Drifting To The Brink
The run-up to the Midterm Elections has been distressing as America seems poised to dive deeper and deeper into the crisis
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When I first saw the numbers I paused. Went to the kitchen, poured myself another cup of coffee, and then returned, ready to sort through the mess. Over the past few days The New York Times has rolled out the findings of its joint poll with Sienna College, and the results have been predictably dire.
The picture they paint is grim. According to the poll, over 70% of Americans believe the country faces an existential threat to democracy, while only 7% tabbed that threat as the most pressing issue in determining their voting in November. In combining answers listing “the economy” and “inflation” (45%) it is obvious, at least through this poll, what is going to drive people to the polls.
These kinds of things are maddening. Of course, electorates are frustrating. Routinely they contradict themselves, creating divided governments incapable of doing much of anything and citing either made-up nonsense or bastardized talking points as their reasons for choosing candidates. But something here is even worse than all of that. It is a fundamental misunderstanding, by voters and by politicians and by media, that speaks to larger challenges and threats.
On the most recent episode of The Muckrake Podcast we welcomed Danielle Moodie, host of WokeAF and co-host of Democracy-Ish with Wajahat Ali, to the show to discuss these polls and what they meant for the upcoming election. Moodie is a wonderful commentator and has an unparalleled knack for slicing through the humdrum and counterproductive bullshit in politics and finding the truth hiding in its core. And on this subject, she could not have been more right.
Every issue is an economic issue. Lying under every possible topic or disagreement or blazing hot culture war battle is an economic origin, motivator, and question. That we have continually been fed this nonsense that “The Economy” is somehow or another completely separate from everything else only contributes to a greater misunderstanding of our politics and our society as a whole.
The reason this happens is very simple. But the consequences are massive.
By treating economic issues as somehow siloed from debates about abortion, healthcare, and even democracy itself, it transmits a vital message to voters that their own fates, their own living conditions, are somehow isolated from others. There is the personal experience (which YOU live) and then there is the cultural experience (which WE live). Unless that cultural experience interrupts the personal (meaning the Supreme Court rolls back YOUR rights or a law interrupts YOUR freedom), then cultural issues are secondary to your own personal experience.
It isn’t necessary to spend all that much time disproving this absurd reasoning. Regardless of what Right Wing politicians, economists, or neoliberals will tell you, we have seen time and time again that our collective experience dictates the personal and that believing this lie that you are somehow separated from anyone else only ensures your own experience will worsen and, eventually, collapse under the weight of collective exploitation and suffering.
But regardless, it is a fundamental myth of these times. We have been fed it for generations now and this era of hypercapitalism has left us utterly bereft of hope for any kind of collective solidarity or a sea-change that might challenge this regime of selfish individualism.
And so, when weighing these “separate issues” before a Midterm Election in which the Republican Party is fielding incompetent and dangerous candidates immersed in democracy-destroying conspiracy theories, we’re now seeing the lie again perpetuate itself as voters are being given tacit permission to “choose themselves” while discounting pressing existential issues and the fate of others.
Why?
Because our general and flawed understanding of “The Economy” creates a motivation to replace what we have with something else, if only because that something else might somehow reinvigorate the system. Like unplugging a router and then plugging it back in. Our grasp of what makes “The Economy” do anything is so limited, by design, that it resembles ancient superstitions in which the people carried out meaningless rituals to entice harvests.
And that’s exactly what the GOP now offers. A ritual of suffering. A transference of pain and cruelty to vulnerable populations (people of color, women, immigrants, gay and trans communities) and a completely nonsensical, irrational promise that that will somehow make life better for its voters. But like all authoritarians, that promise is a lie. This economy is wired and designed to continue melting down while relying on austerity and oppression to discipline the masses. And what the Republican Party is offering, whether the voters understand or not, is the stick that will replace the carrot.
My new book THE MIDNIGHT KINGDOM: A HISTORY OF POWER, PARANOIA, AND THE COMING CRISIS is an in-depth analysis of this strange and awful moment. By running through the history of the modern world and how it was created using white supremacist lies, religious mythologies, and poisonous conspiracy theories, we can begin piecing together how we have arrived here and, more importantly, how we might escape this death spiral and find a better way.
If you haven’t already, preorder your copy today. This supports my work and supports the book going forward.
Conditions are worsening. Our economy is faltering for very obvious and very explainable reasons while experts continue to dither. As frustrating as it is, and it is incredibly frustrating, their inability to wrap their heads around the cause is almost understandable. Despite centuries of evidence and repeatable cycles, they have based their entire livelihoods and worldviews on myths that are coming undone. It’s the equivalent of a religious cult maintaining faith in an apocalyptic leader despite his predictions of Armageddon continually falling through.
That religious dedication would be fine if it didn’t meant suffering for the rest of us. Continuing to press forward with self-destructive projects for “sustainable growth” and hypercapitalism while all experience shows it to be a clear path to melting down is a cruel joke, but has real consequences. Depressions and economic collapses shorten our life spans, create distress in our lives, literally kill us, and, as we are seeing presently, contribute to authoritarian movements that carry out wars and genocides and an agenda of broken teeth and spilled blood.
As the Federal Reserves continues to “fight inflation” by raising interest rates, the reality hiding in plain sight is that course corrections are largely focused on “re-balancing” the labor market. Following the pandemic, as is often the case, there has been a shift in power from the employer to the employee, a shift that has seen people leaving their jobs, demanding better pay and treatment, and engaging in (my god do I hate this term) “quiet quitting.” To raise rates and introduce recession is certainly a way to re-balance things.
But the suffering needed to try and both re-balance labor, stave off the burgeoning union movement, and also clear the path for the future economy doesn’t happen in a vacuum. With globalization starting to roll back and give way to a bipolar, newly-nativist world, the re-industrialization of the United States can only happen under two distinct conditions.
Through investment by the government and a push for decent pay and decent benefits that creates a sustainable environment for individuals but also the society and its democracy
Brutal and oppressive measures that destroy solidarity movements, transfer initial suffering onto vulnerable communities, and infuse cheap labor with a religious mythology that creates patriotic martyrdom
I’ll give you a second to wrap your head around who represents what here.
The worsening conditions are fertile ground for a very predictable outcome. We’ve seen it before. In the wake of institutional response, the people turn to authoritarians and strongmen in order to put things to right. Democracy becomes an impediment, a weakness. And, through an embrace of brutality, the authoritarian movements instills discipline through its own means of mythology glorifying struggle, conflict, and the nation.
Christian Nationalism and the accompanying QAnon conspiracy theories, in concert with Trumpism and the neo-feudal ideology of our modern robber barons, means the stage is set. And white Americans, particularly white evangelical Americans, are preparing themselves to accept any means necessary to hold onto what they currently have for a few minutes longer at any costs, including widespread oppression. Even our media, which communicates the point of view of the wealth class, is preparing voters disgusted by Donald Trump and his cronies to accept the “necessary” remedies.
Much like the cycles with our markets, we also know how this will end. Eventually those same supporters will be burdened with the suffering and experience the cruelty firsthand. Nativist, white supremacist authoritarian movements are nothing if not predictable. There will be no isolation, no peace for any matter of time. It leads to chauvinism, imperialism, violence and war. Every time.
Midterm elections are often boring affairs, but they are chapters in a larger story. Here, in 2022, we are watching the country and the world transform. It isn’t too late to reject this selfish and destructive mindset that has been foisted upon us. We can begin recognizing “The Economy” is more than just a separate issue and more than just a personal matter. We can begin putting this thing right before it collapses and takes many, many lives with it.
But if we’re going to do it, we’d better damn well get started.
Oh god, Jared. Soooo depressing. In my experience your predictions have always been right, so I'm preparing for the worst.
But just wondering what you think of this:
https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/3659431-michael-moore-predicts-massive-number-of-women-turnout-in-midterms/
Is there any reason to hope that the GQP doesn't take control of Congress?