Opinion Ideas abide

While it may seem that liberal values — notions of equality and decency — are fighting for survival, that nativist, right-wing tendencies are ascendant, it is unlikely that either notion will disappear completely.

More often than not, the “most admired man in America” is the serving US President, according to the Gallup poll. For the last two years, however, Donald Trump did not make the cut. This year, he is tied for first place with his predecessor, Barack Obama, and the divide is, predictably, along party lines. It is easy to see the poll as a reflection of a deeply divided society as the US heads into an election year, as yet more evidence of liberal values being under siege. But the message, perhaps, is more complex.

The contested prize of “the most admired man in America” illustrates the shifting allegiances of people and the relative permanence of ideas. In almost every way, Trump and Obama are polar opposites — isolationist vs globalist, playing to the mob vs leading the public, conservative vs liberal. Given the bipolar nature of US politics, it may appear sometimes that one side scores a dominant victory. In the Obama years, for example, many were proudly proclaiming the end of bigotry, the beginnings of a “woke” era. And yet, in 2016, many of the people who had voted for Obama shifted to Trump.

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While it may seem that liberal values — notions of equality and decency — are fighting for survival, that nativist, right-wing tendencies are ascendant, it is unlikely that either notion will disappear completely. The circumstances of the times may see people sway one way, but the dormant anti-thesis of the dominant narrative waits in the wings. Meanwhile, the person who has been in the top 10 for 10 years is Queen Elizabeth II. Even in the US, the first country to throw off the yoke of British imperialism, the idea of the monarchy also abides.