In the ever-competing list of topics by which we choose to educate our youth, the term “Mandate of Heaven” probably ranks just below ant farming and competitive disco. Nevertheless, current events may behoove us to spend a few moments clarifying this dynastic, Chinese concept. Since our modern understanding is generally driven by consumed media, perhaps it’s best to start with a television commercial most baby boomers and millennials know by heart.
“I learned it by watching you!” Surely we all remember that throwback from the effectual War on Drugs. The son will learn from the father, as we citizens take lead from our elected leaders. Regardless if we love or hate them, when the chief executive does something, subconsciously the take-away for us regular folk is that the action or behavior was (and is) acceptable. Now, consider this idea in the presidency of Donald J. Trump.
First, our president puts loyalty above institutions. If you are on his team, then you are in the right. If not, well, then you’re not. If we filter this through the mandate, then one would assume that the average American citizen would consider this an acceptable action as well. Self-reflection will rarely win a popularity contest, and maybe that’s the point I’m trying to make. We, as a society, have taken our leaders’ actions and used them as a lynchpin for our own unethical behaviors towards each other.
If we add another example, for instance President Trump’s subordination of truth to political usefulness, readers may find their annoyance from reading this column mixed with an aroma of disgust. Being “right,” especially in this social media reality, carries with it much more than the weight of truth versus fiction. As our executive leverages his version against everyone else’s, so too have American citizens forgotten how webs form when truth is stretched to meet the needs of the moment. Unsurprisingly, this has led us to play record-keepers with texts and emails, so that when opportunity strikes, we copy and paste our ways towards winning the award for “who is right… right now.”
This leads us to another popular Trumpism: winning at all costs. Since the American attention span has dwindled down to microseconds, the value placed upon victory has devolved to being a matter of life or death. Speaking figuratively of course, but since the time span of our collective memory is only as long as our next inbox refresh, the fear of being cast as “villain” or “loser” carries with it the downfall of our entire identity. In the era of the brand, shareholders have become merely what we believe people think of ourselves. With the post-Covid era still lingering with self-doubt and uncertainty, it should be no surprise when we witness the youth fight over trivialities with a zealot’s fervor.
Lastly, Trump’s dismantling of democratic mores is no less prevalent among a society who always remembers to vote. This is not to say that the vote itself has lessened in importance; no, the issue here is what happens before and after the die is cast. What our grandparents would have labeled “sore losers” is the accepted hero of the day. To value democracy is to accept the fact that sometimes one’s side is the one that loses. Honor in defeat? Meh, not today, buddy! Stolen elections, meddling, and foreign connivance are what is found in the American toolkit when we find ourselves on the losing side. Like children on a playground we have become, always ready to villainize a neighbor when their choice was the one that was popularly chosen.
Few can forget the primal scream that was recorded of that short-haired woman with glasses upon Trump’s 2016 presidential victory. “Nooooo” was her cry, and 10 years later does it ever make sense. Entitled, he is now held as the model for all.
Children of today, if they reflect upon the idea of a “Mandate of Heaven” will perhaps place more importance on who they choose in the roles of leadership. Not only will elected individuals represent and make choices that will affect the collective, their very actions will be viewed as what is acceptable and what is not. Popular it is not to be a morality police officer, but when common decency is held as an electoral weakness, history typically leaves little to the imagination. The embodiment of Trump’s persona (by both his supporters and detractors) leaves us with a nation not only at war with itself, but at war with anything we find disagreeable.
Ahmad Esfahani lives in Greenfield.