Will the US collapse like the Soviet Union?

“You are next,” a Russian historian I interviewed told me in 1993 about the collapse of the Soviet Union in late 1991. I was an American student in St. Petersburg, and he meant the United States.

His argument was based on a pseudo-scientific demographic theory that would later find a foothold in the Kremlin, but what struck me even more at the time was the hopefulness with which he said it.

If the man is still alive, he must be content now. The current American withdrawal from engagements around the world - from undermining USAID to abandoning European allies - represents a surrender of power that can only be compared in recent history to Mikhail Gorbachev's unilateral withdrawals from Afghanistan, Eastern Europe and other areas between 1988 and 1991 - just before the collapse of the Soviet Union.

With both changes in foreign policy, we cannot ignore the profound changes in the ideological foundations of both states.

Destabilization of major symbols

Gorbachev justified his “restructuring,” or perestroika, by referring to the founder of the Soviet Union, Vladimir Lenin. However, he did so by emphasizing that the historical Lenin pragmatically adapted policies to circumstances. In doing so, he called into question the mythological Lenin—the infallible hero whose virtues were not to be questioned.

Russian-American anthropologist Alexei Yurchak claims that Lenin was the "main symbol" of the Soviet system.

As long as his sanctity remained unquestioned, invoking Lenin could legitimize a range of policies and actions. However, viewing Lenin through the prism of history brought his sanctity into question. As a result, Soviet citizens could no longer agree on which policies and actions were legitimate. This crisis of meaning allowed chronic political, economic, and social problems to suddenly become devastating.

The main American symbol is the Constitution, solemnly enshrined in Washington, D.C., much like Lenin’s body in Moscow. But under President Donald Trump, violations of the Constitution have become commonplace, and the legislative branch of the federal government has shown little willingness to protect its powers from executive usurpation. As with Lenin under Gorbachev, the sacred center of the American political system appears to be destabilized.

The Constitution, as a written contract, is easier to interpret than the thoughts of a dead man. But Lenin's advantage was that he could embody the qualities that were considered virtues in the Soviet system. Where could Americans look for a similar source of moral guidance?

For most of American history, it was George Washington - the first president to swear to uphold the Constitution.

America George Washington

As a hero of the Revolutionary War, George Washington could have become king.

American army officers, frustrated by the weakness of the central government after the Confederate War, considered a coup. Washington - the commander-in-chief of the army - could lead the overthrow (as Oliver Cromwell or Napoleon Bonaparte had done).

Washington refused, and after the British capitulation in 1783, he turned command over to Congress.

In 1789, after the Constitution was ratified as a legal solution to the Confederate problem, Washington was unanimously elected president. However, after two terms, he declined offers to run for a third.

He often emphasized the importance of habit in human affairs and concluded that if he held on to power, Americans might not become accustomed to a peaceful and orderly change of government. In retirement, he transferred much of the respect he had gained to the Constitution.

Remembering Washington

Washington's birthday is February 22nd, and Americans began celebrating it while he was still alive. The U.S. Congress declared the day a federal holiday in 1879, an opportunity to celebrate the examples of selfless public service and respect for the rule of law that the "Father of the Nation" embodied.

That was the case until 1971.

That year, the Monday Holidays Act went into effect. Passed in 1968 at the initiative of the business lobby, which saw three-day weekends as an opportunity to increase sales, the law moved the celebration of Washington's Birthday to the third Monday in February.

Since many states also celebrated Abraham Lincoln's birthday, and the new date fell between his and Washington's, some began calling it “Presidents' Day.” When national advertisers and calendar manufacturers adopted the name in the 1980s, it began to feel official.

The name change, of course, undermined the holiday's connection to Washington, and if it remained more than a shopping day, it became associated with all presidents, essentially rendering it meaningless. Although the holiday's official name is still "Washington's Birthday," few Americans know that.

The dangers of mythologizing

This change coincided with a wave of revisionist historiography suggesting that Washington - as a slave owner - was not perfect.

All historiography is revisionist in the sense that historians revise existing interpretations in light of new evidence. However, for those who wanted an unblemished idol, it seemed that Washington no longer met that criterion or that historical facts needed to be adjusted.

Since then, historical assessments have often been lost in culture wars, in which neither side could accept a real person with virtues and flaws.

In the Soviet Union, however, it was difficult for most citizens to think historically about Lenin because, under the dictatorship, open public debate based on factual information about him was not possible.

Dictatorship depends on mythological thinking that worships heroes and does not present contradictions between official statements and reality.

In the early 1990s, the Russians failed to establish the rule of law for a similar reason: they could not overcome the habit of mythologizing, which led them to prioritize personalities over politics.

The first person they elected as president of independent Russia - Boris Yeltsin - did not have Washington's respect for the rule of law.

Losing sight of Washington

Thanks to Washington, the US had a better start.

However, by abandoning the broad commemoration of his historically exceptional respect for the rule of law, Americans have lost the opportunity to practice historical thinking in the public sphere.

Not only has mythological thinking prevailed, but it is now even possible for a president to act like a monarch and emulate Napoleon, as Donald Trump does.

The Constitution - America's chief symbol - has lost its power to unite citizens around a shared sense of meaning.

Will George Washington's country be next?

The author is an associate professor of history at McGill University.

theconversation.com

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