Morning, Threaders, Threadheads, and all in between.
Black coffee.
Privilege won’t save you.
I have been looking at a sort of trend that’s showing up. I will call it the scorched earth trend. Basically, let TFG go wild; let him do everything he wants, appoint anyone he wants; enact any crazy measure he wants without obstruction or opposition of any kind. Let it all burn. Really? If you think this way you must be extremely privileged.
What is to come will affect everyone, no matter how privileged. Granted some do have the means to weather the storm at first but their lives will be impacted as well and very few of them will truly benefit from the misery that is to come. This scorched earth strategy is built on the massive suffering of others and in many, many cases on the loss of their livelihoods and even their lives. We can’t just let it happen. Enough damage will be done even with opposition.
If we do nothing and let the madness expand unchecked and unopposed the replacement of the fact based reality by this new fact free one will be complete. We will surrender to the crazy instead of trying to restore rationality. Plus we will start believing the only way out is to become even crazier than they are; that’s what wishing for scorched earth is. Craziness. Some will tell you we are already there and there’s nothing else we can do about it. Wrong.
We won’t have to wait very long to see how things are going. In two years time there will be midterm elections. Other elections will happen for open positions at the local and federal level. They are counting on you to check out and don’t even bother to show up. And just like that, without burning the Constitution or revoking the right to vote, they will remain in power from now on; because even before they try to end elections you will end them yourselves. Don’t check out.
We need time to deal with this. Each of us in their own ways. We also need to allow each one the space and time they need to do that. If they tell you to step back and leave them alone you better do that. Don’t go waving a blue bracelet on their faces to prove you’re “a good one”. If you are a good one they will know. They will know because you give them space and respect their feelings. Don’t turn into a new version of “fuck your feelings”. Be respectful.
Don’t wish them harm to validate your point either because soon enough you will find out that they are throwing the baby, the bath water, the tub and the whole bathroom away. They will not deport only the “bad apples”, like we had the chance to do and chose not to. They are deporting all the apples. Including the ones you like or love and the ones who worked for you and put food on your table. Denaturalization is on the table, thriends. Hell, everything is.
I was born in Portugal; hardly a country that will show on any “unwanted” or “unwelcomed” list of people facing the risk of losing their citizenship, but when things get bad enough that dissent is enough to get you on that list it won’t matter I was not born in South America or the Middle East. I will just be another fruit gone bad to them. That’s what happens when we fail to remove just the bad apples. All apples turn bad.
And the minute the first bad pineapple shows up pineapples bad. All pineapples. And if you think you’re safe because you’re a banana wait until the first bad banana shows up. Yup, bananas bad. It won’t matter who you are. We are witnessing the product of generalization. What demonizing whole portions of our society means. What not being able to communicate nuanced messages means. Most of us cannot understand the complexity of this world.
That was what ultimately cost us this election. It’s not that hate is acceptable for millions of people but that love seems to be too selective. We have forgotten love is unconditional. We too ended up in a place where our love for others depends on who the others are and when that happens we open the door for discrimination ourselves. Discrimination is not a targeted phenomenon it’s a generalized one. It’s hard not to fall for that trap. But we have to.
Somehow we must not fall into the reverse attribute tendency and ourselves become infected by this notion everyone wearing a blue bracelet is real good and everyone wearing a camo hat is real bad. I can’t help to think that’s the root of the hate behind antisemitism and why it extends to all other hatred. I am not talking about bad apples only, good apples too. We can’t assume all apples are good just because they are apples either. That’s what got us here in the first place.
In the end action is all that matters. What you do is what matters. You’re not eco friendly because of the car you drive and driving a Prius does not automatically makes you better than those who drive a truck. Virtue signaling has become the real identity politics and we need to break away from it. It’s what you do, not what you signal. And please don’t align ignorance with stupidity as a general attribute either.
Do I think people with the ability to look for facts and don’t are stupid? Absolutely. Do I loathe college students who fall for brainwashing without questions? Yes, I do. But remember they are a very small minority. Their “protest vote” didn’t get us here. The ignorant vote did, along with those ignorant enough not to vote at all. Are there lots of racist, misogynistic people out there? Of course there are. Are they enough to keep us down? No. They depend on the ignorance of others.
I know righf now it feels like allowing the scorching of the earth may seem like a plan but it’s a shitty plan. A inhumane plan. I refuse to stand on a pile of bodies to feel vindicated. Some of my friends will be among them. The answer to evil cannot become evil itself. The reason why civilization didn’t end yet is not because we allowed everything to be burnt to the ground but because we refused to allow that to happen.
Please don’t stop believing. Do not lose hope. Do not turn off the light yourself. Do not check out. Take your time to deal with this pain, find your way out but know this: you need to come back. You can’t give away what they want to take. Make them try and take it. Make it hard. Resist. They won’t need to end elections if you stop voting. They won’t need to silence you if you stop speaking. Hold on to each other. Give each other hope. We’re in this together; when it’s really bad.
That’s when it matters most. Know this is not the end. It’s the beginning. Expect things to get worse but don’t give up. Staying engaged was always the plan. Stick to it. It was never going to be easy and it’s a bitch that it has to be this hard but if you give up without a fight, if you become silent, if you turn off the light yourself then it will really be over. Breathe. You are not alone. Restore your strength. We need each other. We need you.
Stay.
