If 99% of the country suddenly turned into genuine anti-fascists and anti-totalitarians: that would still only mean that we hadn’t lost “yet”. This is not a battle that will disappear until/unless the human species evolves into a significantly improved model.
And that doesn’t mean I won’t jump up and cheer and feel massively relieved if/when Harris wins and is seated. Because every year, every day that we win is a win, yes. And because we cannot and will not win by denying joy.
If indeed 99% of us became antifa we’d need to be mildly cautious near-term and eternally vigilant long-term, rather than the current reality of being engaged in everything short of open warfare.
I too will heave a huge sigh of relief if Harris wins in Nov & another if seated in Jan.
What I and IMO we cannot do is declare, Bush style, “Mission Accomplished” when trump loses on Nov 5 or dies whenever he does.
A Republican defeat this November will form a significant tactical advantage. Look at it as a major tactical advantage in the fight, and that keeps morale up. And even, yes, joy.
“And they sang as they slew, for the joy of battle was upon them.”
“And they sang as they slew, for the joy of battle was upon them”
Singin’:
Good one!
R O L A I D S That’s how I learned to spell relief,
You also have to consider that every day that you live with high stress about Trump fascists is letting them live rent-free in your head. You’re letting them increase cortisol and other stress hormones and rob joy out of your life at no cost to them.
Saying things like “We won the election, but that doesn’t give us any happiness because we know the battle is not won, but only delayed” is giving satisfaction to Trumpers.
Really, time is against them, they are losing the demographics war. They know it too, which is why they are so hot to gerrymander everything, suppress as many votes as they can and ideally install a dictatorship that renders that moot. They aren’t going away, but holding them off for a decade or two has a good chance of seeing their power permanently greatly diminished as they become too few to hold on to their present control without a dictatorship to seal it in place.
Although I wouldn’t be surprised to see increased right wing terrorism in the future if it looks like they are relegated to a permanent minority position.
In November 2008, I enjoyed an Election Night party with friends. As it became clear Obama had won, we were discussing Tea-Party-types – White nationalists and the like. One friend exclaimed dramatically, “They’re a dying breed!” We were pretty sure – hopeful, at least – that she was right.
Little did we know that, eight, twelve, and sixteen years later (!), we would face the reality that they’re not dying fast enough, and others are still defecting to their ranks…and, saddest of all, many among their spawn are carrying forth their willful ignorance, misplaced hate, and grievance-from-privilege as they become adults.
This. the idea that Fascism goes out of style is wrong. Because adult Fascists keep birthing & raising fresh new little Fascists.
Now demography is moving against whites. Of which I am one. But as countless other countries’ history has shown us, an ethnic minority can remain in control of a titular democracy despite being barely 20% of the total.
And even that demographic decline is misleading because the rural / urban divide applies here as well. Ruralia is as vastly-majority white as ever. And will remain so for decades if not a century or two. And as long as our electoral system gives more priority to acreage than it does to headcount, that will provide plenty of grounds for a national-level ethnic minority to be the heavy majority in a majority enough of congressional / statehouse districts to rule even without skullduggery. Of which skullduggery there has been, is, and will be plenty to boot.
And converting the convertable, from outside those families.
True.
Also true that totalitarian tendencies are not, unfortunately, limited to people with white skin. The particular “others” inveighed against are likely to vary; but the underlying problem is generically human.
First reaction: ask, “Who controls Congress - especially the Senate?”
The problem is, we may not know the answer immediately, as there may be runoff elections needed.
As a non USA citizen, I will be asleep when the results are announced.
But I plan to send a mourning wreath to the White House, with a cheery “So long, sucker” message as soon as I awake.
Don’t send it to the White House. Send it to Mar-A-Lago.
Fair. I know the White House address though!
He will be stewing on his toilet on twitter in Mar a Lago, so my insignificant gesture is better redirected there.
I was wondering if you meant your message for Joe Biden.
I don’t, to be honest, know that much about Joe Biden, in that election I was more interested in “anyone but trump”.
Biden was decent. And seems to have done a good job.
Not that I am vastly engaged with US politics, although I follow threads here. Harris seems to be better than Biden from my non-expert point of view, and I think he was a national asset. She can do great things.
Thank you. I was a little apprehensive at the idea that someone hated Biden that much.
I vote for significant relief.
If Harris wins, I ramp down my activism over the next 8 years. If she loses, I ramp it up over the next 4 years. I followed this pattern after 2016 and 2020 (except I assumed a 4 year ramp down in 2020 - I thought that Trump’s phalanx of lawsuits would preclude a 2024 run, not to mention American traditions up to that point).
I’ve been mulling through contingency planning, though I’ve tried to emphasize volunteering. If Trump wins, I visit indivisible.org and try to figure out whether they are still my preferred major anti-fascist organization. Attending demonstrations is not my favorite activity, so this time around I’m bringing earbuds and music, and I’ll try to invite friends.
If Harris wins, I dunno man. We gotta do something about right wing misinformation up to and including Fox News.
Both win and lose scenarios are half-baked for now. If I’m clever enough I’ll formulate a question for this message board. Still, it mattered whether Mussolini won election to lower office in 1921 and appointment to Prime Minister in 1922. Battles matter.
ETA: Where are we now? In the past I’ve wondered what I would do if I lived in a country where one party betrayed democracy. I had the case of Chile in mind: would I ever support Pinochet’s party? The answer is, eventually you have to forgive: I figured 20 years was a reasonable span of time. In 2024, the GOP nominated a man who attempted an autocoup in 2020, with 75% support. Since we still have a democracy, that earns a 4 year ban for any support of any Republican at any level of government. This is highly theoretic, but it is what it is.
Have you seen him on TV? He’s like the kind, patient grandpa I never had, the guy who will be throwing barbeques on the front lawn and invite the neighbors over to share. And feeding scraps to the dog. Quintessential fucking nice guy.
America, fuck yeah! If I could vote, my vote would already have been counted.