A Democracy Runs Through It

Iowa native Norman Maclean (1902-1990) published only two works (The Theory of Lyric Poetry from the Renaissance to Coleridge [1940] and A Manual of Instruction in Military Maps and Aerial Photographs [1943]) before publishing A River Runs Through It, when he was 74 years old in 1976. I cannot read the last 1500 or so words of this book, which I have done many times, without becoming misty-eyed.

Most people know at least something of the elegantly written story from the popular movie of the same name. Norman is a spectator to his brother Paul’s life, which ends tragically and abruptly at the story’s end. A mural of trout fishing on Western Montana’s Big Blackfoot River serves as the backdrop for the story, and the river meanders in and out of the lives of Norman, Paul, and their father John, a Presbyterian minister. Paul is not only handsome, a great writer and a determined reporter, but a fighter of corruption and an exquisitely talented fly fisherman. And, tragically, hopelessly self-destructive.

Norman Maclean. Image credit: Joel Snyder and The New Yorker.

Many see the story as ‘about’ fishing, but if I may be so bold, I think it’s about coming to grips with not being able to affect change. Most people I know, and I suspect most of the people you know, are struggling with this exact thing right now.  We’re astonished and bewildered that most of our fellow citizens just selected someone so vile to lead this country, especially since he’s self-applied the tyrant label this time around while suggesting he’d use the military to punish citizen adversaries. Of course, it’s theoretically possible he’ll be the first person in recorded history to not exercise authoritarian power bestowed upon him by a majority, but I doubt it.   

I have no qualms whatsoever calling the victor vile, since many of his current political allies, such as Ted Cruz, Lindsay Graham and J.D. Vance, all described him in similar terms before they realized half the country liked vile.

One of the reasons we’re astonished and bewildered must be that we’re insulated by  people that think similarly to ourselves. Our country has self-segregated, as the pundits say. Excepting my two siblings and presumably their spouses, literally no one I associate with supported the vile victor. Likewise, I’m sure that most of the vile victor’s voters are astonished and bewildered that *nearly* half the country supported the loser.

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I feel like I’m taking this whole thing less hard than most of my friends and acquaintances. This is probably because I’m used to losing; when you’re trying to improve water quality in Iowa you gotta be prepared to take the ‘L’ early and often. This is no game for somebody that can’t get up and dust themselves off. There just ain’t no other way to go about it.

Vile as though the Victor may be, it seems to me the losing side is much too eager to assign the blame for this mess to literally anything other than the Democratic Party. Call me crazy if you must, but when you lose (twice) to a guy whose behavior would get him fired from every employer in the country, maybe, just maybe, the product you’re offering is suboptimal.

Here in Iowa, Ds openly ran on public education and reproductive rights to the exclusion of other issues. Towards the end some vowed to make water quality and maybe a few other issues a priority, sans details (it’s generous to even characterize water quality as an issue for Ds; more like a topic). Christina Bohannon (IA-01 D losing candidate for congress) spent part of one week talking about water quality, using mainly Mike Naig (R) rhetoric. She lost by 0.2%. Ryan Melton (IA-04 D losing candidate for congress) made an honest effort to educate himself about water quality and speak about it in a district home to Iowa’s priciest real estate (because Lake Okoboji) but also a district where the rivers are hopelessly wrecked. Melton lost by 34%. Maybe the larger population of Iowans don’t care about clean water? It seems possible. Yes, yes it does. Maybe the politics and water we merit are one in the same.

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Meanwhile Thomas Massie (R-KY) is being touted as the next secretary of USDA. Massie, an MIT-trained engineer, has been openly and vocally critical of corn ethanol and the death grip corporate agribusiness has on small farmers. And Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who’s also a bit vile himself, has said a Trump USDA would offer interested farmers an ‘off ramp’ from the monoculture/CAFO production system. Most unelected liberals I know would be ecstatic with these positions. If only there were any elected Democrats with the courage to embrace them. Instead, we’ve had Secretary to Agribusiness Tom Vilsack for the last 12 years of Democratic governance, the anointed next governor candidate a husband to agribusiness, and basically all of the Iowa Democratic party too chickenshit to entertain the idea that it’s time to move past fuel ethanol. A hundred bucks says ‘liberals’ Rita Hart and Rob Sand are salivating at the prospect of criticizing Massie for his statements on corn ethanol. Maybe a thousand bucks. Maybe more. Anyway, I’m here for that when it happens. Oh boy, am I ready for that. Is Trump better for the country than literally anyone else you can name? In my opinion, no. Would Massie be better for Iowa than our own former governor Vilsack? Right now, I would say the answer to that is yes. Slam dunk yes.

I thought Harris was a good candidate and I voted for her. But, she was also very much an establishment candidate. I mightily hoped that she would dump Vilsack if elected, had my doubts, but it’s all moot now. It’s four years of vile, at least. Buckle up. But by god, enjoy the fight and get in some licks! Trust me, it’s fun to fight, especially when the bad guys are expecting you to lie down. And trust me on this too: courage is literally the only thing the bad guys respect. The only thing.

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When doing environmental work, there’s a conventional wisdom that there are no ‘wins’. There are only stays of execution. You might spare a river or a forest or a species an early death in the here and now, but for sure the bad guys will return, axe or plow or poison in hand, and you better be ready when they do. Might we say the same about democracy? It’s never been more apparent that simply walking into the voting booth and checking the ‘correct’ box with the ‘correct’ parenthetical letter next to it is insufficient. It won’t save a river, a Monarch butterfly, a meadowlark, or Democracy. It requires more than that.

I claim no unique insights into this, but it seems to me that a country as big and diverse and pluralistic as America is not a good candidate for authoritarianism. I see no reason to despair, and especially, I see no reason to lie down and be silent.

To see the people like me that are part of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative, click on the link below. These folks are great writers and well worth your time.