Culture Wars Are About Power
Time to place your bet
Cultural experimentation disturbs complacency and sparks innovation. Schoenberg shocked them. Isadora Duncan scandalized them. Molière annoyed them. James Joyce confused them. The shocked, scandalized, annoyed, and confused audiences were the aristocratic, the bourgeois, and the elite. When comfortable folks are confronted with disruptive ideas, they take offense. When the powers-that-be harass satirists, free thinkers, unconventional artists, dancers, or musicians, no one is surprised.
America is at a political and cultural crossroads. Which road will be taken? Will the country trudge down the dark MAGA lane, with its angry delusions, revanchism, and thuggishness? Or skip along the culture avenue, with its joyful celebrations, boundary-pushing inclusion, and curious new adventures?
New cultural trends begin at the margins, with the powerless. That’s where cutting-edge artistic forms or alternative lifestyles emerge. And it’s easy for an authoritarian state to suppress artists living on the edge. Just ask the exiled young Afghan musicians in Portugal or the interned Russian artists in Siberian penal colonies. They know.
Cultural pioneers are social non-conformists: their very existence creates tension within society’s power structures. But culture’s ambition isn’t power—it’s popularity. Culture becomes powerful when it finds a broad audience—when niche popularity becomes mass appeal.
People identify with something or someone; they participate and have fun seeing, hearing, and experiencing differently. They gain a new perception. Their way of living and relating changes with the times.
The right’s so-called culture war—a backward-looking offensive—aims to use state power to suppress culture. For decades, America’s anti-democratic extremists have moved gradually—chip away here, restrict there, and normalize the rightward turn. But Trump convinced conservatives that incrementalism was overrated. And now that conservatives have captured the courts, they have thrown caution to the winds, dropped the mask, taken off the gloves, and declared the worm turned. [Just met today’s cliche quota!]
The war against “woke-ism”
What is “woke” and why has it become the Republican Party’s battle cry?
“It comes out of Black culture,” said Elaine Richardson, professor of literacy studies at the Ohio State University. “In simple terms, it just means being politically conscious and aware.” Ah, that’s the problem. When people pay attention to politics, Republicans lose.
Trumpistas coopted and misappropriated “woke.” Stripped of its historical and cultural resonance, this sacred syllable became just another MAGA buzzword. It was added to the fascist glossary, a synonym for “anything we don’t like connected with people we hate.”
‘We reject woke ideology,’ DeSantis said during his victory speech after his reelection. . . . ‘We fight the woke in the legislature. We fight the woke in the schools. We fight the woke in the corporations. We will never, ever surrender to the woke mob. Florida is where woke goes to die.’
More accurately, DeSantis’s Florida is where democracy goes to die. Under DeSantis, Florida is a one-party state. Republicans control the offices of governor, secretary of state, attorney general, and both chambers of the state legislature. Governor DeSantis appointed three state supreme court justices, giving Republicans a supermajority in the high court.
And so far . . . there has been no breaking news, no reports of woke mobs1 with pitchforks storming the governor’s mansion, the legislature, or the state courts.
In the meantime, MAGA’s power monopoly in Florida has been used to curtail voting rights and women’s reproductive rights, ban books, hollow out higher education, suppress free speech, restrict LGBTQ culture, and harass immigrants and migrants. But hey—Ron DeSantis made it easier for Floridians to carry concealed weapons and for courts to execute convicts!
The DeSantis regime’s “war on woke” comprehensively targets democratic culture and individual rights. Who benefits from the one-party state? That’s a bit murkier, but I have my suspicions.
MAGA wants power to dominate culture, to halt the momentum toward a potential future. The United States can become a more tolerant, more equitable, and more diverse country. MAGA would hate that.
Joyful warriors
No one expected Joe Biden to turn the page on his presidency and endorse Kamala Harris as his successor. No one expected Kamala to turn on a dime, bring Tim Walz over, and draw fifteen thousand people to a rally in Arizona. All in three weeks!
Political campaigns are complicated and, these days, professionally managed. Yet even the best campaign consultant can’t manufacture joyous enthusiasm and excitement, or assemble crowds to fill huge stadiums. For that phenomenon to occur, people need to see a purpose and recognize a leader. That has happened for the Democrats. Organically.
The rapid coalescence of the democratic constituency around Kamala Harris and Tim Walz will be explored by historians and political scientists for decades. But let me put forward an observation (hardly a hypothesis) to account for this surprising development.
Substituting Kamala Harris for Joe Biden as the competitor to DJT, created such an outpouring of support and unity (in part) because Kamala and Coach represent a progressive culture more than progressive politics. Harris and Walz stand in Now, looking forward. Trump and Vance are planted in Then, looking backward.
The Democratic ticket’s happy demeanor, enjoyment of music, and willingness to look silly are cultural signals indicative of deeper commitments. I can illustrate this by simply contrasting the Democratic and Republican approaches to choosing their campaign songs.
Kamala Harris introduced her VP choice to supporters at a mega-rally in Philly on August 6. The night before, she requested—and received—permission from Beyonce to use her song “Freedom” for presidential campaign events.
Hundreds of supporters waited in lines outside the Liacouras Center at Temple University, which has a capacity of 10,000 people, for the event and packed the arena. That crowd gave Walz and Harris a lengthy standing ovation as they took the stage to the song "Freedom" by Beyoncé.
The Democratic presidential candidate respects artists; of course, she asks permission to use their work. And, of course, Harris knows the words to “Freedom.” Beyoncé’s song means something to her.
By contrast, Trump doesn’t ask for permission—he just takes what he wants. TFG only knows the title words of songs he pirates, like “Born in the USA,” or “Fortunate Son.” Trump thinks these are compliments that apply to him. IRL, few songwriters, singers, or musicians are his fans. John Fogerty, Phil Collins, Bruce Springsteen, and Pharrell Williams, for instance, sent cease-and-desist letters to the Trump campaign for its unauthorized use of their recordings. Others, such as Rihanna, R.E.M., Guns & Roses, the Rolling Stones, and Adelle objected publically but have not (yet) involved their lawyers. Then there are the copyright infringement lawsuits brought by living artists (Neil Young and Eddie Grant) and by (the estates of) those who have passed on (George Harrison, Leonard Cohen, Isaac Hayes, Tom Petty, and Prince). That tells you all you need to know about the Republican ticket.
I’m running out of space to discuss Kamala’s broad and eclectic musical taste. Just know: When it comes to contemporary music, Vice President Harris is plugged in.
What about her running mate, Tim Walz? He’s such a guy. He may not have a hip-hop playlist on Spotify, but he knows what’s going on in youth culture and supports it. Why? Because he understands these kids; they’re his students and he loves them.
As a high school teacher, Walz has heard plenty of “weird.” And he knows how to use it. Writing in The Atlantic, the brilliant Adam Serwer explains how weird works:
Democrats’ use of “weird” is not a stroke of political genius. It is novel language for doing something very typical in politics, which is highlighting your opponents’ unpopular positions. It has caught on because social media incentivizes engaging in ideological extremism to stand out. And in a GOP where loyalty to Trump is the paramount value, ideologues can rise by pledging fealty to him, even if their beliefs and public conduct are very strange.
What are these strange ideas that people wouldn’t like if they were aware that this was part of the Trumpist agenda? Serwer continues:
[These] ideas include dismantling the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Weather Service for the thought crime of acknowledging the reality of climate change . . . , repealing certain child-labor protections, undermining public- and private-sector unions, and allowing states to ignore federal labor laws regarding overtime pay and the minimum wage.
Why would a second Trump administration dismantle NOAA and the National Weather Service? Simple: so the Trumpistas can privatize these services and charge the public for them. You want to know the weather? Fuck you! Pay me!
Weird has hit a nerve in journalistic circles. Amanda Marcotte in Salon:
As much as it pains a professional writer to admit this, "weird" works because of its vagueness and ambiguity, not despite it. "Weird" has an array of connotations, possibly dozens or hundreds. It can encompass a staggering number of diverse offenses the MAGA forces commit against decency, democracy, human rights and good taste. "Weird" is big enough to cover everything from Trump's tacky branded sneakers to proposals for genital inspections of student athletes.
Weird is ambiguous but comprehensible. There’s cool weird: the guy with dyed red hair in a kilt walking down Broadway in July. A wool kilt! In July!
Then there’s creepy weird: the guy in the airplane middle seat clipping his toenails. Eeewww. That’s not the kind of weird you want to be around. Especially if you’re stuck in the window seat.
Fellow voters, we have a choice.
And now your moment of . . . repairing the breach.
Writing—and reading—about serious subjects can be fairly depressing. Grounded will conclude each week with a lighter story so that you may leave with a bit of joy in your heart.
Volunteer bricklayers rebuild wall of Southport mosque
In the UK, right-wing protesters tore down the brick wall of a local mosque. The rioters, acting on misinformation from the internet, blamed a Muslim (or a migrant) for the knife attacks on three young girls. Far-right protesters in Southport rampaged through the town. Shops were looted and police vehicles were set on fire. But before long, construction workers—neighbors—came out en masse to clean up the debris and rebuild the mosque’s brick wall.
Responding to the issue, Bricklayer Hill was generous and diplomatic. When asked if he had a message to those who tore the wall down, he replied sympathetically, “Get your facts straight before you start doing stuff. Facebook’s a dangerous thing.”
Related Grounded articles:
Maybe We Could Learn from History? (March 5, 2024)
What Happens When a Coup Fails? (March 12, 2024)
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Notes:
Associated Press, A look at artists who’ve objected to Trump using their songs.
Balletopedia, Party Control of Florida State Government.
Dave Holmes, A Deep Reading of Tim Walz’s Dad Rock Obsession.
Ashifa Kassam, The Taliban tried to silence us.
Gil Kaufman, Kamala Harris Is Brat & 9 More of Her Best Musical Moments.
Sophia Kishkovsky, Russian artist imprisoned for three and a half years over alleged anti-war supermarket protest.
Amanda Marcotte, What does "weird" even mean? Why the vagueness works — and why it's driving MAGA nuts.
Domenico Montanaro, Republicans can't stop using the word 'woke'. But what does it really mean?
Raven Moore and David Royer, Family of Isaac Hayes sues Donald Trump for using music at rally, demands $3 million.
Beth Reinhard and Josh Dawsey, DeSantis used secret panel to flip Supreme Court.
Adam Serwer, Why Trump Can’t Banish the Weirdos.
OK, I figured it out: “woke mob” isn’t the townsfolk coming with torches and pitchforks to punish the local tyrant. It refers to online shitposters who make mean comments to right-wingers on Twitter. My bad. /s
Finally, after almost a year, people are feeling good about themselves and have HOPE that the future is something to be anticipated instead of dreaded. Harris/Walz have given people a reason to SMILE again! Great article!
Wikipedia lists 3 dozen artists who are victims of trump's theft of music. It is the trump party way. And why can't they understand "Born in the USA" lyrics? And why does the homophobic party love to use "YMCA"? I really doubt that is is because they possess a finely tuned sardonic sense of humor. Then again, trump is the ultimate con man and grifter who will stop at nothing to fleece his flock.