DEMOCRACY IN DANGER
The Apex Political Nightmare: Eternal Recurrence of the Shame
Kevin McCarthy is suffering Nietzsche’s famous thought experiment
Representative Kevin McCarthy has little in common with the 19th-century philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Like many of our modern politicians, he has never evidenced the capacity for deep thought. That is unfortunate: Our politics could be elevated if modern Republicans were as thoughtful and literate as Abe Lincoln.
However, in his quest to become the Speaker of the House, he has become, unwittingly, the living embodiment of one of Nietzsche’s signature ideas: the eternal recurrence of the same.
Nietzsche illustrated his version of this existential concept, which was originally introduced in his book The Gay Science, by this grim scenario:
What if some day or night a demon were to steal after you into your loneliest loneliness, and say to you, “This life as you now live it and have lived it, you will have to live once more and innumerable times more; and there will be nothing new in it, but every pain and every joy and every thought and sigh and everything unutterably small or great in your life will have to return to you, all in the same succession and sequence” … Would you not throw yourself down and gnash your teeth and curse the demon who spoke thus? Or have you once experienced a tremendous moment when you would have answered him: “You are a god and never have I heard anything more divine.”
I doubt McCarthy viewed the fifteen ballot cycles he endured as an exercise to be relived willingly and joyfully into eternity. The German philosopher’s allegory was intended as a thought experiment to test if someone has lived a life brilliantly, so well that he would be eager to relive every moment of that life in repetition — every failure, every mistake, and every success.
Yet, I have no doubt that Kevin McCarthy is cursing the aforementioned demon (known to the rest of us as Matt Gaetz). Although we did not see him literally prostrate on the floor of the House chamber, we have now seen McCarthy kneel to his far-right colleagues. And, of course, Donald Trump.
Thus, even though the cycle of ballot defeats has ended, his cycle of silent suffering will continue indefinitely — given the announced (and likely hidden) concessions he has surrendered to the ultra-MAGA insurrectionists in his ranks. So, Mr. McCarthy can expect this: recurring stalemates and public humiliation — as well as contrasting comparisons to the legislative acumen of Nancy Pelosi — over and over again.
That will be the eternal recurrence of the shame.
Unfortunately, McCarthy’s political nightmare will become America’s recurring terror. With the most extreme elements running the caucus, we can expect repeated episodes of political chaos, repeated assaults upon the truth, and, potentially, repeated political violence.
Under a Speaker McCarthy, America’s House of Representatives will likely witness a new nadir and cycles of dysfunction that will have us counting the days until November 2024. Our mental coping mechanism until those elections must be this additional inspiration provided by the German philosopher:
Let’s hope democracy survives.
Thanks for your attention and past claps, and I welcome your responses. To follow future posts, you can press the button on the screen. — Geronimo Redstone
