“Biden doesn’t have this fight in him.” Perfectly said. I, too saw the interview with Nicolle Wallace and was equally discouraged. It enraged me. I wish we could have another Democratic candidate for president who was willing to take on the supreme court and the Republican Congress. Alas, that is not not likely to happen. Not anytime soon. Maybe Kamala Harris would be willing to do it. She’s younger and has lots of fight in her. Hopefully she’ll be the attack dog in the coming election. Thank you for your comments. I am in the midst of reading your book and am looking forward to episode five of your lecture series. Thank you again for all your good work.
As far as the supreme court, there needs to be an aggressive push to add additional justices. Term limits for justices would also be a great improvement. Additionally, we must vote out as many of the extremists in Congress as possible.
Thank you for this Jared. I am so far beyond frustrated…
Re: #2: the military academy carve out gives away the game. It is OK for the government to curate racial diversity in military academies, because having diverse military leadership is essential to optimal military functioning. But somehow this logic and exemption does not apply to every other sector of American life?!
Don’t have the heart for #4 quite yet at least. I’m more eager to register my anger in nonviolent street protest to be frank.
Thank you, JY, for your detailed suggestions for how we can all “activate” to begin strong resistance to the MAGA/Christian/Fascist campaign to seize America. Social media posts (even this discussion) often give us the illusion of action. But what we need, we all need, is to reach out and connect. Begin building the organized resistance that will undermine and beat back our opponents’ counter-revolution.
To folks here expressing admiration and support for Vice President Kamala Harris, remember that she is a willing part of the Democratic Party. Will she lead a revolt inside her party? Against Joe Biden? Against Nancy Pelosi? Not a chance. Harris is a dead end. There have been *hundreds* of “progressive Democratic politicians” whose sad role has been to distract, divert, and ultimately blunt and betray the anger and threat of mass action.
It might be that some people reading this think that Canadians don't care, but we do. We care very deeply. It's not just that it affects us too, it affects you and it affects me. It affects a lot of people who can't afford for it to affect. Hate and hate ideology don't care about borders. We need to organize to stop this *gestures to all the things* from getting worse. I'm angry and upset. I might rate donate to something. Thank you for all your good work. :)
If I was allowed to vote in the States, which I'm not because I'm Canadian, I would vote for Kamala Harris. She's the bulldog we need in this fight. We just need a VP for her that's just as vicious.
I know it's "defeatist" but I'm wracked by Lyme flare-ups and knowledge of the runaway train that is climate change (you checked the North Atlantic temps & Antarctic sea ice extent lately?? Tipping points ahoy...)
With limited physical resources, I'm trying to put away as much food (& rather highly compensated FT-job-I-loathe $) as I can so that when I really and truly am a total physical wreck, I have some borrowed time & resources to go just a little bit longer before SHTF.
Guess you could say I'm a full-on doomer at this point. No, it's not "helpful" to trying to turn this shitshow around on a local level, but it is what the situation is in my little corner of VT. My garden is nearly devoid of pollinators after years of gradually dwindling numbers. That shit is my guiding light. People who spend a lot of time outside working IN nature AND PAYING ATTENTION - not casually jogging or cycling through the landscape - are rightfully freaking out.
I'm tired - & have finally washed my hands - of trying to convey to normies that they really REALLY should try to preserve their health in an ongoing pandemic by not getting infected by a virus that has all the hallmarks of being AIDS 2.0 that will fucking wreck themselves in the coming decade. Warnings to not stress an already collapsing healthcare system fall on deaf ears. The less you're infected the better; but people are intent on rawdogging that spike protein like no tomorrow. Not to mention the climate-induced plagues to come. Public health has been crippled; good fucking luck trying to get them to respond positively to the next inevitable crisis.
It's a neoliberal reaction to look to you and yours first and foremost but my fellow citizens IRL are leaving little choice. I wish y'all luck but I'm done beating my head against a wall. Not going to waste what little energy I have left finding that needle in a haystack to build a timy local coalition that might MIGHT help get a bill passed that my gov will veto because REASONS. Besides, "net zero 2050" is a fever dream for rubes. The green revolution will require so much carbon emissions to get off the ground, as well as mining and polluting every last corner of the planet for those precious battery minerals. We fucked ourselves back in 1750.
And the current political duopoly - particularly the ineffective Dems - are not going to be moved/transformed unless by annihilation. And they've shown themselves to only act when there's a threat from the Left to their own status quo.
What's grimly hilarious is that viewpoints like mine get immediately disregarded as Russian sabotage by secure middle class libs, the same group I semi-identified with until 2016. I'm done with denial and hopium.
Sorry for the long rant, but sometimes hyper-ND introverts let loose because we've been thinking and feeling LOTS while people yammer.
"build a tiny local coalition that might MIGHT help get a bill passed..."
I didn't take Jared's advice as necessarily "join a group that's aiming to get legislation passed", I read it as "Join something, because nobody should go through this alone." I think that's aligned with Tim Snyder's advice in On Tyranny, find ANY group that's doing SOMETHING and join it (and no, I'm not counting the bowling league.) Community and personal networks and relationships and mutual aid may get us through what's to come (or not, but it's worth trying.)
Well, when I have any energy left over from a FT job and then coming home to put in a few hours in the garden for food security, then I'll see about building community relations with people who still think we can turn this climate Titanic around.
I've found much more common ground and understanding with the disabled community in the last couple years. It's basically bunker mode, given how able-bodied people are going about as if it was 2019 & a huge bad corner hasn't been turned.
Wait. And LOL I'm commenting this on July 4th. Jared one day can you please run for President? Or Sarah Kendzior... I'm not joking. If John Stewart or AOC don't next election (or a guaranteed win for Kamala) the you have to. There is a hungry voice for progressively minded people who believe in history and education and empathy as their primarily values.
I like Rebecca Solnit's take on this, it's the Supreme Court taking away rights we had already won, and "rights we had already won" means we can win them back again:
“Biden doesn’t have this fight in him.” Perfectly said. I, too saw the interview with Nicolle Wallace and was equally discouraged. It enraged me. I wish we could have another Democratic candidate for president who was willing to take on the supreme court and the Republican Congress. Alas, that is not not likely to happen. Not anytime soon. Maybe Kamala Harris would be willing to do it. She’s younger and has lots of fight in her. Hopefully she’ll be the attack dog in the coming election. Thank you for your comments. I am in the midst of reading your book and am looking forward to episode five of your lecture series. Thank you again for all your good work.
As far as the supreme court, there needs to be an aggressive push to add additional justices. Term limits for justices would also be a great improvement. Additionally, we must vote out as many of the extremists in Congress as possible.
Great ideas, let's add in an actual ethics code just like the one that applies to every other judge in the country.
Thank you for this Jared. I am so far beyond frustrated…
Re: #2: the military academy carve out gives away the game. It is OK for the government to curate racial diversity in military academies, because having diverse military leadership is essential to optimal military functioning. But somehow this logic and exemption does not apply to every other sector of American life?!
Don’t have the heart for #4 quite yet at least. I’m more eager to register my anger in nonviolent street protest to be frank.
Thank you, JY, for your detailed suggestions for how we can all “activate” to begin strong resistance to the MAGA/Christian/Fascist campaign to seize America. Social media posts (even this discussion) often give us the illusion of action. But what we need, we all need, is to reach out and connect. Begin building the organized resistance that will undermine and beat back our opponents’ counter-revolution.
To folks here expressing admiration and support for Vice President Kamala Harris, remember that she is a willing part of the Democratic Party. Will she lead a revolt inside her party? Against Joe Biden? Against Nancy Pelosi? Not a chance. Harris is a dead end. There have been *hundreds* of “progressive Democratic politicians” whose sad role has been to distract, divert, and ultimately blunt and betray the anger and threat of mass action.
What happens next is on us. Time to organize!
It might be that some people reading this think that Canadians don't care, but we do. We care very deeply. It's not just that it affects us too, it affects you and it affects me. It affects a lot of people who can't afford for it to affect. Hate and hate ideology don't care about borders. We need to organize to stop this *gestures to all the things* from getting worse. I'm angry and upset. I might rate donate to something. Thank you for all your good work. :)
Biden may not have the fight, but Kamala does. She can be downright vicious when she wants to be.
If I was allowed to vote in the States, which I'm not because I'm Canadian, I would vote for Kamala Harris. She's the bulldog we need in this fight. We just need a VP for her that's just as vicious.
I know it's "defeatist" but I'm wracked by Lyme flare-ups and knowledge of the runaway train that is climate change (you checked the North Atlantic temps & Antarctic sea ice extent lately?? Tipping points ahoy...)
With limited physical resources, I'm trying to put away as much food (& rather highly compensated FT-job-I-loathe $) as I can so that when I really and truly am a total physical wreck, I have some borrowed time & resources to go just a little bit longer before SHTF.
Guess you could say I'm a full-on doomer at this point. No, it's not "helpful" to trying to turn this shitshow around on a local level, but it is what the situation is in my little corner of VT. My garden is nearly devoid of pollinators after years of gradually dwindling numbers. That shit is my guiding light. People who spend a lot of time outside working IN nature AND PAYING ATTENTION - not casually jogging or cycling through the landscape - are rightfully freaking out.
I'm tired - & have finally washed my hands - of trying to convey to normies that they really REALLY should try to preserve their health in an ongoing pandemic by not getting infected by a virus that has all the hallmarks of being AIDS 2.0 that will fucking wreck themselves in the coming decade. Warnings to not stress an already collapsing healthcare system fall on deaf ears. The less you're infected the better; but people are intent on rawdogging that spike protein like no tomorrow. Not to mention the climate-induced plagues to come. Public health has been crippled; good fucking luck trying to get them to respond positively to the next inevitable crisis.
It's a neoliberal reaction to look to you and yours first and foremost but my fellow citizens IRL are leaving little choice. I wish y'all luck but I'm done beating my head against a wall. Not going to waste what little energy I have left finding that needle in a haystack to build a timy local coalition that might MIGHT help get a bill passed that my gov will veto because REASONS. Besides, "net zero 2050" is a fever dream for rubes. The green revolution will require so much carbon emissions to get off the ground, as well as mining and polluting every last corner of the planet for those precious battery minerals. We fucked ourselves back in 1750.
And the current political duopoly - particularly the ineffective Dems - are not going to be moved/transformed unless by annihilation. And they've shown themselves to only act when there's a threat from the Left to their own status quo.
What's grimly hilarious is that viewpoints like mine get immediately disregarded as Russian sabotage by secure middle class libs, the same group I semi-identified with until 2016. I'm done with denial and hopium.
Sorry for the long rant, but sometimes hyper-ND introverts let loose because we've been thinking and feeling LOTS while people yammer.
"build a tiny local coalition that might MIGHT help get a bill passed..."
I didn't take Jared's advice as necessarily "join a group that's aiming to get legislation passed", I read it as "Join something, because nobody should go through this alone." I think that's aligned with Tim Snyder's advice in On Tyranny, find ANY group that's doing SOMETHING and join it (and no, I'm not counting the bowling league.) Community and personal networks and relationships and mutual aid may get us through what's to come (or not, but it's worth trying.)
Well, when I have any energy left over from a FT job and then coming home to put in a few hours in the garden for food security, then I'll see about building community relations with people who still think we can turn this climate Titanic around.
I've found much more common ground and understanding with the disabled community in the last couple years. It's basically bunker mode, given how able-bodied people are going about as if it was 2019 & a huge bad corner hasn't been turned.
I wish y'all well on your endeavor though.
Wait. And LOL I'm commenting this on July 4th. Jared one day can you please run for President? Or Sarah Kendzior... I'm not joking. If John Stewart or AOC don't next election (or a guaranteed win for Kamala) the you have to. There is a hungry voice for progressively minded people who believe in history and education and empathy as their primarily values.
I like Rebecca Solnit's take on this, it's the Supreme Court taking away rights we had already won, and "rights we had already won" means we can win them back again:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jul/02/us-supreme-court-civil-rights-voting-fight