‘Globalist’! &c.

On a popular, silly epithet; a scholar and humanitarian; and more

Photo by NASA on Unsplash

For much of my life, I have been labeled a “fascist”—this is because of my conservative, or classical-liberal, views. I am the opposite of a fascist, of course, and I’m sure you are, too. I favor constitutionalism, the separation of powers, a free economy, individual rights, and so on. But “fascist,” from most mouths, does not mean “fascist.” Remember how ill educated people are. It means, in essence, “I hate you.”

You recall Orwell, in his “Politics and the English Language”: “The word Fascism has now no meaning except in so far as it signifies ‘something not desirable.’”

I will get to “globalist” in a second, but I am sticking with the F-word for now.

In a meeting at the Metropolitan Opera some years ago, an official referred to me, more than once, as a “fascist.” I was not present. (Why would I have been?) It got back to me.

A famous pianist, at lunch with a friend of mine, called me a “fascist.” (My friend told me, obviously.) I would never hold it against the guy, in a review. But I do not review him anymore. It poses no professional problem. The pianist is significant but not major.

There is a great pianist who tried to get me banned from a festival, on grounds that my politics were extreme and unacceptable. The true reason for his displeasure, I’m sure, is that I wrote some critical things about him in a review (along with some laudatory things). Him, I will always hear and review, whenever I can. He is (a) great and (b) nuts. Forgivable, in my book.

(The first pianist I mentioned is neither great nor nuts.)

Okay. Did you see this, from the U.S. government?

For decades, antagonists on the left have labeled me a “fascist,” and for the last decade—since the rise of Trump—antagonists on the nationalist-populist right have labeled me a “globalist.” What is a “globalist”? The U.S. government, as represented by the Department of Homeland Security, puts such a person on a par with a communist and a terrorist. What is one?

Sarah Longwell, publisher of The Bulwark, asked the same question. “Do you have to hate other countries? Does sending $20 billion to Argentina make one a globalist? Does sending weapons to Israel?”

The Trump administration, as you know, is giving Argentina a $20 billion bailout, and it also arms Israel.

I have some further questions: Does favoring international trade make you a globalist? Does favoring alliances? Collective security? Does an interest in other peoples, other cultures, and other languages make you a globalist? Liking spicy food?

One problem with false accusations of fascism is that there are real fascists in the world. So, what are you going to call them, when you have spent the word “fascist” on non-fascists? The same is true, of course, with false accusations of racism.

But “globalist”? From most mouths, that is just a silly epithet, approaching the level of “kulak.”

(I should not imply that “kulak” was silly, or merely silly. It was inane, of course. But to be labeled a “kulak” could get you killed, in the terror-famine that the Kremlin waged against Ukrainians.)

You know what I think we may need? A new “Politics and the English Language.” I call on present-day Orwells to write one.

Meanwhile, you may have seen this, in the news:

U.S. president Donald Trump has signed an executive order vowing to use all measures including U.S. military action to defend the energy-rich nation of Qatar—though it remains unclear just what weight the pledge will carry.

(For that report in full, from the Associated Press, go here.)

Some analysts have remarked, “This sounds like an Article 5 for one nation, only: Qatar.”

Now, why would Qatar receive such a guarantee from the Trump administration? Could it be that the Qatari dictatorship and the Trump family are in business together? You would have to be suffering from “TDS” to think so. (Either that or you have a brain in your head.)

Three months after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Heritage Foundation—formerly a redoubt of Reagan conservatism—declared that U.S. aid to that embattled nation “puts America last.” What will the Heritage Foundation and the rest of MAGA say about this new arrangement with Qatar?

Do you know what “conservatism” is in many minds (if “minds” is the right word)? However Donald Trump is feeling on any given day.

Before getting off this subject, I might mention one more thing. Owing to my support of aid to Ukraine, I am called a “globalist.” I am also told, routinely, “If you like Ukraine so much, and you hate Putin so much, why don’t you strap on a gun and go over there and fight?”

I favor aid to Israel, too. I am never called a “globalist” on account of that. And no one ever says—ever—“If you like Israel so much, and you hate Hamas to much, why don’t you ...?”

Curious. (I favor aid to Ukraine and aid to Israel because I think that aid to each nation is in the U.S. interest.)

***

Jimmy Carter had a slogan, or an expression: America should have “a government as good as its people.” He even gave a book that title: A Government as Good as Its People. I have a question today, and a painful one, perhaps: Does America, right now, have a government as good as its people?

That would make a topic for a symposium, possibly.

***

At The Next Move, I have an appreciation of Jerry Cohen. The Next Move, as I have mentioned, is the publication of the Renew Democracy Initiative, where I am a “senior resident fellow.” RDI was founded by Garry Kasparov, the chess champion and democracy champion, in 2017.

My piece begins,

It was from Jerry Cohen—Jerome A. Cohen—that I first heard about the Uyghurs. About the fact that they were being rounded up, en masse, into concentration camps. Cohen was extremely concerned. This looked like a prelude to genocide. Cohen thought about his relatives—some 40 of them—murdered in the Holocaust.

He and I were talking sometime in 2017. I paid serious attention to him. Cohen was no alarmist or Internet “rando.” He was a distinguished, judicious China scholar, then in his late eighties. Very few were talking about the Uyghurs, and Cohen thought the issue was urgent.

Yes. A bit further on in the piece, I say,

Cohen was sometimes called the “dean” of China scholars in the United States. His specialty was Chinese law. Not only a scholar, he was a friend to dissidents and democrats. Such people have long spoken of him with reverence and gratitude.

With amusing irony, admirers dubbed him “the Great Helmsman” (appropriating Mao’s nickname). I think of Bernard Lewis, the great Middle East historian—whose students dubbed him “the Imam.”

Lewis died in 2018 at 101. Jerry Cohen died last week at 95.

Here at Onward and Upward, I would like to relate something that may interest you, and amuse you. William F. Buckley Jr. once invited Jerry to be a guest on his television show, Firing Line. This is what Jerry told me, in an interview:

I had just broken my arm skiing. When I walked into the studio, Bill said, “That’s the way you should look when I get done with you!”

Moreover,

I told him I did not want my mother, who would be watching, to know about my arm, so would he please tell the cameramen not to descend below my neck? He did this, and a good time was had by all.

***

Do you care for some music? Specifically, a music podcast? The latest episode of my Music for a While is here. I have Tchaikovsky, Handel, Mompou, and other fine gents (and ladies).

***

At the golf range, a little kid was whacking through a bucket of balls in the stall next to me. His mother was observing. The kid was about six, I think. At one point, before taking another whack, he said, “Mom, can you video this? I feel like it’s gonna be good.”

At another point, when he was frustrated with the results he was getting, and at his inability to detect a fault, he said, “I don’t know what’s going on. I’ve done it this way all my life.”

I loved that: “all my life.”

Thank you for joining me, my friends. If you’re able to subscribe to this little pub (publication)—great. Catch you soon. Again, thanks.