Alternative Fact is an oxymoron!
Now the definition of fact has changed!
Yup, now you're on to something. The Oxford Dictionary's "Word of the Year" for 2016 is "Post-truth."
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/word-of-the-year/word-of-the-year-2016It fits well with our post-modern discussion here. "My metanarrative is bigger than your metanarrative."
In the absence of any sort of consensus on what "country" means, or "social justice," or "freedom of speech," or "illegal," or "rights," or "life," or "immoral," or even "is.." we're in deep trouble, I think.
Trump is, indeed, a moron of the first order. But he tapped into something in the American psyche that isn't just easily dismissed as "all those rubes where hoodwinked." I don't think that's true. Many, perhaps most, Trump supporters may be less articulate than the average liberal news pundit - but don't mistake that for "misinformed." The problem is precisely that they are "informed enough" to be really pissed off about being largely ignored and having their values seen as subversive, or oppressive. There is a "real" divide in the U.S. One metanarrative will win. Those on the losing side (ultimately the conservative middle-American, person of faith, I think) will be driven underground and permanently silenced at some point in the not too distant future. I view Trump's presidency as a kind of "last really bad joke" for those who have what used to be a normative, conservative, view of the American dream. His ridiculousness will make it that much easier for a hegemony of political correctness and an embrace of pluralism to the point where we'll all have to be
very careful not to offend anyone, to reassert itself. But, this is more the norm in history, than not. Most people, in most of history, have had to be very careful not to speak ill of the dominant metanarrative - often on peril of their freedom, or even their lives.
If the "Brights" are to be believed, this is all fine and dandy. As I cited in another thread here on LULA, respected thinkers like Professor Richard Dawkins (author of, "The God Delusion") has expressed it like this: “The total amount of suffering per year in the natural world is beyond all decent contemplation. During the minute that it takes me to compose this sentence, thousands of animals are being eaten alive, many others are running for their lives, whimpering with fear, others are slowly being devoured from within by rasping parasites, thousands of all kinds are dying of starvation, thirst, and disease. It must be so. If there ever is a time of plenty, this very fact will automatically lead to an increase in the population until the natural state of starvation and misery is restored. In a universe of electrons and selfish genes, blind physical forces and genetic replication, some people are going to get hurt, other people are going to get lucky, and you won't find any rhyme or reason in it, nor any justice. The universe that we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but pitiless indifference.”
Dr. Dawkins isn't some raving lunatic. He's very well respected. I think he's a harbinger of what will become the dominant metanarrative (actually it already is). Few have the courage to speak so plainly. Some people are going to get hurt, others are going to get lucky. At least this is honest.
As the more liberal (politically) and materialist/humanist (philosophically) regain political dominance (and they will, without doubt - I think) the return swing toward an oppressive form of "enlightened thinking" will bring a brave new world. Some people are going to get hurt, others are going to get lucky. Meanwhile, in other parts of this planet, cultures with very cohesive and dominant worldview systems will gain power, resources, and the ability to pick this country apart, little by little, until it implodes.
So, cheer up . . . Trump is a mere blip on the radar of our march toward the future.
Rand