If you’ve read any of my most recent posts, you will know that I take a very bleak view upon our current political and social circumstances. Our country is more fractious, more partisan and divided than at any point in its history since 1865. This has transcended mere arguments over policies and ventured into differences in how we perceive reality and determine what is true and false. I was somewhat ironic in my last post where I spoke about dystopian societies in literature and pointed out similarities with our current situation, but the topic is nowhere approaching funny. I do not feel like I’m being hyperbolic when I say: this is how democracies die. When a nation is split so completely that we can’t even agree on what is real or not, we are only one step away from social and philosophical pogroms. We are a hair’s breadth from revolution. And historically, revolutions in democracies tend to lead to autocracies of some sort.
So, ‘Mr. Aspiring Grimdark Novelist’, is there no hope? Or do you see our nation as inevitably doomed?
No, I do not, but if we want to stem this trend of divisiveness and tribalism, we need to start having serious discussions within our own social and political communities. I think there’s a lot of things we can do, but we need to recognize that there’s no easy way through this, for anyone.
First, Republicans and Conservatives of all stripes: Donald Trump and nearly all of the current sitting Senators and Representatives are not your saviors. They’re not even really your advocates and representatives. They only ensure that your point of view will eventually be lost amidst the tumult of political upheaval. Putting ideologies aside, every step they’ve taken in the last five months is harming you. Trump and his Congress promised prosperity for his followers and the middle class in general; instead they are striping away protections that ensure your prosperity and well-being and is funneling money to his allies in business and politics.
You will never see the benefits of his largess towards the rich and the already prosperous elite he truly represents. He promised to drain the swamp in Washington only to turn it into a lake of corruption and misinformation. He is not the man he said he would be. He has lied and continues to lie to you every day. He is a dangerous, undisciplined and wholly ignorant man who does not feel humility and therefore is unwilling and incapable of learning and growing as a leader. The man is a fool and fools lead followers into massacres.
Your one and only job right now Conservatives is to listen and learn to the world and country around you. Broaden your spectrum of information and experience. Forget party rhetoric and watch what is occurring. Think about what is actually happening in the world. Ignore partisan commentary and focus on events and statements. What happened? What did they say would happen? If you are told one thing and another thing purposefully occurs, then you have been mislead and misrepresented. Act on that; make your voice heard and if it continues to be ignored, find someone who will not ignore you. The Justice Democrats have emerged on the left in response to conflicts and inadequacies in the Democratic Party (which I’m about to address) but the Republicans need the same new blood, new voices and (especially) new ears to listen and to represent.
Finally, Conservatives, ask yourself: does stripping away health care for the elderly, the poor, and the disabled and forwarding that money to the richest Americans make for a better country? Does purposefully alienating our allies in the world, while simultaneously spurring our opponents in the Middle East and Asia make us a safer country? Does vilifying and ostracizing the free press, a guaranteed part of our democracy ensure that you are a more or less educated citizen?
We do not live in a kleptocracy or corporatocracy. Governments that purposefully take prosperity from the people and subjugate them historically meet sticky ends. Our military protects more than our business interests, it protects the people of the United States; so should the rest of the government. Equally, while we should always be concerned with what is best for America, we cannot ignore our responsibility as a leader in the global community. We don’t need to police everyone, but we should be willing to defend those who are in need and who ask and we must be willing to sacrifice to ensure our continued well-being; by that, I’m referring to climate change. It exists and we have an impact on it. There is no debating that. Debate how to protect the environment and not wreck our economy if you’d like (that should be the current debate), but the science is correct and definitive; ignoring it is foolish and short-sighted. Finally, our forefathers recognized that the greatest weapon against – and protection from – tyranny is information. The press is an integral part of that and decrying the press because the information does not favor you is tyranny by definition.
The Founding Fathers, having experienced tyranny that could lead one to be imprisoned for speaking one’s mind, wanted to ensure freedom for an array of voices in the marketplace of ideas.
“Freedom of speech is a principal pillar of a free government; when this support is taken away, the constitution of a free society is dissolved, and tyranny is erected on its ruins,” Benjamin Franklin wrote.
George Washington added: “If men are to be precluded from offering their sentiments on a matter … reason is of no use to us; the freedom of speech may be taken away, and dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep, to the slaughter.”
The Trump Administration has told you to listen only to itself and its approved media outlets, like Breitbart and Fox News and to distrust all other sources of news. I will not ask you to believe all of the other news; indeed, I say distrust all news on its face. Be a self-motivated and enthusiastic investigator of information. Adsorb multiple resources and then think critically about what you are presented. Does it match what you can actually see and hear? Is it the opposite of what you believe it is? Question everything.
That is your duty as a citizen and as an American and for a political party that touts how patriotic it is and how much they love the Constitution, it is time to start practicing the patriotic ideals our Forefathers laid bare in that Constitution.
Now Democrats…
It would be comforting to think that the only people to blame for Trump were his supporters. However, these people voted for him for a very good reason, albeit one that time has proven to be a total fabrication on his part: he listened to what they said they need and not what he thought they needed. Of course, his every promise was a lie but the fact that they were so desperate to believe it speaks to a greater truth about the current state of America and to the failings of the Democratic Party.
We have ceased to be a party of the people. We’ve become their guardians or benefactors but are reluctant to truly listen anymore and more importantly, to represent. This is what we have failed to do over the last eight years, the reason we’ve gradually lost seat after seat in the House and the Senate, the reason we were so thoroughly abandoned in 2016. Most of our representatives in Congress act unilaterally in what they see as being in the citizenry’s best interests, but don’t stop to actually make sure that’s what they want. Or need. If we really want to regain control (and I would not advocate for complete control; its bad for a party to control everything; they lose perspective and that can doom them), we need to take the lessons from 2016 and learn from them.
First off, people are still reeling from the lender depredations from 2008. Jobs and homes were lost and lives ruined. That takes longer than eight years to correct if the damage was severe enough. So, telling everyone that life is grand and the country is doing well just as it is is a flawed message even if it was well-intentioned and patriotic. They are suffering, so being told that ‘as-it-is’ is good enough is not a palatable message.
Neither is it a good message when the people you trust to protect you are so boldly compensated by the very organizations that authored their hardship. We won’t debate the banking bailout; arguably is saved the economy but looked very much like the Democrats were letting the banks get away with a heinous crime. The lack of prosecutions certainly did not help. Therefore, we must get the corrupting influence of corporate finance and donations out of our party and prove that Democrats are not beholden to corporate interests at all, unlike the Republicans. We must do this, even if it puts us at a disadvantage to Republicans in elections. Bernie Sander ran a largely successful primary on $27 donations. Other Democrats can as well and this gives us the ability to show our dedication to representing the people, not lobbyists and companies.
Next, we need to stop being so damned elitist. Yes, the concept of voting for Trump is repellent and seems categorically against one’s own interests. But calling them ‘idiots’ or ‘fools’ or ‘deplorables’ is not going to convince them of anything. It just instantly alienates them and PROVES to them that Democrats really are not trying to help them. We must combat hate and lies with simple truths and actions. We start with commonalities and work out from there. We will not get America’s right-leaning citizens to agree with us on everything, but they have to know that we are concerned for them anyways and are willing to listen and try to reach a compromise.
We have to take the long view here and think more about improving who we are as a political movement and less about the most expeditious way to win. Let the Republicans lie, cheat and steal. Eventually people will feel the sting of their elitism and think about what we’ve been saying for so long and how we ALWAYS want to help them and then change will occur.
Speaking of change, we must not be afraid of it in our own party, even if it redefines what being a Democrat is. Regardless of your post-election feelings, Bernie Sanders was a strong advocate for Hillary after she won the primary. She lost for a number of reasons, but Bernie supporters were not a primary part of that; low voter turn out amongst minorities and disenfranchisement with an establishment candidate played larger roles. So, when the Berniecrats ask for a seat at the table and a voice, they should be embraced because Bernie and his message still resonate even now. Especially now during the Reign of Trump. We are asking America to radically change. Democrats should be the first to make those changes.
In the end, we are all Americans first, Democrats and Republicans last. We need to look past our divisions and our hot button issues and try to again find common ground and rebuke the authoritarian decisions being made by Trump and his cadre of sycophants and minions. We can discuss abortion and immigration and security far more efficiently if we can agree to all look at the facts equally and openly and discuss how best to navigate the morass we are in. But this must start now and we must be willing to go against our friends and families, if need be.
I do not think it alarmist to say that the America envisioned and enshrined by our Founders is in danger of being irrevocably revised and diminished. Trump has displayed an alarming comfort with advocating revoking First Amendment rights and taking unilateral actions using executive orders. With a Congress more concerned with being partisans than with being patriots, we may soon crown our very first King. Kings are rarely replaced with anything short of revolutions. Our Forefathers learned that well enough; too bad we seem to have forgotten it. Let us not let it get to that point again.
Rise Up. Wise Up. Eyes Up,
Sean
On The Write Path 