"Instability is a permanent feature of capitalism, but the coronavirus pandemic has introduced a whole new level of volatility. Amid the turmoil, the American right is dreaming more feverishly than ever of apocalypse and heroism." ~ Meagan Day - Jacobin magazine
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Sadly, for all of us, the instability plays into 45's hands ... he has no interest in solving anything, other than to add to his aggrandizement and adulation.
The far right, including most evangelicals, social conservatives, and host of big biz, all see ways in which they will "profit" from the chaos and 45's growing authoritarianism - the profit being varying amounts of money and power.
The psychopath in the WH is playing all of this with consummate skill, and in the end, we know how it'll end: what he can't have, he destroys; those he can't control, he isolates and punishes. So it's a zero-sum game he's playing.
His goal? absolute control.
Evangelicals, I fear, are comfortable with that notion, because of their toxic militarized masculinity as a virtue, as godly; he's the man to set straight the Amerikan home, the nation, and the world. He's John Wayne on steroids, with a WWJD tattoo on his arm and a Bible in hand.
Social conservatives are equally comfortable with the notion of "ruling with him" in their spheres of power; guns, of course, low taxes, and the freedom to dominate and isolate "the others." White supremacy, misogyny, state's rights, the power of the local constabulary (in other words, sheriffs), free-market capitalism without any regulation, and greed-as-virtue are all part of this hedonist mess. In its own bizarre fashion, an image of the "if it feels good, do it" message of the 60s. In this regard, hippies and yuppies shared the same dynamic of "me." If hippies were free to smoke weed, yuppies were free to be greedy.
Big biz, of course, sees and smells money, as has always been the case, in fascist governments. Low taxes, of course, or none; no labor unions, or at least unions utterly gutted; no public schools, no public anything. Make it all private! Eveything fungible; everything with a price. In the end, the amassing of wealth is all that counts.
Millions of Americans, working hard to make it, living from paycheck to paycheck, are not likely to think these things through, which makes them pawns in the hands of the powerful.
The guy in the pickup who hurls a half-empty beer can at a Biden-Harris yard sign and screams "Communist cu&^*" at the lady and her 11-year old daughter is a victim of this kind of manipulation. An easy victim, to be sure, but a victim nonetheless.
The couple at the local convenience store who nearly attacked my friend when he said something about wearing a mask, and called him a "stupid fu^&*#) old man."
The young shooter in Kenosha isn't thinking any of this through either; and those who refuse to wear masks; so many folks who don't want to think, and find "hating an enemy" far easier; and cheering on a man who encourages their rage, their sense of indignation, their sense of entitlement, their sense of being hurt by immigrants, people of color, LGBTQ persons - who take their jobs, who move into their schools and neighborhoods, who upset the status quo of manhood and feminine subjugation. Even the most vile woman lives in this scenario by being "woman" and not man - delighted to let 45 grab her any where he wants, even as she brandishes a gun and screams bloody murder at an immigrant.
We're in a real pickle, one that's been marinating for a long, long, time.
Can we turn the tide this November?
I hope so ... I really, really, hope so.
