What No One Wants to Hear
Politically this is the 1983 game. Ask your folks what happened in 1984
America is doing great. Anger burns itself out. We’re playing the 1983 Game. Ask your folks what happened in 1984.
No one wants to hear this, let alone admit it.
The Reich won’t hear it because it’s their job to be angry. The left won’t hear it because they think anger is necessary to beat the Reich.
The truth is different.
First, some reality. The economy is wonderful. Unemployment is low. Savers are getting a return on their money. The stock market is up. Most analysts see growth accelerating. People are getting raises. Investments spurred by the Inflation Reduction Act are having the intended multiplier effect.
Second, America is winning in the world again. Russia will lose in Ukraine, then it will lose in Russia. China’s economy is tottering, and cadres aren’t going back to the 20th century. Autocracy is in general retreat, because talent is the real oil of the 21st century, and only free minds can fully express their talent.
Third, all the issues stack up. The climate crisis is denied by Republicans, even though you can no more deny it than question whether hats exist. Women are demanding bodily autonomy, even Republican women. Most political winds are blowing from the left, not the Reich.
Yes, Republicans run many state governments. They do it badly. When bad policies are implemented, people tend to not like the results. If they did, democracy would be bullshit. Democracy isn’t bullshit.
Fourth, demographics. Young voters are increasingly Democratic, and they’re not losing that as they get older. There’s a lot of fear among liberals about young people being indoctrinated, by force, into Republican bullshit. In a world with the Internet? And Kindles?
That’s why Republicans are growing increasingly fascist. Tomorrow does not belong to them. What scares us most about the GOP is their weakness, not their strength.
There’s a final point that must be emphasized. Most people are good. Even Republican people. Even Trump people, once you get past their politics.
I know that’s hard to believe in a world where people are so busy hating other people, and others are hating the haters back. But it’s true. This is, and has been, the basic premise of democracy since Greece, that enduring power rises from the bottom up, not the top down, and that most people in time will figure things out.
Just keep this quiet. I don’t want the fools to see the tsunami until the wave has hit them.
We're in an historic reversal, which began with Obama's election. But reaching clarity has taken much longer because of Trump, Trumpism, and Citizens United.
Progress has been slow. But in the last two years there has been progress. The rear guard actions of Republican states are just that, rear guard. Democracy is marching forward.
No. Autocracy is not rising globally. That's because it fails economically. If it's succeeding in some countries, that has benefitted our country, giving us bigger markets and (sometimes) talented people.
I don't like to tell people how optimistic I am. It's not in fashion. But it's the way I feel about things.
Well said, mostly. Most of this seems accurate, but autocracy is not in retreat worldwide, and women are demanding bodily autonomy that was recently taken away from them. And I don’t know what 1984 event you’re celebrating, but that was the year Ronald Reagan was elected President, so no, not a high water mark for democracy and rationality.