DEMOCRACY AS WE KNOW IT
I was listening to MSNBC when Timothy Snyder, a history professor at Yale, was talking about how German society was stolen by the Nazis. The German narrative in the 1930’s should have been about how the county was economically coming back from WWI when it was highjacked by Hitler and his crony Nazis using the fear of returning to the depression of the 1920s. The same thing is currently happening in America. The country should be celebrating the rebound from the pandemic and the positive economy we are all now experiencing. Like Hitler, Trump is a mesmerizer. Because his MAGA base is so enthralled with him lies cannot be seen for what they are, plus, as Dilbert Cartoonist Scott Adams once said “Never underestimate the stupidity of the general public,” the MAGA base is so uninformed that they wouldn’t know a Trump lie from a Lincoln truth.
Since anyone born in the U.S. has never lived under any other political system than representative Democracy, it’s hard to understand how some people can be so caviler about losing it. They don’t understand that their individual voice would be lost and they would be subjected to a form of social slavery where their opinion would never again matter.
Now, I thought that the mass majority of American voters saw Trump for what he is and wanted nothing to do with him. It’s the same vibe that beat him in 2020. But what’s unnerving is the fact that here are so many people that believe the economy is terrible simply because Trump says it is. These people think that the growing economy, high employment, low unemployment, and falling inflation is all a lie created by left-wing elitists.
Living where we do it’s frustrating that our voices can’t reach more people in middle America. But as Snyder said we have to work on the small stuff. Talk the truth to small groups and individuals; write meaningful letters to the editor of your local newspapers, knock on doors and put time into Democratic Club phone banks. Although I thought that Trump didn’t have a snowballs chance in hell of winning, just look what’s happening to America and the only political system most of us have ever known. If that doesn’t scares the bajebbers out of you welcome to the world of MAGA.
That said, American democracy is very resilient. We have survived many challenges like the McCarthy communist witch hunts and FDR’s semi-authoritarian New Deal administration and even trumps first term. With the mass demonstrations now happening in response to Trump’s slash and burn even if the courts turn-tail on our rule of law and balance of power systems, there’s always people’s response with pitchforks and torches. The problem with a free society is when people see themselves as free, they won’t accept any other way. Ultimately, the system will survive even if we must get rid of the people who now run it including the Supreme Court.