I stayed up late last night watching a movie. Near the end a friend called and we talked a long time. Nothing important but sometimes we shake the tree just to see what comes down. With Covid spreading faster than ever and social distance even more necessary, those impromptu conversations fill a large void.
The vaccine roll out has not been the solution we hoped for. Even in favorable circumstances, bureaucracy barely moves at all. I’ve been living in a virtual bubble. Close proximity to people, especially strangers and I get alarm bells and red flags. With the political turmoil of the past two months the coronavirus hoax has pretty much lost its legs. Redneck radicals and Trump addicts still refuse to wear masks and distance but the myth has lost its allure. It’s not a hoax, it’s real!
Last night we considered the process of how to reengage in public life. Rationalizing on the phone is easy but after nearly a year of fear and caution, proximity with people is unsettling. I understand that everything we do involves a calculated risk. Still, 375,000 American fatalities in the past ten months is too much to disregard. They are mostly old, mostly people of color, but when you start out in one of those categories it changes the math. When the time comes, my fight/flight reaction should take pause, I’ll be able to shrug and give some time to weighing the odds. But I sense it will still be a brave new world.
It’s been a week since the president’s failed coup attempt. I wrote about it here but it got so cumbersome I couldn’t manage it so I started over. It is so easy, so natural to dump on him and his moral shortfalls. But none of his ‘Mob-ocracy’ surprises me. The man’s way of having his way is an insult to everything I have learned to value. Being President of a democracy was not what he really wanted. He wanted to be King of an American monarchy. Who after all tells the king, “No, you can’t do that!” It begs the question; What good is power if you don’t destroy your enemies? I think that’s why he so admires Vladimir Putin who is above the law in Russia, who literally can and does murder his critics.
At first I thought Trump was the cause but I think he’s more a symptom of a deeper wound. In the the last 30-40 years, wide spread resentment has been fermenting over the way cultural diversity undermines ‘White Privilege’. When a class of people who are accustomed to privilege; in housing, in banking, in the courts & law enforcement, in education and employment, (White people) when they have to concede to equality, “. . . and justice for all.” they feel like they are being punished. Systemically integrated into every institution, “MAGA” has never been about Trump but he is certainly its symbol. His appeal is to a disillusioned, white, working class who feel like their American Dream is slipping away. That dream is rooted in ‘White Privilege’. Now he is milking that tit for all it’s worth. In that moment when he put himself above the responsibility of his office, his followers went along as if privilege is a right and that tyranny is honorable.
Before hanging up, my friend and I rehashed conspiracy theory and critical thinking. The idea that a small group of elitists manipulates the culture is readily consumed by people whose sense of ‘Fact vs. Fiction’ is narrow and limited. The doctrines of ‘Fake News’ and ‘Drain the swamp’ provide a comfortable handle for those who prefer a biased anchor to an unbridled compass. Those wannabe leaders (Cruz, Hawley, et. al.) who are attacking ‘elitists’ are themselves, from elite, rich families. They attended prestigious universities and enjoy luxurious life styles. Like Trump, they manipulate and exploit the same working class they pretend to serve. I’ve rambled more than I wanted to. I’ll stop.
The vaccine roll out has not been the solution we hoped for. Even in favorable circumstances, bureaucracy barely moves at all. I’ve been living in a virtual bubble. Close proximity to people, especially strangers and I get alarm bells and red flags. With the political turmoil of the past two months the coronavirus hoax has pretty much lost its legs. Redneck radicals and Trump addicts still refuse to wear masks and distance but the myth has lost its allure. It’s not a hoax, it’s real!
Last night we considered the process of how to reengage in public life. Rationalizing on the phone is easy but after nearly a year of fear and caution, proximity with people is unsettling. I understand that everything we do involves a calculated risk. Still, 375,000 American fatalities in the past ten months is too much to disregard. They are mostly old, mostly people of color, but when you start out in one of those categories it changes the math. When the time comes, my fight/flight reaction should take pause, I’ll be able to shrug and give some time to weighing the odds. But I sense it will still be a brave new world.
It’s been a week since the president’s failed coup attempt. I wrote about it here but it got so cumbersome I couldn’t manage it so I started over. It is so easy, so natural to dump on him and his moral shortfalls. But none of his ‘Mob-ocracy’ surprises me. The man’s way of having his way is an insult to everything I have learned to value. Being President of a democracy was not what he really wanted. He wanted to be King of an American monarchy. Who after all tells the king, “No, you can’t do that!” It begs the question; What good is power if you don’t destroy your enemies? I think that’s why he so admires Vladimir Putin who is above the law in Russia, who literally can and does murder his critics.
At first I thought Trump was the cause but I think he’s more a symptom of a deeper wound. In the the last 30-40 years, wide spread resentment has been fermenting over the way cultural diversity undermines ‘White Privilege’. When a class of people who are accustomed to privilege; in housing, in banking, in the courts & law enforcement, in education and employment, (White people) when they have to concede to equality, “. . . and justice for all.” they feel like they are being punished. Systemically integrated into every institution, “MAGA” has never been about Trump but he is certainly its symbol. His appeal is to a disillusioned, white, working class who feel like their American Dream is slipping away. That dream is rooted in ‘White Privilege’. Now he is milking that tit for all it’s worth. In that moment when he put himself above the responsibility of his office, his followers went along as if privilege is a right and that tyranny is honorable.
Before hanging up, my friend and I rehashed conspiracy theory and critical thinking. The idea that a small group of elitists manipulates the culture is readily consumed by people whose sense of ‘Fact vs. Fiction’ is narrow and limited. The doctrines of ‘Fake News’ and ‘Drain the swamp’ provide a comfortable handle for those who prefer a biased anchor to an unbridled compass. Those wannabe leaders (Cruz, Hawley, et. al.) who are attacking ‘elitists’ are themselves, from elite, rich families. They attended prestigious universities and enjoy luxurious life styles. Like Trump, they manipulate and exploit the same working class they pretend to serve. I’ve rambled more than I wanted to. I’ll stop.
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