THE current US midterm elections are shaping up to be one of the most historic and also most violent elections in US history. Bomb threats, shootings, and an atmosphere of increasing escalation are common features in this election cycle, and many Americans expect more to come after the election results are in.
Political violence is nothing new in the Philippines. It’s a common feature of our politics, but for the Americans, it’s the exception rather than the rule. Violence is escalating, and if or when it reaches a certain point, it may start to get organized. American politics is becoming more and more violent.
The answer depends on how you define politics. Some people think of politics as voting or joining political groups, but a more primal definition for politics is the pursuit of power. It is the pursuit of power for yourself, for your party, for your country or any other group that you choose to identify with. And when one or more opposing groups try to deprive you of that power, what would you do? Would you bow your head and accept the loss of power gracefully or do you pursue politics by “other means?”
Filipinos have a lot of experience with hit squads and private militias. They have been around for decades, so much so that most people just shrug it off when it reaches the new, but our experiences are not unique. Political violence is the norm throughout most of human history. Just ask Caesar, Hitler and Stalin.
This applies to all human cultures throughout history, including Western Civilization, where dynastic, religious and ideological differences often turned into war. Peaceful politics was a myth until the modern world, where liberal democracy developed the assumption that political violence could be solved by prosperity, the ballot box and strong institutions.
That assumption is fading away.
Political violence was relatively rare in most Western societies during the 20th century, particularly during the post-war period. Sure, they had the occasional anarchist attack or political assassination, but such things were, again, the exception rather than the rule.
And now the U.S. is sliding back to the historical and global average. The Republicans and Democrats are becoming more like opposing armies than political parties, and in a way that’s a good thing for the United States. It’s good in the sense that things are now out in the open, and the lines are being drawn.
And unlike the political violence in the Philippines, which is rooted in corruption and political ambitions, the political violence that’s happening in the United States is rooted in two opposing visions of the country’s legacy and future. One way or another, such differences will be resolved, and the sooner, the better.
Will this result in a second American Civil War? At this point, I don’t believe so, but then again, the first Civil War happened, so it’s not out of the question. What seems certain is that the United States is in a state of tension, and no one really knows what will happen when everything snaps./PN
