The End of the Wilsonian Era
The End of the Wilsonian Era raises several interesting points, and the main thrust of the essay is that the liberal world order that Wilson was the forefather of is coming to an end. His claim rests on the “centrifugal forces” that are tearing liberalism apart.
The first of which is the claim that technological advancement will not lead to improvement in the social order or in the “progress and social order” of humanity. It is a “simplistic” view of history, according to Mead. Call me an optimist, but I do believe in human betterment from technological development, at least in sum. This does not mean that all technological development leads to the betterment of humanity. Technology is neutral; it gives China and North Korea the ability to control all information their citizens intake and set up monstrous surveillance states while in Europe and North America it has brought an interconnection that can turn one random man’s death into riots and protests in the whole western world (George Floyd. Obviously, the riots were because of a deeper societal issue, but 100 years ago no one would ever know what the police did). Another example of the moral improvement fostered by technological development is found in Cancel Culture that nests in social media (Do not mistake me for endorsing cancel culture as a good, just the moral aspect of it.). Another example of the moral improvement fostered by technological development is found in Cancel Culture that nests in social media (Do not mistake me for endorsing cancel culture as a good, just the moral aspect of it). I will discuss cancel culture later in this paper.
On page 129, Mead pivots to focusing on the effects of social media specifically on technological advancement. I completely agree with Mead’s argument here. As the recent elections in the United States of America have shown us, social media has brought the democratic system of the most powerful nation on earth to within sight of its breaking point. It has polarized American society so harshly that some people identify with their political party more than their American citizenship. What will it do to some of the weaker European nations? Can our electoral systems hold? If they don't, then Wilsonianism is truly stepping into its grave. Social media has also caused, again for better or worse, massive civil unrest in America and across the western world in the form of the George Floyd protests, which have taken place on all continents. Of course, no discussion of social media would be complete without addressing Cancel Culture. Cancel Culture’s fears and incentives are legitimate (racism, sexism, workplace abuse, etc.), but the way the Social Justice Workers (the foot soldiers of Cancel Culture) choose who to devastate with their crusades is slowly spreading to such a general level to make Cancel Culture a pernicious and destructive offshoot of social media. In my mind, social media and the Information Age are bigger threats to Wilsonianism than China or Russia could ever hope to be.
Mead’s next claim is that ideology-fueled geopolitics is going to strengthen the “winds” that are blowing Wilsonianism off course. I disagree with this claim. Whenever a state does not play by the Wilsonian rules, America has to put aside the rules to constrain and if necessary go to war with the anti-Wilsonian power. A great example of this is the Soviet Union. America and the Soviet Union duked it out across the globe with little to no regard for human life in vicious proxy wars. Mead says that most Wilsonian Americans accepted that their views had to be put on hold to contain the Soviet Union. The critical world being “hold.” During the Cold War, Wilsonian ideas never died out, they were just repressed while there was a great threat to the whole world order. I believe much the same thing is happening today, just with China, Russia, and the Middle East.
In conclusion, I disagree with the essay’s claim that Wilsonianism is coming to an end. It may have hit a speed bump that will impair its progress for the duration of another Cold War, this time with China and other dictatorships, but it will not die out. I agree with Mead’s claim that social media and technological advancement are both double-edged swords, but that does not inherently contradict Wilsonianism. Not all technological advancement must be a good, only some, slightly more than half, for technological advancement to be a net good.