevitable, or in any event foreseeable, but not necessarily because it is desired by the technocrats of oligarchy, but because of migration/population and other political pressures. Economic pressures too, but they are necessary, not sufficient.
Brooks is essentially correct that the differences between the nation states of the EU are rather more fundamental than the occasional squabbling between Red and Blue states. Sandy, the divisions of the Revolution and Civil War are long past history. We all generally think of ourselves as Americans. Both sides of our ideological divide want to run the country, not break it up.
Brooks does raise an excellent point about the hubris of the EU socialist technocrats in thinking they can run a diverse continental economy that applies equally to the United States, especially during the current Administration.
I disagree with the idea that all of us consider each other to be Americans first. In fact, we're lucky to be human, let alone red-blooded Americans. Eliminationism is so pervasive amongst the politically charged, especially on the right where charges of socialism are meant to mark the left as distinctly un-American. It's a short step to "kill the liberals" bumper stickers--an index of the left's non-human status among some groups.
On the European nation idea, Habermas gave an interesting lecture at the U of Chicago Law School a few years back that covered the same ground: without a sense of Europeanness that replaced more local identities, he felt the EU was going to have a great deal of difficulty.
What's it mean to not treat illegal immigrants as human beings? Is there somebody out there advocating shooting them with tranquilizer darts from helicopters, or anything of the sort?
The problem with people like Perry is that they don't want to treat illegal immigrants as human beings who have entered our country illegally, and engaged in ongoing violations of our laws. Not that they refuse to treat them like animals.
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2011/mar/14/legislators-comment-illegal-immigration-criticized/
Well, no tranquilizer darts...
Perry to my knowledge doesn't want to treat undocumented immigrants (the immigration system and criminal justice system, two different things, with different procedures) the same as authorized residents.
The problem is that some want him to treat them much worse, including denying certain things that now are seen as basic human rights. For instance, basic emergency services or various benefits for children. Cain "kidded on the square" about an electric fence. Laws have been put in to penalize those who leave water for undocumented aliens so they don't die of thirst crossing the border. Churches have been targeted for providing basic human needs of emigrants here for various reasons, including running away from cruel regimes. Also, yes, there are some who support let's say the people's militia, armed if necessary, to "protect our borders." Use of darts would be too mild for such individuals. PMS cites but one.
Concerning Brooks' main point about the hubris of the EU socialist technocracy, the Germans appear to be planning the creation of an unelected central authority to run EU economies which will be established without a vote of the people.
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/284656/Germans-try-to-kill-off-pound
pms:
Eliminationism? One can properly consider socialism to be contrary to the proposition of the American republic without considering the socialists to be something other than Americans or human beings. Likewise, there is no Tea Party plan for a "final solution." We will be quite satisfied with firing our current socialist government in the next elections. I cannot say the same thing, however, for the various Marxist, fascist and anarchist elements of the Occupiers. These folks are predictably resorting to violence. Occupy Oakland is currently attempting to organize coordinated attacks to shut down the major west coast ports.
Bart,
There are far too many examples to list here. Once people have been labeled un-American, it's easy shift from traitor (a crime punishable by death) to animal (worthy of slaughter without remorse). Certainly both sides of the current political spectrum engage in these ideas, but for the last couple of decades, the right has been much more willing to voice such views in public fora. When discussing actual non-Americans, of course, the comparisons to animals run rampant. This behavior isn't an official Final Solution, perhaps, but it is the line of thinking that leads to such things.
I notice our yodeler now has a more flattering (aka less menacing) photo to accompany his comments, especially with the color blue that contrasts with his "idiotology." His profile includes this about his new work of friction:
Post a Comment
"'Never Let A Crisis Go To Waste - Barack Obama and the Evolution of American Socialism' is scheduled to be released during December 2011." I note that several of our yodeler's comments on this post refer to socialism. Is this our yodeler's subtle way of promotion?
|
Books by Balkinization Bloggers Linda C. McClain and Aziza Ahmed, The Routledge Companion to Gender and COVID-19 (Routledge, 2024) David Pozen, The Constitution of the War on Drugs (Oxford University Press, 2024) Jack M. Balkin, Memory and Authority: The Uses of History in Constitutional Interpretation (Yale University Press, 2024) Mark A. Graber, Punish Treason, Reward Loyalty: The Forgotten Goals of Constitutional Reform after the Civil War (University of Kansas Press, 2023) Jack M. Balkin, What Roe v. Wade Should Have Said: The Nation's Top Legal Experts Rewrite America's Most Controversial Decision - Revised Edition (NYU Press, 2023) Andrew Koppelman, Burning Down the House: How Libertarian Philosophy Was Corrupted by Delusion and Greed (St. Martin’s Press, 2022) Gerard N. Magliocca, Washington's Heir: The Life of Justice Bushrod Washington (Oxford University Press, 2022) Joseph Fishkin and William E. Forbath, The Anti-Oligarchy Constitution: Reconstructing the Economic Foundations of American Democracy (Harvard University Press, 2022) Mark Tushnet and Bojan Bugaric, Power to the People: Constitutionalism in the Age of Populism (Oxford University Press 2021). Mark Philip Bradley and Mary L. Dudziak, eds., Making the Forever War: Marilyn B. Young on the Culture and Politics of American Militarism Culture and Politics in the Cold War and Beyond (University of Massachusetts Press, 2021). Jack M. Balkin, What Obergefell v. Hodges Should Have Said: The Nation's Top Legal Experts Rewrite America's Same-Sex Marriage Decision (Yale University Press, 2020) Frank Pasquale, New Laws of Robotics: Defending Human Expertise in the Age of AI (Belknap Press, 2020) Jack M. Balkin, The Cycles of Constitutional Time (Oxford University Press, 2020) Mark Tushnet, Taking Back the Constitution: Activist Judges and the Next Age of American Law (Yale University Press 2020). Andrew Koppelman, Gay Rights vs. Religious Liberty?: The Unnecessary Conflict (Oxford University Press, 2020) Ezekiel J Emanuel and Abbe R. Gluck, The Trillion Dollar Revolution: How the Affordable Care Act Transformed Politics, Law, and Health Care in America (PublicAffairs, 2020) Linda C. McClain, Who's the Bigot?: Learning from Conflicts over Marriage and Civil Rights Law (Oxford University Press, 2020) Sanford Levinson and Jack M. Balkin, Democracy and Dysfunction (University of Chicago Press, 2019) Sanford Levinson, Written in Stone: Public Monuments in Changing Societies (Duke University Press 2018) Mark A. Graber, Sanford Levinson, and Mark Tushnet, eds., Constitutional Democracy in Crisis? (Oxford University Press 2018) Gerard Magliocca, The Heart of the Constitution: How the Bill of Rights became the Bill of Rights (Oxford University Press, 2018) Cynthia Levinson and Sanford Levinson, Fault Lines in the Constitution: The Framers, Their Fights, and the Flaws that Affect Us Today (Peachtree Publishers, 2017) Brian Z. Tamanaha, A Realistic Theory of Law (Cambridge University Press 2017) Sanford Levinson, Nullification and Secession in Modern Constitutional Thought (University Press of Kansas 2016) Sanford Levinson, An Argument Open to All: Reading The Federalist in the 21st Century (Yale University Press 2015) Stephen M. Griffin, Broken Trust: Dysfunctional Government and Constitutional Reform (University Press of Kansas, 2015) Frank Pasquale, The Black Box Society: The Secret Algorithms That Control Money and Information (Harvard University Press, 2015) Bruce Ackerman, We the People, Volume 3: The Civil Rights Revolution (Harvard University Press, 2014) Balkinization Symposium on We the People, Volume 3: The Civil Rights Revolution Joseph Fishkin, Bottlenecks: A New Theory of Equal Opportunity (Oxford University Press, 2014) Mark A. Graber, A New Introduction to American Constitutionalism (Oxford University Press, 2013) John Mikhail, Elements of Moral Cognition: Rawls' Linguistic Analogy and the Cognitive Science of Moral and Legal Judgment (Cambridge University Press, 2013) Gerard N. Magliocca, American Founding Son: John Bingham and the Invention of the Fourteenth Amendment (New York University Press, 2013) Stephen M. Griffin, Long Wars and the Constitution (Harvard University Press, 2013) Andrew Koppelman, The Tough Luck Constitution and the Assault on Health Care Reform (Oxford University Press, 2013) James E. Fleming and Linda C. McClain, Ordered Liberty: Rights, Responsibilities, and Virtues (Harvard University Press, 2013) Balkinization Symposium on Ordered Liberty: Rights, Responsibilities, and Virtues Andrew Koppelman, Defending American Religious Neutrality (Harvard University Press, 2013) Brian Z. Tamanaha, Failing Law Schools (University of Chicago Press, 2012) Sanford Levinson, Framed: America's 51 Constitutions and the Crisis of Governance (Oxford University Press, 2012) Linda C. McClain and Joanna L. Grossman, Gender Equality: Dimensions of Women's Equal Citizenship (Cambridge University Press, 2012) Mary Dudziak, War Time: An Idea, Its History, Its Consequences (Oxford University Press, 2012) Jack M. Balkin, Living Originalism (Harvard University Press, 2011) Jason Mazzone, Copyfraud and Other Abuses of Intellectual Property Law (Stanford University Press, 2011) Richard W. Garnett and Andrew Koppelman, First Amendment Stories, (Foundation Press 2011) Jack M. Balkin, Constitutional Redemption: Political Faith in an Unjust World (Harvard University Press, 2011) Gerard Magliocca, The Tragedy of William Jennings Bryan: Constitutional Law and the Politics of Backlash (Yale University Press, 2011) Bernard Harcourt, The Illusion of Free Markets: Punishment and the Myth of Natural Order (Harvard University Press, 2010) Bruce Ackerman, The Decline and Fall of the American Republic (Harvard University Press, 2010) Balkinization Symposium on The Decline and Fall of the American Republic Ian Ayres. Carrots and Sticks: Unlock the Power of Incentives to Get Things Done (Bantam Books, 2010) Mark Tushnet, Why the Constitution Matters (Yale University Press 2010) Ian Ayres and Barry Nalebuff: Lifecycle Investing: A New, Safe, and Audacious Way to Improve the Performance of Your Retirement Portfolio (Basic Books, 2010) Jack M. Balkin, The Laws of Change: I Ching and the Philosophy of Life (2d Edition, Sybil Creek Press 2009) Brian Z. Tamanaha, Beyond the Formalist-Realist Divide: The Role of Politics in Judging (Princeton University Press 2009) Andrew Koppelman and Tobias Barrington Wolff, A Right to Discriminate?: How the Case of Boy Scouts of America v. James Dale Warped the Law of Free Association (Yale University Press 2009) Jack M. Balkin and Reva B. Siegel, The Constitution in 2020 (Oxford University Press 2009) Heather K. Gerken, The Democracy Index: Why Our Election System Is Failing and How to Fix It (Princeton University Press 2009) Mary Dudziak, Exporting American Dreams: Thurgood Marshall's African Journey (Oxford University Press 2008) David Luban, Legal Ethics and Human Dignity (Cambridge Univ. Press 2007) Ian Ayres, Super Crunchers: Why Thinking-By-Numbers is the New Way to be Smart (Bantam 2007) Jack M. Balkin, James Grimmelmann, Eddan Katz, Nimrod Kozlovski, Shlomit Wagman and Tal Zarsky, eds., Cybercrime: Digital Cops in a Networked Environment (N.Y.U. Press 2007) Jack M. Balkin and Beth Simone Noveck, The State of Play: Law, Games, and Virtual Worlds (N.Y.U. Press 2006) Andrew Koppelman, Same Sex, Different States: When Same-Sex Marriages Cross State Lines (Yale University Press 2006) Brian Tamanaha, Law as a Means to an End (Cambridge University Press 2006) Sanford Levinson, Our Undemocratic Constitution (Oxford University Press 2006) Mark Graber, Dred Scott and the Problem of Constitutional Evil (Cambridge University Press 2006) Jack M. Balkin, ed., What Roe v. Wade Should Have Said (N.Y.U. Press 2005) Sanford Levinson, ed., Torture: A Collection (Oxford University Press 2004) Balkin.com homepage Bibliography Conlaw.net Cultural Software Writings Opeds The Information Society Project BrownvBoard.com Useful Links Syllabi and Exams |