The "real" problem... as I perceive

Street Art by Ultraklm

Back in graduate school, in the 90s, I found myself surrounded by postmodernist ideas. I remember being really excited by the liberating possibilities of looking at the world through this particular lens. I was a proponent at first, but later came to see the problems with postmodern thinking. I could already see the how this ideological framework was being taken to extremes. I began to understand why there was a reaction against it. Now I look around and see how postmodernism has come to define the entire culture I find myself in. This mindset has become so pervasive as to be "self-evident" to most people -- an ideological norm that is no longer questioned. Postmodernism has shaped the political landscape in ways that are undermining the basis of liberation, democracy. As the world transform, in all its technological glory, I am left wondering if any of this really matters.

What is postmodernism?  

It means looking at the world with skepticism, irony and rejecting the grand narratives of the past... things like positivism, absolute truth, objectivity and even reason itself. It questions the notion that there is a human nature. It challenges the ideas of scientific progress. It posits that morality is not universal, and that reality itself is collectively imagined. To a postmodernist, knowledge is about interpretation, which is seen as contingent on one's culture and experience. Personal identity determines one's truth, and one's truth is really what matters most.

How did this come about? Well, think about the political disasters of the 20th century -- two world wars, a nuclear arms race, Vietnam, persistent racism and sexism, and environmental destruction. People basically lost faith in the classic ideas of the past, which were accused of shaping a distorted and unjust world. Challenging past ideologies deemed to be natural and objective had merit, but postmodern thinking has also reshaped culture in detrimental ways. The post-truth perspective in which we find ourselves is stands against a just and free society.

So how should one think about the world?  

When it comes to real life issues, there is no need to delve into deep metaphysical discussions, and I will not do so here. The nature of reality is one thing, having to navigate life is another. Forget the question - is there an objective reality or is everything subjective? It's not that simple. Equally let go of wondering if postmodernism is bad or good. Postmodernism has great value in some ways and it has also led to delusional and destructive thinking.

Objective facts can indeed be determined through evidence and careful study. All one has to do is see how science has transformed civilization and the planet to see the value of that approach. That truth stands independent of culture is particularly evident in the laws in the natural world and in the accounting of things and events. As it goes, no matter how sophisticated the understanding, it only has merit if the facts it is based on are accurate.

On the other hand, when it comes to culture one can never have the complete picture, or compile all the evidence. Moreover, there are no absolutes in the realm of the social. Postmodernism is useful in this regard because it helps one think of right and wrong as embedded within a social matrix of beliefs and practices. There are many playbooks, religious texts, legal precedent, philosophical treatises, intepretations of natural laws. In the end, if they are all based on culture, one can choose what is moral and what is the best political course. Think about how liberating it is to marginalized people who once believed that their oppression was based on cultural practice and subject to change rather than a natural condition. 

What does all this have to do with today's politics?

From contesting oppressive power, postmodernism has become an instrument of power. The postmodern assertion that there are no objective truths is now used to challenge the foundational principles that helped shaped the notions of liberty and human rights. A"post-fact" world that values identity above all else is highly corrosive to democratic political culture, and it is only through democratic political culture that power has been shared throughout the history of civilization.

The fundamental importance of democracy is that it keeps a check on power, and the press is a critical institution to that effect. Power in a democracy isn't really about controlling people and things, it's about controlling the intepretations (narratives) that create the social and political perceptions of how the world works. Those with the greatest power have the greatest ability to determine the narratives.

Believing in a verifiable truth is a necessary part of maintaining a healthy democratic culture. It certainly all works better when the debates within political discourse share the same set of facts. It is critical to recognize, however, that facts are not enough.The facts tell us "what," but have to be woven into narratives to answer the question "why." Intepretations, even those based on facts, will have an element of subjectivity and will always have a bias of one form or another. Though not perfect, institutions do the work of ensuring a democratic culture.

James Bovard

The fundamental importance of the institution of the press is that it holds those with power accountable to the facts. Good journalism is predicated on getting the facts straight and limiting the speculations that go into the story, Nevertheless, weaving the facts together and choosing which facts to include will inevitably add a subjective or biased element. This objective limitation is often used to criticize and condemn the press. If the institution of the press is undermined it can no longer arbitrate the facts. The bias becomes far more consequential and the powerful are first to take advantage.

The law, as imperfect as it may be, is arbitrated and enforced through a set of institutions which function to keep power in check. Power accumulates and is constantly working to undermine democracy (shared power). That is precisely why the US Constitution is specifically designed to diffuse power. It is why America tries to maintain a political culture where no one is above the law and where legal institutions maintain independence from political ones.

We now find ourselves in a post-fact political landscape, where the intepretations themselves include mistrust of arbiters of the facts, the very institutions that keep the entire democratic process working. Verifiable truths can then be ignored and replaced by any self-serving set of facts. Postmodernism came about as a reaction to tragedies and abuses of the past. It was an intellectual revolution meant to liberate humanity from past dogmas and past mistakes. Now this way of thinking is working to undermine the fundamental pillars of liberal democracy, putting all of the liberation projects of the 20th century at risk. In fact, postmodernism has places the whole "age of reason" project in question. It was a project that liberated us from the Machiavellian truth that might is right. Hard to say what is to come.

We perceive the world more and more through glowing screens filled with ever more sophisticated visual displays. The line between public and private gives way. What is personal is thought of as indistinguishable from what is political. It is a world of perceptions, where reality is increasingly negotiable. In this new, technological age of wonders, the battles are less about soldiers and weapons, and more about the power of information. It is less about nations and more about networks. Perhaps postmodernism better fits a world where identity is the new currency and democracy is anacronistic.

But then again, there is that question of power. And as all this happens, the  ice melts and the oceans rise in accordance with the natural processes science, with its stubborn objectivity, has uncovered.