Overcoming the Destructive Impulse

The work of creating a better world remains a struggle against leaders with hostile intentions

Jules Garnier engraving via Getty Images

Let’s say it clearly: Joe Biden got America back to work. Since he took office two years ago, the country has added over 10.7 million jobs, the strongest jobs growth in history. Unemployment, at 3.5 percent, is at its lowest point since WWII. Around the country, all 50 states are witnessing the early benefits of over $185 billion in infrastructure investment, part of an overall plan to invest over $1 trillion to help fix broken physical systems and build new ones. Did I mention that, somehow, Biden got through legislation to help combat climate change—$375 billion of an $840 billion Inflation Reduction Act, the largest investment ever to confront this existential danger?

And yesterday, the Commerce Department announced that GDP, adjusted for inflation, rose at an annual rate of 2.9 percent in the final quarter of 2022—indicating continuing resilience “in the face of inflation, war and a Federal Reserve intent on curbing the pace of growth.” That’s from The New York Times, which also noted, “The recovery from the pandemic recession has slowed from the frenetic pace of 2021, but it has retained momentum thanks to a red-hot job market and trillions of dollars in pent-up savings that allowed Americans to weather rapidly rising prices.”

None of this was guaranteed on January 20, 2021, not when the nation was still reeling from the January 6 Capitol attack and a malignant criminal had just left the White House, the unemployment rate was sitting at 6.9 percent, the Trump vaccination “plan” was a mess and only 16 million doses of vaccine had been delivered. (By October under Biden, 190 million vaccinations had been administered to over 70 percent of U.S. adults.)

It’s not hard to list problems, including (to name a few) too-high prices ($7 for a carton of eggs!) even as inflation is cooling, immigration policy, a stalled student debt relief plan, voting rights still in doubt and leading insurrectionists still on the loose as Biden’s attorney general dithers. These are real issues with serious consequences for the survival and well-being of millions of Americans and the future of democracy.

But here we are, looking at a Republican House majority, led by the cowardly, craven Kevin McCarthy who’s taking his marching orders from the extremist wing of his party. His is a party talking about imposing a 30 percent national sales tax. They are threatening to blow up the country’s credit rating and the global economy by refusing to support raising the debt ceiling if the Democrats won’t back cutting Medicare and Social Security. Biden’s reply yesterday: “Why in God’s name would Americans give up the progress we made for the chaos they’re suggesting?”

Why indeed. This could be the spot where I introduce the views of Sigmund Freud on the death drive and the willingness of humans to undermine themselves. There’s plenty to say about the continuing and virulent reality of racism, which leads white people to reject their own best interests as they scapegoat the vulnerable and put another man (group) down. In times of uncertainty when problems seem overwhelming, countries face rising nationalism and extremism and violent demagogues prosper.

But three actions this week illustrate the destructive impulses that poison the body politic and put our future in continuing danger. These include Gov. Ron DeSantis prohibiting Florida high school students from taking an AP course on African American history, Kevin McCarthy kicking Reps. Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell off the Intelligence Committee, and Meta announcing that they are letting Trump back on Facebook and Instagram.

Last week it was reported that DeSantis’ Department of Education rejected an Advanced Placement African American studies course offered by the College Board. The reason given for canceling this course, which is being piloted in 60 high schools around the country: It “significantly lacks educational value.”

This is the latest gambit in feeding the state’s racist impulses, as showcased by DeSantis championing and the Florida legislature passing the “Stop Woke Act” last March. You’ll remember that was a measure to ensure that students won’t feel guilty for racist acts committed by others—which puts the study of slavery and Black history clearly in the crosshairs of the hostile right-wing convinced their white world is endangered. As the law states, “A person should not be instructed that he or she must feel guilt, anguish, or other forms of psychological distress for actions, in which he or she played no part.”

As The Washington Post notes, DeSantis and Florida are facing a growing backlash from the decision to drop the class—and three students are the plaintiffs on a lawsuit about the decision which they and their attorney contend is unconstitutional. But even if DeSantis were to backtrack, the chilling effect has been achieved, letting teachers know they are in danger if they share with their students the truth of our country’s history.

Meanwhile, in Washington on Tuesday, Kevin McCarthy promised to block Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell from serving on the House Intelligence Committee, an act of retribution that McCarthy vowed after Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar were stripped in 2021 of their committee assignments after promoting violence against their political enemies.

“This is not anything political,” McCarthy disingenuously told reporters, claiming the issue is a matter of national security and noting Schiff’s involvement in the first impeachment investigation of Trump and Swalwell’s alleged links to a Chinese operative (since debunked). Laughably, the House Speaker who’s all in on handing George Santos committee assignments stated about his decision that “integrity matters.”

Speaking of integrity…and crime…and national security…and the imposition of destructive impulses at a time when the country continues to face real challenges, Meta announced Wednesday that it’s ending Trump’s suspension from Facebook and Instagram and will reinstate him in the coming weeks. The social media company’s logic? It believes the threat to public safety had “sufficiently receded” since the deadly insurrection two years ago and it would establish guardrails “to deter repeat offenses.”

“The public should be able to hear what their politicians are saying—the good, the bad and the ugly—so that they can make informed choices at the ballot box,” insisted Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of global affairs. Sounds good, right? A commitment to free speech, to the First Amendment, much like we heard from Elon Musk when he announced that he was welcoming Trump back on Twitter (and later, unsuccessfully, begged him to come back).

But while it’s unclear whether Trump will return to these platforms, let’s not even imagine that—à la Sen. Susan Collins— he’s learned his lesson about spreading misinformation and disinformation to dangerously manipulate his cultist base. Here’s what he had to say on his social network Truth Social in response to Meta’s decision. His “deplatforming” should “never again happen to a sitting President, or anybody else who is not deserving retribution!”

Not a day passes when I don’t wonder when prosecutors will finally decide to pull the trigger, indict Trump—and finally move the country toward a positive path of accountability and repair. But even if he’s eventually extracted from the public sphere, there’s little doubt that the chaos makers will continue to feel empowered, making it that much more critical that President Biden and all those committed to improving people’s lives must not be dragged down into their darkness.

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