A basic part of the ongoing travails of Bill Clinton that has been mentioned and dismissed a number of times, but that I think has a great deal of legitimacy, is his generation. He came from the first post WWII generation, the one we commonly call the baby boomers. There are a few specific traits of his generation that I think he exemplifies. To me, these basic attitudes not only explain a good chunk of why BC is who he is, but also why his supporters support him. I will list them as statements with comments:
"We want it all now."
This generation grew up at the high-point of the American Dream. We had just come out of WWII as the most powerful nation ever on Earth. The Industrial Society was a reality, the work week was set, there were good jobs, pensions, new houses, new cars... all of the fruits of our labors were finally there to be had. And they were all given freely to BC's generation. Of course, gifts are too often unappreciated, especially by people with no understanding of the sacrifices that were made to achieve them. So his generation grew up with the firm belief that their purpose in life was simply to live the good life. But not only was the nation's apparent success and plenty doomed to be short-lived, if for no other reason than "what goes up must come down," but it genuinely was, in some senses, false. It had been built on the exploitation of our environment and people. So when, through assassinations, war, demonstrations, anger, rebellion, repression and failure the whole thing started to shake and crumble, they attacked the system that had given them the plenty they had enjoyed. They had little concern for the structure that would take the place of "the Establishment," I believe in large part because of the age they were when it started to happen. Most people in their teens and twenties are nihilistic to some extent, simply as a way of rethinking the world in preparation for their inheritance of it. Most adolescents come up with generally limited and self-indulgent lifestyles that they think make more sense than those currently accepted, but most adolescents don't have the power to effect the changes they envision. But this generation, through weight of numbers and the indulgence of their parents, actually had the power to force many of their desires on the nation. But even with the early signs that they might have gone astray (overdoses, increased crime, herpes, disco) they remained sure of themselves because:
"We're smarter than you are."
The products of the American educational system of the middle part of the 20th century were the beneficiaries of our technological leaps of WWII, our recognition of the importance of education combined with the establishment of virtually universal schooling, and good ol' Dr. Spock, who told their parents that they were gifts to be treasured and constantly encouraged and never rebuked. They knew that they were right and that everyone who disagreed with them just didn't see the big picture. And besides, when things did go wrong, there was always a way out for them because:
"It's not our fault."
In being allowed or even encouraged to exercise their power to create their adolescent dream world (again I think in large part the blame can be fixed on Dr. Spock), they were encouraged and supported entirely too much and for entirely too long. By the time their parents realized what was happening it was too late for anything other than an intergenerational war. When the older generation attempted to stop the perceived degradation of everything they had worked for, they made implacable enemies of their children's generation. So when things started to come apart, the adolescents, being adolescents and thus unwilling to take responsibility for the consequences of their own actions, had a ready-made enemy to blame. Even the obvious accomplishments of the Reagan years, which were the last stand of the old values, were not enough to sway them since they knew that, "we're smarter than you are." But this isn't to say that they didn't take advantage of the final fruits of their parent's values; of course they did. This was the period when they made the move from adolescents to adults, from hippies to yuppies. The world had changed and this was the time to get in on the getting while the getting was good. And they could toss aside many of their own values because "we want it all now."
Bill Clinton's problems and the reactions of his supporters are these statements in microcosm. He wanted to become president, so he did it. The means didn't matter, it was simply enough that he wanted it. Of course, there were always other things he wanted, and the consequences didn't matter. One of these things was to get in the pants of this cute intern that had flashed her butt at him. So he did that too.
His supporters wanted him to be in office, partly simply because he was one of them, and partly because, with their limited and short-term view of the world, they believed that the plenty they were enjoying was due to him rather than being the result of years of slow movement. And they were willing to turn a blind eye to his obvious shortcomings because they wanted him to be there and that was enough.
When he was caught, rather than admit his error he tried to fool the system. He didn't consider the consequences simply because he thought he could get away with it. He believed that he was smarter than everyone else and he could fool them. His supporters agreed. Many of them still do.
When he was caught trying to fool the system, he tried to shift the blame. It was Ken Starr's fault, or the House Republican's fault, or Monica's fault. But never his. In this too, his supporters agreed. And again, many of them still do.
So what can we really do? Unfortunately, almost nothing. Both he and the people who support him are not amenable to reason because they're smarter than we are and besides, it's all someone else's fault. All we can do is to try to ride it out and minimize the damage. And hope that history judges him and his supporters as harshly as they deserve.
By the way, off-topic, these same three statements are the dynamic behind "road rage." It goes like this:
"I want to go faster than this. I know, I'll jump out into this turn lane then cut back in as far up as I can. Hey, what the hell is this guy's problem?!"
-BLT |
