- cross-posted to:
- politics@beehaw.org
- cross-posted to:
- politics@beehaw.org
In fighting Trump’s assaults on democracy, I speak from experience. As the first governor to come out against his Muslim ban, one of the most vocal in speaking out against his Covid negligence, and telling him to his face to stop tweeting and start protecting our children, earning me the honor of being called a “snake”, I know standing up brings the heat. So be it.
But my more important experience is decades watching a courageous citizenry force its federal government to change course. In the 50s and 60s, the government was forced to change, thanks in large part to a woman refusing to sit in the back of the bus. In the 70s, the Vietnam war ended only because thousands marched, including myself, proving the ability of committed people, though unelected, to compel change. In the 80s it was private citizens who forced the federal government to start treating HIV patients like humans.
In each of these decades, small acts of defiance led to national change as courage rippled outwards. The benefit of having lived these decades during the American experiment is learning that leaders in civil society who resist should be exalted, joined, and followed.
Those who believe that this call to action is an overstatement of the threat understand neither the nature of the tyrant-in-chief nor the slow but inexorable nature of how democracies are lost. I witnessed Trump’s cruelty and lack of empathy as I dealt with him during the Covid pandemic, as he willfully withheld help and then consciously spread misinformation that caused so many needless deaths. Anyone who saw this up close would make the call for resistance I am making today. How can anyone not understand that the refusal to follow the law on January 6 continues in full force today? Why would it stop unless it is made to stop?
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Because the only people that are going to be straight up killed are minorities.
Because rents due on the first and the homeless are treated worse than rioters or protestors.
It is because most of them are not being affected by it, at least not yet, especially the ones with resources to do things.
Very recently several people and I had a conversation with someone we have known via a shared common interest space online. The guy has a decent tech job, lives in a nice apartment, and is 10 minutes from his office in downtown Seattle, and is always discussing, and showing, the new camera equipment he is experimenting with, the new computers/pc components he is playing with, and the expensive software suites he uses for his hobbies.
This conversation started because he disclosed that he truly, actually, honestly, did not believe that anyone in the west gave a shit about the genocide in Palestine, and that it was all just social points. This kicked off a long talk about he truly does not understand activism, he doesn’t believe that grass-roots social movements exist, outside of being a way to earn social points, and does not believe that people can empathize with people they have never met. He openly said he doesn’t care about what is happening because it doesn’t really affect him, the worst that will happen is his hobbies will get more expensive until trump leaves office. Not only this, discussed that that was the general consensus among his peers. He even provided anonymized group chat, text, etc. screen shots to prove it wasn’t just him projecting onto the people around him. Everyone in this guy’s life, at least publicly, professed these same feelings.
He represents a large swath of the middle class. They are comfortable, can not relate to anyone they don’t know, in any real way, and are not, or are only superficially, affected by this stuff. This leads them to believe everyone else is the same. He, and it appears everyone he knows, never once considered anyone actually gives a shit about any of this, and those affected are just fall in the margin where people get hurt by change, and there will always be that margin. The example given was a should he be freaking out about getting shot because a margin of people in the US do, no of course he shouldn’t. He also does not understand how this can become something that affects him, like he intellectually realizes if something happens, it can be anyone, but he is not able to actually believe this stuff could actually happen to him. This is why populations sleep on tyranny until it is too late. A huge portion of them are unable to look at what is happening to other people, and apply that possibility to themselves. So they have to be stomped by the boot, before they realize they need to resist getting stepped on by it.
If you look at this from his point of view, he likely thinks that no one that doesn’t know him, could possibly care about his well being.
He may not say it directly, but this is his world view. Unless you know someone who is or are directly affected by something; how can you care about it!
I would even say that it is “normal”; humans evolved in tribal societies. A few hundred people to maybe a few thousand. Our brains are really not wired to care about billions of people.
I find it hard; how do I empathize with someone I have never met, but also will never meet? I have probably got a lot in common with them, but I will never be able to know what. It does hit home when it is kids being effected though, the loss of innocence and the potential missed is terrible.
Don’t judge too harshly; it is always easier for most to act locally rather than globally. That acting however requires a drive of some sort.
Is he white? Being white also shields a lot of people from this stuff. Although, as a personal antidote, we had a driver from East Africa and he was super MAGA. He had even won a lottery to get here. Interesting conversation.
I was like your friend when I was young as well. It’s super easy to stick your head in the sand.
He is white, but queer. It isn’t only people of wealth privilege that fall into this. I think it may be the majority that don’t understand this type of threat assessment. The cabbie got here, he won the lottery, his life is likely a lot better, in a lot of ways, and none of this has impacted him, or anyone he really cares about, at least not yet. I bring up the middle class because their resources are crucial to making change happen.
Billionaire class owns the media, fascist policies always benefit the rich. It’s not complicated. 50501 is constantly getting 100s of thousands of people protesting in unison across the whole country.
The people want this to stop, the media refuses to cover it any other way than horse race politics, or elevating wedge issues. Been this way since the whiskey rebellion.
Well, one reason is they don’t know about things because shit-fucking mods remove anything progressive.
I looked at your mod history. What you’re saying isn’t “progressive,” but a call for a violence.
What exactly do you think will solve the current situation other than violence? Is it okay if the state uses violence to deport innocent people, but then it’s wrong to use violence to defend them?
Just hypothetically.
You seem to be expressing a general call to violence, not specifically protecting an immigrant family. They are very different.
I live in Washington State where Jay Inslee was governor. He also ran for president. He’s not super charismatic with his voice, and although his work was boring, he did a great job.
I think his legacy and main win was focusing (or trying to) on making climate change a valid political angle without being a Green.
“The major problem—one of the major problems, for there are several—one of the many major problems with governing people is that of whom you get to do it; or rather of who manages to get people to let them do it to them. To summarize: it is a well-known fact that those people who must want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it. To summarize the summary: anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.”
-Douglas Adams
Ahhh Dougie, always reminding us that we are fucked entirely.
I’m not sleeping! Who can sleep? In this economy?
Sleep costs money in the US.
Removed by mod
