Trumpism Will Outlast Donald Trump. Here's Why

Between Rousseau's “general will,” Herder's “organic nation,” and modern liberalism lies the tension that explains America's populist revolt.

- Wajahat Qazi

The United States, as gleaned from 'mainstream' media and the hullabaloo raised thereof, appears to be in crisis mode, almost on the verge of decline, taken over by the forces of irrationality.

But this is a caricature, even from afar.

The proverbial marrow of the problem appears to lie in a mélange of ideological and extreme form of liberalism, the concept and idea of man(woman) that emerges from this-classical and modern, and variants of nationalism elaborated upon by Herder, Rousseau and so on.

To throw this broad assertion into sharp relief, consider extreme ideological liberalism and the concept(s) of man(woman).

This form of liberalism fawningly and grovelingly elaborated upon by a person of Francis Fukuyama fame, in his, 'End of History' thesis postulated that liberal democracy was the last bastion of mankind. This ideology reckoned that all peer competitors had all died and there was no serious competitor to it.

And that a new man(woman) had emerged from liberal democracy's 'triumph'. Because of these, virtually, practically and philosophically history had ended.

The 'new' man(woman) was a modern one, not encumbered by the 'detritus' of tradition, custom or any other 'baggage'.

Undercutting the western classical concept and idea of man(woman), which held the human being to be defined by purpose whose goal was the cultivation of virtue, this concept reduced humans to a bundle of 'utils' driven merely by utilitarian urges (pleasure maximization and pain minimization), emotional 'baggage', social influences and socialization into these (so called 'nurture versus 'nature') and other assorted 'prejudices'.

The ideology of extreme liberalism preened and postulated that it would liberate mankind from these.