How to Fake Politics in the U.S.A.

The evolution of partisanship and individualism

Image by Clay Banks, from Unsplash

In this Trumpian era of rampant tribalism, we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that the American discourse of political partisanship is still a sideshow.

Partisans as Collectivists

When the word is used today in democratic politics, “partisan” is often contrasted with “patriot.” So a partisan is someone who sides with a political party against the greater interests of the country, thus showing an unreasonable, villainous bias, whereas a patriot does the opposite, putting the greater good of the country above the alleged greater good of a mere party. Partisanship is thus understood to be a kind of tribalism.

An early modern political use of the term was Lenin’s, and he assumed Marx’s theory of historical evolution through class conflict. By “partiinost,” Lenin meant the class interest of the proletariat, or of the exploited working class, which Marxists were proud to fight for, whereas the wealthy bourgeoisie hid their class allegiance behind the guise of objectivity.

The Marxist criticism of bourgeois neutrality was similar to the postmodern repudiation of the journalist’s tactic of feigning neutrality by taking a centrist stance, covering both sides of every issue equally even when the…