Against political violence

This week we read "The Black Gate Opens."  Gandalf, Aragorn and almost everyone else ride to the gates of Mordor and challenge Sauron - not to win but to divert his attention from Frodo, whom they merely must hope remains alive.  They will never defeat Sauron in a battle of arms; this battle is only a tactical distraction.

They go to battle as Faramir had, "I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend." They are willing not only to kill for their cause, but to die for it.

Even if Aragorn, et al, win, Sauron will eventually send another wave of minions.  And if Sauron wins he'll eventually realize The Ring isn't there.  It is fortunate for our characters the Ring is destroyed during the battle, interrupting it. It could reasonably have happened an hour or so later, or maybe another day.

Last week former President Trump survived an assassination attempt.  It seems to have been a close thing - an unsteady hand, unexpected gust of wind, or sudden movement by him saved his life.  Nonetheless, one person was killed and two more were injured.  The shooter was also killed.

Political violence is bad.  We should all oppose it.  Saying this is a false-flag operation, or a plot by his political rival, or that we were this close to being rid of this unique threat to our Republic miss the point.  Political violence is bad, and a society that rejects it is better off.  Not only morally, but in material safety.  A Democracy of the Survivors presents very perverse incentives.  But, as we see, weapons and shooters aren't perfect.  If we have more assassination attempts we'd also have more innocent bystander deaths.

President Trump is a unique threat to our Republic, and we'd be better off if he weren't running.  That doesn't justify killing him.  The means and the ends must each be justified.  Murder isn't justifiable.

No quote from this chapter leapt out to me.  Instead, what stuck with me was the image of a huge melee, all so Frodo can destroy the Ring.  Frodo's the one that matters.

As for us, killing a politician we don't like is just a tactic to get the political outcome we want.  That's what matters.  Stated like that I think it's clear this is delusional thinking.  Assuming Trump had died I think we can all agree that wouldn't have been the end of it.  I'm reminded of this quote, from Fellowship of the Ring.

[Sam said] 'I wish you'd take his Ring.  You'd put things
to rights... You'd make some folk pay for their dirty work.'

'I would,' [Galadriel] said. 'That is how it would begin.
But it would not stop with that, alas!'

It is easy to begin political violence - maybe even righteously!  But reprisals would come for those who took their lives - or at least those who were blamed - or at least those who could be acted against.  And then counter-counter-reprisals, etc.  How would it stop?  Who would be the person to see someone on their side killed and say "That's enough, it stops now - no more reprisals."  Tolerance is a big ask!

It's worth recalling tolerance did not come from high-minded thinkers who then persuaded society to live and let live.  Tolerance, in the Western tradition, came out of a few centuries of religious wars in Europe which pitted Catholics against Protestants.  Each side thought God wanted the other side wiped out.  But that was proving impossible and they were only making life miserable for everybody.  Eventually tolerance arose because living as they had been was becoming insufferable, and they had to find a new way.

No particular person said "That's enough, it stops now."  Society did.

A sustained presence of violence, of any kind, undermines society's ability to function.  And society would recognize, above the incentives of individuals and political tribes, that it has to stop.  And sometimes it stops with democracy (Post-bellum America, though not for all) and sometimes it stops with fascism (NAZIs, Soviets, Taliban).  Once you enter the abyss of societal dysfunction it's hard to predict the outcome.  

Election cycles that produce results you don't like necessarily are followed by future election cycles - and will at some point produce results your opponents will not like.  But we don't want them empowered to kill whoever we voted for.  Thus, we must lay aside that power ourselves.  Better yet everyone must agree to lay that power aside.

This answers another issue I've been wrestling with - the battle does not end because Frodo destroys the Ring.  It ends because (or perhaps merely after) Frodo betrays the Quest and is attacked by Gollum who takes the Ring but then falls into the Crack of Doom.  The world is saved, of all things, by Gollum's greed!  A Eucatastrophe: An event we cannot plan for and should not hope for.  Indeed, who could have guessed the religious wars of the 1600s would have resulted in greater religious tolerance?

Ethics means doing the harder thing.  For politics, that means accepting defeat as a possibility, making coalitions with those you don't totally agree with, and refusing to despair and catastrophize (which is what gives us permission to break the rules of civil society).  Committing, or even encouraging, political violence is to say "I only accept Democracy when I like the outcome."  Nobody should have that position.

'I wish you'd take his Ring.  You'd put things to rights...
You'd make some folk pay for their dirty work.'
'I would,' [Galadriel] said. 'That is how it would begin.

But it would not stop with that, alas!'

Let's say Trump somehow cancels elections in 2028, or runs a third term and wins.  He'll be 82.  Maybe he lives to be 100, and remains lucid throughout.  So worst case scenario he's in charge until 2046.  That's bad, but I don't believe we'd completely end as a country.  The NAZIs ruled Germany for 12 terrible years, and then Germany was split for almost 45 years, but Germany reunited and has returned to being a democratic country.  Italy was ruled by Mussolini for 33 years!  Democracies, once they fall to fascism, are not stuck down there.

Picture this:  America has the same president for more than 10 years in a row, leading until he dies in office.  He imprisons a hundred thousand Americans based on their race, denies immigrants wishing to enter the country and tries to pack the Supreme Court when they rule against him.

The administration you're picturing has already happened - FDR was elected for four terms and did all of those things.  Yet we survived as a country.

I need more evidence that this time will be different, and cannot even comprehend the evidence I would need to support political violence against Trump.  Because it would not stop with that, alas!

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