General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsOne disease is fading. The other just keeps getting worse.
Covid, and it's Omicron variant, seem to be on the decline. Looks like we may be closer to the end than the beginning of this plague.
But the other disease infecting our society, Trumpism, seems to keep getting worse. It's a disease that attacks the brain and seems to render people incapable of judgement, rational thought, and in some cases, sanity.
In reality, Trumpism is just the latest version of an ancient disease that has plagued humanity for all of recorded history. And it's always been driven by people who want the same thing. More.
We Americans thought that our Constitution would protect us from this disease. Yet, here it is, threatening our country, our freedoms, and our way of life.
Seems we were pretty unprepared for it, even though it's been creeping up on us for the past 50 years.
So let's get real. The Republican Party has been a carrier of this disease called fascism for the past half century. And then, an orange, unhinged buffoon rode down a golden escalator and unleashed it.
I've been asking this question for the past few years and, not surprisingly, no one has an answer. How do we stop those who are ignorant, or inspired by their hatreds, or both? And how can we rid ourselves of the politicians who exploit them in order to hold onto their own power?
Beats me. If any of us had an answer, this post would not exist. And if our leaders have a defense, or a counter-attack, or a solution, it's past time for them to open up and let the rest of us know about it. After all, there are only 267 days until election day, November 8th. That's really not much time in the scheme of things.
So if anyone has any kind of fixes in mind, how about opening up and sharing them.
diane in sf
(3,904 posts)sop
(9,945 posts)Bernardo de La Paz
(48,787 posts)Many are being used by good people at this very moment.
Initech
(99,913 posts)Claire Oh Nette
(2,636 posts)When Poppy Bush followed the Reagan Years, the Greedy Old Perverts Party looked forward with glee to a "permanent republican majority." Atwater had roped the Evangelicals into the party to vote on wedge issues like abortion, gay marriage, women's rights. Newt codified the rhetoric into a kind of scorched earth war policy, Distracting from their coruption with anything that threatened to extend a ladder to equality to the non male, non-white, non-certain kind of protestant.
They view the world as a zero sum game, where they are entitled to be in the finals without having to compete. If someone else advances, they've lost. They play all the loopholes, and will spend more time and effort to find an extralegal escape, then become enraged when called out for violating the agreed upon rules.
The violent far right anti-democracy extremist can't grasp that democracy is American. Pouting and stomping their feet, and loading their pickups with Trump flags while wearing MAGA hats and American Flag clothing when they're candidate is voted out of office, then participating in an attempted coup d etat is so Anti American it boggles the mind.
The Right comes out of the Tories in the Revolution, the seditionists in the Civil War, the hawks in the vietnam era. They believe Hollywood movies represent real history, but never read up to find out how fake movies are.
It's all Family photo in the Church directory, so they can look like Christains, while not actually being Christain at all.
The Left should work the religious angle to peel off those who don't want to be radicalized into American Jihadis.
sigh.
Chainfire
(17,305 posts)Especially when it is owned, lock, stock, and barrel by the billionaires. We could have checked it with campaign contribution reform some years ago, but it is too late now. I think that Americans are headed for a new great depression, not necessarily economic.
mopinko
(69,806 posts)i'm old enough to remember the raygun years. he was the 1st liar president for whom it wasnt a problem. the term 'spin' was coined in those years, to explain away the idea that politicians at least ought to tell the whole truth.
how this was accepted so soon after nixon, i will never know.
but if we dont let them get away w their lies, it all crashes down.
how we accomplish this is anyone's guess. but that's the germ of the problem, imho.
radical honesty is called for.
Cyrano
(15,023 posts)many can't or wont hear.
Or, to put it more bluntly, the truth will not set us free.
Some of the worst pricks in the world are close to taking over America.
I think the time for trying to reason with them is long gone. They must be stopped while Democrats still (almost) control the federal government. I say, "almost," because we have to deal with Manchin, Sinema, and a stolen Supreme Court controlled by those who think that fascism is just fine.
MadameButterfly
(945 posts)Yes, this has been a trend for 50 years. But what happened 50 years ago? The Civil Rights movement. Before that, there was Jim Crow, and before that, slavery. Voting for women only happened in 1920. So one could argue that we've never been a full democracy, and the trend of the last 50 years is to replace the control the White patriarchy feels it has lost.
One has to ask, what is missing in the lives of the people for whom superiority by race (and gender) is their only sense of security? Why does racism tend to go hand in hand with authoritarianism?
What if we eradicated poverty, respected and rewarded all kinds of workers, championed unions, supported parenting and childcaretakers, offered education and healthcare to all, made generous vacation time available like it is in Europe, honored and supported our elders....What if there was enough for everybody? Maybe they wouldn't have anything to fear or be angry or resentful about, or to be ashamed or jealous of.
We don't need more stuff. We just need to address the people hoarding it all at the top who can't use it all anyway.
Cyrano
(15,023 posts)It seems that all that's preventing a better world is the wants/wishes/desires of the American oligarchs who, more or less, own this country and everyone of us in it.
This has been the history of the world. Is today's younger generation aware enough and determined enough to change it? ... Perhaps.
macmillan61
(12 posts)Joe Lewis