Others will say it better - but,
here goes my small part in this - I stayed up last night, as the dawning horror
dawned on me, literally and otherwise, that VP Harris was losing. I was
wrong, see the other post.
Separate from the deep concern for the world, especially with regards to
Ukraine, and global warming, is the deeper wounding realisation that a majority
of humans would choose such a person, even such a person, rather than actually
vote for a woman.
It seems misogyny and racism was on display. Concern for the economy
should not mean exemption from moral or ethical concerns.
The digital online world has clearly contributed to a new unreality in
America and beyond, where so many millions could not see the truth of the man
they elevated, and bestowed such triumph and power onto.
And, what makes it worse, we are all now in this with him, because we
have to live in his terrible worldview.
It raises a question: is there no longer any good reason to be good?
What inspiring example is now set for our daughters, and sons, when this sort
of personality - this character assemblage of flaws - is rewarded.
Kennedy once said life is unfair. But this seems excessive.
Regarding the pointing of fingers, of blaming Biden, or Harris...
well, that seems needlessly cruel.
I do not accept that in any normal sense Harris "lost"
regardless of the seeming weaknesses of her campaign strategies.
Her only error, in the widest sense, is all of ours - the error exposed
in the original film Speak No Evil, and in Frisch's play, The Fire
Starters (or Fire Bugs, or Arsonists). It is the error of
expecting people to be basically good, reasonable, and wanting the best for
their fellow human beings.
Harris's campaign was based on the idea that most Americans wanted to
elect a stable, decent, intelligent, hard-working person who was not a
traitorous convicted felon; that a very base and vulgar, morally blank person
could not command love and respect.
Terribly, we have seen a majority vote for the lowest form of life, a
porn, pizza, profits and patriotism approach that has been called a
"bro" concept.
But this is 2024, not the Hefner Bunny years. Is it possible the
Tony Stark, bad-boy celebration of billionaire bling has inspired more folks
than we ever knew?
Biden should have stepped down and let Harris become president, this
summer. He would have made history and set her up as a stronger candidate.
Trump's story - Return of the Wronged King - generated an emotional wave that
let everyone who supported him become part of the story - a self-fulfilling
prophecy where the more the mass gathered and embraced their hero, the more
powerful, impressive and yet beloved he became.
Harris failed to generate a story more than Let Us Stop The Monster -
but it required her to convince Trump was The Monster - and since he commanded
about 50% of Americans' love (and yes it is love) - her claim was offensive, it
seemed, and became instead proof of his story (The Wronged King).
Harris, who may be normally flawed, could never imagine that her
opponent could really win, once the facts were known - but she could not
recognise the horrific reality that reality itself has been warped sufficiently
in America so now, powerful thought brokers on podcasts and the alt-media,
could claim her as the Villain.
I feel great empathy and sorrow for Harris. Less for Biden, but he has
utterly failed to stop his opponent, mostly because like some sad Shakespearean King, he
could not step down, could not see himself in the mirror.
But America has today and yesterday shown its true face - has shown us
its painting hidden in the attic - and it is as if the face of a leering white owner on a large plantation, brutal, cruel, mocking, selfish, and full of hate.
America has gone back to the hateful roots we thought had been torn out and destroyed -
that were actually growing widely and wildly all along.
It is all a waste land, and it is not too extreme to say, how does one
carry on with hope and dignity in such knowledge of one's fellow men and women? I suppose the answer is, carry on, with hope and dignity. It is a Beckettian dilemma - one cannot go on, one must go on.
What is next? How bad will it truly be? It will, at the least, be wildly erratic, because that is his superpower, apparently - that he is so erratic, world leaders fear him. So, the future is by definition unknowable, and doubly so now we have a world leader bent on disrupting the very basis of world order. Disorder is the rule now, and so we are right to be uncertain, anxious, and even afraid.
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