Blog
All of the things in chronological order.
To heal, we must remember.
Who Among Us
I wrote this song about how people in society tend to react predictably when a fascist leader gained a following (Trump in this case). It always happens like this…
1. A bunch of people will get excited about an opportunity to vent all their anger and lash out violently at scapegoats.
2. Many people will choose to see the fascist leader as a normal relatable guy and turn a blind eye to his racism and following of violent terrorists. (In Trump’s case, his following of KKK members, Neo Nazis, white terrorists, and mafioso’s.)They’ll tell you to wait until something really really bad happens to raise the alarm about the fascist leader. And every time bad things happen, they’ll tell you you’re overreacting.
3. Some people will enthusiastically cheer the destruction, even if they don’t agree with the fascist. These people wait for a make-believe future in which things get “bad enough” that everyone suddenly “wakes up” and spontaneously agrees with their own political/world view. That’s not how the world works. But it’s such an intoxicatingly simple solution. So, while they wait for “bad enough” to arrive, the most vulnerable among us get mowed down.
4. And a whole whole lot of people will convince themselves they can sit on the sidelines and avoid all the drama and say nonsense like “both sides are bad”, insisting that bad things happen within the fascist leaders group and his opposition… there’s simply no way to tell which is worse. No matter how undeniably vile the acts of the fascist become. These people will run toward the “middle ground” no matter how far that middle gets pulled to one extreme. Maybe they don’t trust their ability to ascertain what’s real and who’s right. Mostly they just want to be comfortable. And they don’t realize that their opportunity to stay safe and comfortable erodes further every day the fascist is in power.
Any one of us who falls into these rolls is enabling violence and the predation of the wealthy corrupt on everyone economically beneath them.
That’s what fascism **ALWAYS** looks like.
The way to NOT get played is to do the following: – Defend people who are getting scape-goated & publicly denounce targeting of vulnerable people.- Demand accountability and punishment for bad actors: If there are no consequences, corruption becomes the most profitable path. – GET POLITICALLY INVOLVED: You don’t have to give up your life/job and live for politics. You just have to vote in every single election. Vote even if you’re voting for people who AREN’T amazing, because the public servants you think ARE amazing absolutely can’t get shit done if all of their colleagues are insane. – Listen to Historians. What’s so enraging and saddening about this moment we’re in is that all the lesson’s we’re learning HAVE ALREADY BEEN LEARNED over and over again. And as soon as our generation absorbs the lessons we need to learn from this moment… another generation will be ready to make all the same mistakes and welcome all the same devastation. We didn’t have to see millions die to know this would turn out badly. So amplify the historians who’ve been sounding the alarm and were right all along.
Historians & Insightful People to Follow:
Sarah Kendzior
Andrea Chalupa
Ruth Ben Ghiat
Jason Stanley
Brian Klaas
Jared Yates Sexton
Day After Trump
It’s not that Hillary was colluding with Trump for an easy win. That every progressive who fought tooth and nail for her (Cory Booker, Michelle and Barack Obama, Bernie Sanders, Wendy Davis..etc) had somehow all collectively sold out on their beliefs and gone to the dark side.
The true scandal is something much older and time tested. Simply put:
It’s not easy to get people to show up to vote on public policy. Especially if that policy centers around cutting taxes for the wealthy, removing access to healthcare, and cutting services for the very poor. But it is easy to get people out to vote if you are unscrupulous enough to convince them that their neighbors are the cause of their suffering and that their champions are their enemies.
We are right to believe that there are hidden forces exerting influence in our democracy. There always will be because where there is power there will also be cronyism, rigging, and abuse. However, we have to not become so vigilant in searching for villains that we forget that history is also filled with decent but flawed public servants who are crucified by the very people they are trying to help.
Bring which revolution?
What people fail to realize about revolution is that it rarely occurs in the form of oppressed citizens rising unified behind one ideology but instead occurs as several groups rising up under different ideologies. As evidenced today, there is a white nationalist movement that is much more organized, single minded, and focused than an eclectic collection of diverse progressives.
Final Thoughts Before Election 2016
He attended a city hall meeting and sat earnestly listening, thoughtfully engaging, and encouraging those around him to see that he and other gay youth are not all that bad.
He sat through hours of the kind of shockingly hateful ignorance that shakes a person’s belief in the capacity of people to see each other as human in spite of differences.
A week later his parents were planning his funeral.
I stayed awake the night before last trying to put into words what it’s like to grow up in a society that’s convinced you are evil and that has you almost convinced as well.
Words fail me.
But if we’re hoping that things will get so bad under a Trump presidency that we’ll bring the revolution we should first do an inventory of who we’re leaving on the front lines of that hate and ask them if they’re willing to make that sacrifice.
I’m not a single issue voter. I’m not voting only because my rights as a gay person are on the line in this election. I’m also voting because American Muslims, American Mexicans, people of color, and the poor are being demonized and blamed for any struggle they face. I’m voting because stop and frisk policing puts our officers in unnecessary danger and demeans the lives of people of color. I’m voting because I love our veterans and I abhor the congress members who have blocked their access to care at every turn. I’m voting because women’s rights are human rights. I’m voting for universal healthcare, affordable college, a better economy, environmental protections, and because Trumps nihilism is not just in conflict with the Christian values I was taught as a child but they are in fact the polar opposite of those values.
I’m not a single issue voter. This is not a single issue election. But every single issue in this election, and every person it affects, is too important to walk out on.
#ImWithHer #StandUpForYourFriends #YourFriendsWillRemember
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