In 2025, we are standing at the confluence of three calamitous rivers. The first river is late postmodernism, which pop culture has fully adopted. It has undermined our belief in factual truth, replacing it with a subjective, personal “truth,” invented at one’s pleasure. We have now lost our skills for finding factual truth, using due diligence, and the unbiased examination of the evidence. The science field is the last bastion of hope.

The second calamitous river is the man, Donald Trump. He is a one-in-a-generation swindler with the uncanny ability to seduce people and hold them with their incredible devotion, speaking to them in the only language he knows, lies. A man with no internal moral compass, who would sell the batteries to his grandmother’s pacemaker for a dollar. His only goal and narcissists only have one goal, cultivating devotion and enriching and empowering themselves. Make America Great Again, is code for “Make Me and My Family Great . . . and Rich.”

Trump is like a Trojan Horse, wood for a brain and a belly full of white supremacists, billionaires, and Christian Nationalists, (who skipped the part in the Bible where Jesus told Peter to put down his sword as his kingdom is not of this world). What could go wrong?

The last of the three calamitous rivers is the Internet and social media; where any crackpot has a platform for spewing their hate, half-truths, and lies. Mark Twain said, “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes.” But now, lies travel around the world multiple times and at the speed of light, multiplying, while the truth is still in bed. The mantra, is “I know it because I saw it on the Internet.”

But we must not despair. There is a way out.

I’m sure you are even better versed than me in the political, social, and religious responses to our present predicament. If not, I have left references to those who are, such as Heather Cox Richardson. My view and knowledge are in the philosophical realm specifically in epistemology. It is the calamitous river of late postmodernism that I will address.

I hope I have made the case that while the philosophical might sound theoretical, it is practical and essential for a healthier culture. People can choose to recognize that their thinking is influenced by these fads, and exercise freedom or to ignore the philosophical influences and be enslaved by them.

People can choose to recognize that their thinking is influenced by these fads, and exercise freedom or to ignore the philosophical influences and be enslaved by them.

I must be clear that this is not about politics or policies. I favor reducing the size of the government, or raising taxes, as we are in an unsustainable financial place. I also consider it reasonable for a sovereign nation to have secure borders and a quota for how many immigrants they allow in. I have criticisms of the Biden administration and the Democratic party. What I oppose and consider dangerous with Trump and MAGA is lying. Calling USAID employees and immigrants deranged criminals is absurd. The USAID did not purchase condoms for Hamas, and Biden’s FEMA did not put immigrants in luxury hotels. The drip of constant lies destroys a culture.

I will start with practical applications for how we deal with the present times. Then, for those interested, I want to write a philosophical discussion of where we are at the end of Postmodernism.

Practical Applications

About Truth

1. Return to the acknowledgment that factual and absolute truths exist, and we should pursue those truths. While we can never reach 100% certitude, we can know things with a high probability. Not all opinions are the same. An evidence-based opinion is not arrogance.
2. We must make the pursuit of truth our highest calling, not just buttressing our personal beliefs. Many truths contradict what we want to believe. Listen to all perspectives, then collect evidence before reaching a conclusion.
3. Truth is not subjective. Our personal feelings are not evidence that will help us find the truth. Evidence is objective.
4. Carl Sagan said, “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.” The fact that a politician or pundit says something, doesn’t make it true. The data to support or dispute any claim is usually available in the public record. Unusual claims (stolen elections) require huge amounts of evidence. Personal testimonies are subjective and unreliable.
5. Whenever we hear a questionable story, in person or in the media, our mantra should always be, “Where’s the evidence?”
6. We need to return our respect for the expert. It only makes sense when a smart person has studied a topic their entire life; they know far more than the novice. The novice competes with the expert by lying about the motives of the expert. For example, the populace is told the medical establishment is corrupt and just out to make money, so the novice sells you MLM supplements that are claimed, but have no evidence, of curing all your ailments. Trump has filled his administration with unqualified novices, who are devoted to Trump and his pathological lying.

Specifically About America’s Dilemma

1. Don’t over-expose yourself to the news. A recap of the daily news, once per day, is enough. (I am bad at this). Don’t let these people live inside your head.
2. If you are a Christian, remember the Bible is silent about abortion, drag shows, and transexuals (and yes, they did exist at the time the Bible was written), but speaks loudly about truth and the danger and sin of lying. The liar is the enemy of God, not the drag queen. Jesus was also clear that his kingdom was not political. If you want to hate transexuals, gays, illegal immigrants, people who have had abortions, scientists, that’s on you. Don’t bring God into it.
3. Enjoy your life, your friends, and your family. Even if American democracy fails, it is not the end of the world. Most people of the world live and have lived under tyrants. It would be profoundly sad if we lost this great democracy and we must resist that loss, but life goes on.
4. Remember Donald Trump had only 77,284,118 votes out of 161,000,000 registered voters, and out of a population of 334,900,000 Americans. MAGA is in the minority.
5. Remember, fixing America doesn’t rest on your shoulders alone. There are many people whose job is to confront political lies (non-MAGA politicians, lawyers, judges, etc.)
6. Do not make this personal. Most people who support Trump are good people, not stupid, evil, or racist. Treat them with respect. This man (Trump) is not worth forfeiting your relationships.
7. Some people respond publicly to every questionable act of Trump, and some people (who secretly oppose what’s happening) never speak up for fear they might offend someone. There is a balance. We should always speak up for truth, justice, and love.
8. Support media that seriously pursue unbiased truth. A good journalist is doing God’s work.

A good journalist is doing God’s work.

The End of Postmodernism?

I listen to at least three or four hours of lectures every day. I have an insatiable desire to learn about the cosmos because I see it like Aquinas did, nature as the second book of God. Part of that is listening to some of the greatest philosophic minds in the world. I am encouraged that many of them also believe that late postmodernism has failed and will be rapidly replaced. The name that is emerging is Metamodernism. Metamodernism says postmodernism was correct in challenging unjust social norms but has failed to find a solution because it sacrificed basic rationality and truth. That is the good news. It is too late to save us from the age of MAGA but helpful in preventing the next wave of political and religious mischief.

I have been accused of using postmodernism as a strawman. I am sure I do. I face a dilemma in this blog. Most people have little interest in philosophical ideas and if I make the story too complex, I will quickly lose them. But I will dig deeper to be fairer to the movement by dividing postmodernism between its early and late forms.

Postmodernism developed in the 1950s-60s in America, earlier in Europe. The first phase was deconstruction. In the same way that Socrates (as recorded by Plato) challenged the social mores of Athens, deconstruction challenged the way American culture thought. For example, white males had the highest positions in society from football team quarterbacks to CEOs, to presidents, to chefs, and pilots, because it was believed they were better equipped for those positions. Early postmodernism challenged that notion and suggested it was simply social bias, not founded in reality. But over time, like a good fire that brings light but then spreads and burns down the house, it violated classical logic with notions like “synthesis.”

Philosophical Synthesis

The bedrock of logical thinking is the juxtaposition of thesis-antithesis. In math, this is represented as 2+2=4 against 2+2 ≠ 5. The level of brightness is defined against a backdrop of darkness, etc. Synthesis is an irrational idea, first formulated by the German philosopher Johann Gottlieb Fichte at the beginning of the nineteenth century, then picked up by Hegel and finally expanded by Kierkegaard into Existentialism. It tries to find a resolution by merging opposite answers, so 2+2=4 and 2+2=5 are both correct. At this juncture, truth died.

This same concept is now being expressed by postmodernist “Christian” teachers, such as Richard Rohr. I saw a pastor wearing a tee shirt that said, “Just Living a Non-Duality Life.” This term, “dual thinking,” is Rohr’s attempt to inject this same irrationality into Christian life. There is no bright vs dark, no truth vs lies, etc. His goal is harmony, but without factual truth, there can be no harmony or justice.

One example of synthesis is when the Wall Street Journal called Trump’s tariffs on Canada and Mexico “The Dumbest Trade War in History,” while a Fox News host said about the tariffs, “Donald is a genius, playing four-dimension chest while the rest of us are playing checkers,” and someone saying both views are correct.

The Best Leaders are the Smartest, Not the Most Charismatic

Plato’s idea for the best government was the “Philosophical King.” This idea was the smartest, most learned person as king. Aristotle (Plato’s student) expanded the idea that the best government is led by the group of the best, smartest, and most truthful people. We now have the opposite. We are living in a Kakistocracy.

This is why I think the Trump administration will end in a catastrophe, at least one would hope. Because if it doesn’t, America will not have learned anything and the confluence of the three calamitous rivers will flow for generations of failures and the eventual collapse of America.

Respectfully, Mike