Europe’s duty to defend the Enlightenment
The road that America appears to be taking obliges the Europeans not only to see how they will survive in an increasingly turbulent world, but also to keep alive the principles that made America and Europe powerful. As the United States turn inwards and the public debate sinks into mutual hatred, the European Union will have to remain an example to the rest of the world of the benefits of unity through diversity, of the value of compromise and the power of cooperation. The strength of the United States has always been the coexistence of different ethnic and social groups through the aspiration for equality before the law, through equal opportunities – through the rule of law, in other words. Donald Trump’s emergence on the political scene led to a new mentality, where the truth, laws and justice are not absolutes but we accept them only where they work in our favor.
Trump’s domination over the Republican Party coincides with the fears of Democrats that President Joe Biden cannot secure his reelection, and that he will hurt their campaigns for Congress. Trump, meanwhile, also has the support of many judges at all state and federal levels. He always places his own interests above the collective good. He represents the opposite of the principles which America preached, and which are the foundation of the European project. If Trump returns to power, he will establish an autocratic system of government, indifferent to America’s social cohesion and its relations with the rest of the world.
A comparison with Thursday’s reelection of Ursula von der Leyen as president of the European Commission is enlightening. Through much effort and many compromises, the German politician secured the support of various groups in the European Parliament. In this way, she unites different forces, she does not represent the dominance of one candidate over everyone else. As we see in the United States, investing in voters’ basest instincts is profitable and contagious. That is why we Europeans ought to persist with the principles which secured social justice, peace and progress over the past several decades. Otherwise, a return to the principles of the Enlightenment from the nationalist-religious autocracies preached by Putin, Trump, Erdogan and others, will be impossible.
