Democracy Matters Read online

  Praise for Democracy Matters

  “In the vein of Socrates, West asks a question with great significance for the pending democratic future of America: ‘Has not every major empire pursued quixotic dreams of global domination—of shaping the world in its image and for its interest—that resulted in internal decay and doom?’…A timely analysis about the current state of democratic systems in America.”

  —The Boston Globe

  “Democracy Matters is richer and more compelling [than Race Matters] largely because it contains a historical component that was mostly neglected in its predecessor. In his chapter on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, for example, West boils down several decades’ worth of history on the movement for a Jewish state into just thirty pages…. We see similar balance in his chapter about Christian identity…His exploration of the past is refreshing.”

  —The Washington Post Book World

  “If the Ivy League ever designated the title of Soul Brother No. 1 of American Intellectuals, Princeton University professor Cornel West would be its first laureate…. The book…is an enraged yet somehow hopeful critique of what he sees as America’s shift away from democratic values toward shallow materialism at home and racist militarism abroad.”

  —The Seattle Times

  “West has delivered a sequel that will expand the audience of those who celebrate his prophetic witness and annoy without end his usual critics…. West’s writing has the immediacy of a cough that wracks the entire body. There is urgency on every page. While it thoughtfully develops many of West’s long-standing interests, including the burden of race as a drag on the nation’s moral development, his work displays a clarity of language that Race Matters, for all of its ground-breaking insight, lacked…. Cornel West’s best-written and most urgent books in years.”

  —Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

  “What is most rewarding about reading Cornel West is that he writes like he talks. As anyone who has been present at one of his speeches or lectures can tell you, there are few public intellectuals on the planet as spellbindingly voluble…. The subtitle of the book is ‘Winning the Fight Against Imperialism,’ and the topic never stands a chance as he lays bare the very innards, the hypocrisy of the American empire and its inequities. In the end, West demonstrates that race and democracy are indisputably joined, and that both matter. So does Cornel West.”

  —Black Issues Book Review

  “We can state an elemental truth upfront: This book is sorely needed…. West, as this and his prior books evidence, is a brilliant and deeply informed moral analyst. Democracy Matters contains numerous insights into the nature of our current political and social morass…. Democracy Matters is required reading.”

  —The Crisis

  “Democracy Matters is as much a history of the inspirational antecedents to democracy as it is a diagnosis and prescription for what ails the first Western democratic republic…. As usual, Cornel West displays an astounding grasp of seemingly disparate topics that relate to the current predicament and future hope for American democracy…. I believe that Democracy Matters is Cornel West’s best book since the ’90s, and we can only hope that it doesn’t take another decade for him to convey to us those things that matter most to the future of America.”

  —The Atlanta Daily World

  “Democracy Matters…is a vital book for our times.”

  —The News & Observer (North Carolina)

  “[A] vital argument: that American democracy is at risk and that its restoration does indeed matter.”

  —Kevin Phillips, author of American Dynasty

  “A compelling and sought-after deep thinker in a nation weaned on five-second sound bites.”

  —The Seattle Times

  “Democracy Matters is a must-read book, not only for Howard students, but also for every single literate American.”

  —The Hilltop, Howard University

  PENGUIN BOOKS

  DEMOCRACY MATTERS

  Cornel West is Class of 1943 University Professor of Religion at Princeton University. He has held positions at Union Theological Seminary, Yale University, Harvard University, and the University of Paris. He has written numerous books, including Race Matters, The American Evasion of Philosophy, and The Cornel West Reader. His Beyond Eurocentrism and Multiculturalism (vols. 1 and 2) won the American Book Award.

  PENGUIN BOOKS

  Published by the Penguin Group

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  First published in the United States of America by The Penguin Press,

  a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. 2004,

  Published in Penguin Books 2005

  Copyright © Cornel West, 2004

  All rights reserved

  Page 220 constitutes an extension of this copyright page.

  The composition “Where Ya At?” with lyrics by DA Smart and others

  appears on One Million Strong: The Album.

  THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS HAS CATALOGED THE HARDCOVER EDITION AS FOLLOWS:

  West, Cornel.

  Democracy matters : winning the fight against imperialism / Cornel West.

  p. cm.

  Includes index.

  ISBN: 978-1-101-65586-3

  1. Democracy. 2. Imperialism. 3. Democracy—United States.

  I. Title.

  JC423.W384 2004

  321.8—dc22 2004050520

  Designed by Amanda Dewey

  Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

  The scanning, uploading and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

  To five great democratic teachers

  MARTIN KILSON

  Pioneering Harvard professor, lifelong mentor,

  and towering black intellectual

  PRESTON WILLIAMS

  Path-blazing Harvard professor, grand exemplar of the legacy

  of Martin Luther King Jr., and dear godfather

  SHELDON WOLIN

  Sterling Princeton professor, blessed thesis adviser,

  and the greatest theorist of democracy in our time

  STANLEY ARONOWITZ

  Grand public intellectual, lifelong comrade,

  and fellow lover of deep democracy

  D
ILAN ZEYTUN WEST

  Beloved daughter, bearer of elegant style,

  and the source of great joy and love

  CONTENTS

  1. DEMOCRACY MATTERS ARE FRIGHTENING IN OUR TIME

  2. NIHILISM IN AMERICA

  3. THE DEEP DEMOCRATIC TRADITION IN AMERICA

  4. FORGING NEW JEWISH AND ISLAMIC DEMOCRATIC IDENTITIES

  5. THE CRISIS OF CHRISTIAN IDENTITY IN AMERICA

  6. THE NECESSARY ENGAGEMENT WITH YOUTH CULTURE

  7. PUTTING ON OUR DEMOCRATIC ARMOR

  Acknowledgments

  Index

  1

  DEMOCRACY MATTERS ARE FRIGHTENING IN OUR TIME

  We have frequently printed the word Democracy, yet I cannot too often repeat that it is a word the real gist of which still sleeps, quite unawakened, notwithstanding the resonance and the many angry tempests out of which its syllables have come, from pen or tongue. It is a great word, whose history, I suppose, remains unwritten, because that history has yet to be enacted.

  —WALT WHITMAN, Democratic Vistas (1871)

  To be an Afro-American, or an American black, is to be in the situation, intolerably exaggerated, of all those who have ever found themselves part of a civilization which they could in no wise honorably defend—which they were compelled, indeed, endlessly to attack and condemn—and who yet spoke out of the most passionate love, hoping to make the kingdom new, to make it honorable and worthy of life.

  —JAMES BALDWIN, No Name in the Street (1972)

  A decade ago I wrote Race Matters in order to spark a candid public conversation about America’s most explosive issue and most difficult dilemma: the ways in which the vicious legacy of white supremacy contributes to the arrested development of American democracy. This book—the sequel to Race Matters—will look unflinchingly at the waning of democratic energies and practices in our present age of the American empire. There is a deeply troubling deterioration of democratic powers in America today. The rise of an ugly imperialism has been aided by an unholy alliance of the plutocratic elites and the Christian Right, and also by a massive disaffection of so many voters who see too little difference between two corrupted parties, with blacks being taken for granted by the Democrats, and with the deep disaffection of youth. The energy of the youth support for the Howard Dean campaign and avid participation in the recent antiglobalization protests are promising signs, however, of the potential to engage them.

  As I’ve traveled across this country giving speeches and attending gatherings for the past thirty years, I’ve always been impressed by the intelligence, imagination, creativity, and humor of the American people, then found myself wondering how we end up with such mediocre and milquetoast leaders in public office. It’s as if the best and brightest citizens boycott elected public office, while the most ambitious go into the private sector. In a capitalist society that is where the wealth, influence, and status are. But we’ve always been a capitalist society, and we’ve had some quality leaders in the past. Why the steep decline? As with sitcoms on television, the standards have dropped so low, we cannot separate a joke from an insult. When Bush smiles after his carefully scripted press conferences of little substance, we do not know whether he is laughing at us or getting back at us as we laugh at him—as the press meanwhile hurries to concoct a story out of his clichés and shibboleths.

  In our market-driven empire, elite salesmanship to the demos has taken the place of genuine democratic leadership. The majority of voting-age citizens do not vote. They are not stupid (though shortsighted). They know that political leadership is confined to two parties that are both parasitic on corporate money and interests. To choose one or the other is a little like black people choosing between the left-wing and right-wing versions of the Dred Scott decision. There is a difference but not much—though every difference does matter.

  Yet a narrow rant against the new imperialism or emerging plutocracy is not enough. Instead we must dip deep into often-untapped wells of our democratic tradition to fight the imperialist strain and plutocratic impulse in American life. We must not allow our elected officials—many beholden to unaccountable corporate elites—to bastardize and pulverize the precious word democracy as they fail to respect and act on genuine democratic ideals.

  The problems plaguing our democracy are not only ones of disaffection and disillusionment. The greatest threats come in the form of the rise of three dominating, antidemocratic dogmas. These three dogmas, promoted by the most powerful forces in our world, are rendering American democracy vacuous. The first dogma of free-market fundamentalism posits the unregulated and unfettered market as idol and fetish. This glorification of the market has led to a callous corporate-dominated political economy in which business leaders (their wealth and power) are to be worshipped—even despite the recent scandals—and the most powerful corporations are delegated magical powers of salvation rather than relegated to democratic scrutiny concerning both the ethics of their business practices and their treatment of workers. This largely unexamined and unquestioned dogma that supports the policies of both Democrats and Republicans in the United States—and those of most political parties in other parts of the world—is a major threat to the quality of democratic life and the well-being of most peoples across the globe. It yields an obscene level of wealth inequality, along with its corollary of intensified class hostility and hatred. It also redefines the terms of what we should be striving for in life, glamorizing materialistic gain, narcissistic pleasure, and the pursuit of narrow individualistic preoccupations—especially for young people here and abroad.

  Free-market fundamentalism—just as dangerous as the religious fundamentalisms of our day—trivializes the concern for public interest. The overwhelming power and influence of plutocrats and oligarchs in the economy put fear and insecurity in the hearts of anxiety-ridden workers and render money-driven, poll-obsessed elected officials deferential to corporate goals of profit, often at the cost of the common good. This illicit marriage of corporate and political elites—so blatant and flagrant in our time—not only undermines the trust of informed citizens in those who rule over them. It also promotes the pervasive sleepwalking of the populace, who see that the false prophets are handsomely rewarded with money, status, and access to more power. This profit-driven vision is sucking the democratic life out of American society.

  In short, the dangerous dogma of free-market fundamentalism turns our attention away from schools to prisons, from workers’ conditions to profit margins, from health clinics to high-tech facial surgeries, from civic associations to pornographic Internet sites, and from children’s care to strip clubs. The fundamentalism of the market puts a premium on the activities of buying and selling, consuming and taking, promoting and advertising, and devalues community, compassionate charity, and improvement of the general quality of life. How ironic that in America we’ve moved so quickly from Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Let Freedom Ring!” to “Bling! Bling!”—as if freedom were reducible to simply having material toys, as dictated by free-market fundamentalism.

  The second prevailing dogma of our time is aggressive militarism, of which the new policy of preemptive strike against potential enemies is but an extension. This new doctrine of U.S. foreign policy goes far beyond our former doctrine of preventive war. It green-lights political elites to sacrifice U.S. soldiers—who are disproportionately working class and youth of color—in adventurous crusades. This dogma posits military might as salvific in a world in which he who has the most and biggest weapons is the most moral and masculine, hence worthy of policing others. In practice, this dogma takes the form of unilateral intervention, colonial invasion, and armed occupation abroad. It has fueled a foreign policy that shuns multilateral cooperation of nations and undermines international structures of deliberation. Fashioned out of the cowboy mythology of the American frontier fantasy, the dogma of aggressive militarism is a lone-ranger strategy that employs “spare-no-enemies” tactics. It guarantees a perennial resorting to the immoral
and base manner of settling conflict, namely, the perpetration of the very sick and cowardly terrorism it claims to contain and eliminate. On the domestic front, this dogma expands police power, augments the prison-industrial complex, and legitimates unchecked male power (and violence) at home and in the workplace. It views crime as a monstrous enemy to crush (targeting poor people) rather than as an ugly behavior to change (by addressing the conditions that often encourage such behavior).

  As with the bully on the block, one’s own interests and aims define what is moral and one’s own anxieties and insecurities dictate what is masculine. Yet the use of naked force to resolve conflict often backfires. The arrogant hubris that usually accompanies this use of force tends to lead toward instability—and even destruction—in the regions where we have sought to impose our will. Violence is readily deployed by those who cloak themselves in innocence—those unwilling to examine themselves and uninterested in counting the number of innocent victims they kill. Note the Bush administration’s callous disregard for both the U.S. soldiers and innocent Iraqis killed in our recent adventurous invasion. The barbaric abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib is a flagrant example.

  The third prevailing dogma in this historic moment is escalating authoritarianism. This dogma is rooted in our understandable paranoia toward potential terrorists, our traditional fear of too many liberties, and our deep distrust of one another. The Patriot Act is but the peak of an iceberg that has widened the scope of the repression of our hard-earned rights and hard-fought liberties. The Supreme Court has helped lead the way with its support of the Patriot Act. There are, however, determined democrats on the Court who are deeply concerned, as expressed in a recent speech of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg: “On important issues,” she said, “like the balance between liberty and security, if the public doesn’t care, then the security side is going to overweigh the other.” The cowardly terrorist attacks of 9/11 have been cannon fodder for the tightening of surveillance. The loosening of legal protection and slow closing of meaningful access to the oversight of governmental activities—measures deemed necessary in the myopic view of many—are justified by the notion that safety trumps liberty and security dictates the perimeters of freedom.