Alfred Stieglitz: Equivalent, Spiritual America (1923)

"The reigning forces of darkness have no idea what they've inspired."

They lie so reflexively it remains impossible to see any shred of truth in their responses. They know that you know, too. It's as if they're chiding you, urging you to go ahead and try to get even. Impunity never imagined a better friend. And they're right for the moment. In that instant, there couldn't possibly be any leveling of that playing field. The whole game seems to belong to Simon Legree's team. The umpires are crooked. The fans, divided. Even the future of the game appears undecided. What was once considered The Great American Pastime no longer means anything to anybody. It's become a medium for domination to a few and the absolute symbol of subjugation to a fast-growing majority. This situation will turn, but not immediately, and certainly not without considerably more discomfort. Until then, the lies will continue unabated as if winning those little controversies mattered, and the liars will continue enjoying the only notoriety they will ever see. They're each set on a course toward infamy.

Philosophers might insist that every human action might as well be considered ambiguous. A confident attorney can argue either side of any case with equal success. Judges are not universally just. Still, with most things and most actions, rightness and wrongness seem to pour off their surfaces. It's rare in my experience that I can't see rightness when it’s present and wrongness, too, when it's there. This incumbent, who has been in office for just sixty days now, has not seemed right for the job for a Cleveland second. It's a testament to our collective faith in our sacred democracy that we haven't strung him up yet. However, an ever-increasing number of otherwise peace-loving citizens would seemingly sign right up to perform that service. He's ridiculous, yet still in office. The system, such as any system ever is, remains resistant, though pieces sure seem far too accepting.

Above all, we seem to be an accommodating people, the kind mountebanks have always favored, the sort easily separated from their money and their morals, bumpkins in the big city. They've never been different, either. They hold no higher vision. They immediately consume, holding nothing in reserve. They live for yesterday and today without even distantly imagining that there might one day be a tomorrow or even a day after. The reckoning always occurs in the previously unconsidered future, that place where gravity always holds her accustomed place and former flights of fantasy almost always crash to burn. Those who escape prison will hold reunions to remember and praise the good old days when the forces of darkness attempted to become dominant before terminally overrunning their limited vision. They proved again that you can fool many for a while but only relatively few for any longer. There were probably better strategies for them to try to implement than utterly undermining the labor force. People won't do without their salad.

The chattering class will continue wondering what happened to the once-dominant Democrats, who had always been relatively disorganized, if only for tradition's sake. Those who believe their party should maintain clear, crisp plans subconsciously work for authoritarianism. A genuine Democracy should seem chaotic, with ebbs and tides of truths and lies. The current rip tide seems awfully powerful by historical standards. Still, if we're to enjoy the many benefits of Democracy, we must tolerate the occasional bout of near-absolute lunacy, for the polity contains unpalatable variety and should, I suppose. Those who believe in fascist democracy believe themselves to be the proper interpreters of our Equivocal legacy, Thomas Jefferson, on steroids. They will continue insisting long after their legacies are settled into their appropriate ashcans of history, and our Democracy will probably be better for the scare. There was always more there than most of us fully appreciated. Long casual association with any crown of creation eventually erodes into complacency. If a Democracy needs anything, it demands whatever might be the opposite of complacency, maybe a determined dissatisfaction. Never before have so many run-of-the-mill Americans shown up for public rallies carrying the modern equivalent of torches and pitchforks. The reigning forces of darkness have no idea what they've inspired.

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