Today is Election Day, and the threat of far right extremist violence looms over polling places around the country, as election workers may the targeted of conspiracy theory driven attacks.
Democracy is supposed to "replace" violence as a means of social change ("ballots instead of bullets") but in a nation armed to the teeth and seething with anger, resentment, and hatred of opponents; with demagogic leaders stirring that anger to a boiling point (in their own lust for power); with people swimming in a sea of lies and misinformation so foul it's hard to know what's factual reality (or even believe there is a factual reality); and with the power of social media to amplify lies and fears into a cyclone of confusion and raw emotion - well, it's not surprising to see armed pseudo-citizen militias out in the streets.
And then immediately the "stop the steal" will return as every Republican claims victory Tuesday night even while half the votes (early votes, mail-ins, etc) are yet to be counted. And if a Republican loses, then it was "rigged" and we'll see little Jan.6s all over the place.
W.B.Yeats's poem "The Second Coming" has never been more timely:
"Things fall apart / the centre cannot hold / the best lack all conviction while / the worst are full of passionate intensity."
These are bad days for democracy, and good days for the rise of neo-fascism. That dark history of lies and hatred and violence is surely coming around again, right out in the open, with flags flying and guns at the ready.
I don't think this is what the Founding Fathers intended.
We're living in an Age of Delusion, an Age of Rage. This will not end well.
I think substack sites like your Radical Reports (and my Neo-Fascism: A Warning) will be very busy (and much needed) for the next two years. We'll find out if the pen (keyboard) is mightier than the sword.
Sorry for the long rant; but the stakes are so high.
Democracy is supposed to "replace" violence as a means of social change ("ballots instead of bullets") but in a nation armed to the teeth and seething with anger, resentment, and hatred of opponents; with demagogic leaders stirring that anger to a boiling point (in their own lust for power); with people swimming in a sea of lies and misinformation so foul it's hard to know what's factual reality (or even believe there is a factual reality); and with the power of social media to amplify lies and fears into a cyclone of confusion and raw emotion - well, it's not surprising to see armed pseudo-citizen militias out in the streets.
And then immediately the "stop the steal" will return as every Republican claims victory Tuesday night even while half the votes (early votes, mail-ins, etc) are yet to be counted. And if a Republican loses, then it was "rigged" and we'll see little Jan.6s all over the place.
W.B.Yeats's poem "The Second Coming" has never been more timely:
"Things fall apart / the centre cannot hold / the best lack all conviction while / the worst are full of passionate intensity."
These are bad days for democracy, and good days for the rise of neo-fascism. That dark history of lies and hatred and violence is surely coming around again, right out in the open, with flags flying and guns at the ready.
I don't think this is what the Founding Fathers intended.
We're living in an Age of Delusion, an Age of Rage. This will not end well.
I think substack sites like your Radical Reports (and my Neo-Fascism: A Warning) will be very busy (and much needed) for the next two years. We'll find out if the pen (keyboard) is mightier than the sword.
Sorry for the long rant; but the stakes are so high.