The Wreckage
“I don’t take responsibility at all.”, Donald Trump, March 13th, 2020.
I do not think I need to waste a lot of words about the last five years, its impact on the Republican party, and the complete and utter rejection of Reagan-era principles for white-grievance nationalism, a rejection so acute the United States is in the greatest danger of breaking up since 1860, another banner year in American white-grievance nationalism.
A photo montage will do the trick nicely…
* *NTSB Summary**
“We Have Met the Enemy and He is Us”, Pogo, Walt Kelley
In my life I have seen the Republican party, the party which defines conservatism in this country, go from exhibiting some of the best qualities of the American identity to embracing the worst qualities of Americanism. The purposeful, malicious cruelty. Their nihilistic, helpless approach to life. The open racism. The subjugation of the country to the financialization of everything, from mortgages to minerals to even housing stock. Societal control via the imposition of debt. And all of this overlaid with a philosophy which claims that failing in an obviously rigged game is a moral fault of the person, not of the society, all this driven by people still making arguments recognizable, and morally acceptable, to the slavers of 1860.
To me, it wasn’t that conservatism changed. I mean, it did, but what happened is conservatives have shed all pretense about what they want and what their philosophy truly stands for: domination of people via economic subjugation and cultural disillusionment.
And my grandparents? What about their teachings? Well, yes, saving money helped. Do you know what helped more? Having a mentor who was the third richest man in town. Do you know what helped even more?
Conversely, you don’t want to be the person who started saving in 1965 and died in 2010. Ouch!
A political party with no moral principle other than power is not a political party: It is a mob. And I regret every argument I made, every person I may have converted, for the purposes of promoting conservative ideals, and I will continue to regret it to my dying day.
And, so, I’m not a Democrat, ZS. I’m a conservative who remembered the world exists, morals matter, and we may have to answer for our lives. Too bad the rest of the party, hell, the entire ideology, forgot this.
The Journey was not just me moving to the left, but the Right moving to authoritarianism. Were it not for the latter, the former likely would not have occurred.
JT