Thank you for this insightful essay, and the words that will continue to inspire me going forward:
“The beginning of your resistance isn’t going to the ballot box. It’s making a personal and spiritual choice to see both the world as it is and how it could be. To defiantly protect your hope and belief that you deserve better, that everyone deserves better, that better, in spite of what you are told by authoritarians and institutionalists, that better is not only possible, but worth the fight.”
Speaking of hope, this happened on Tuesday: White Supremacist removed from office in Enid, Oklahoma through a recall. It happened through the work of the Enid Social Justice Committee, formed after evidence of his participation in the Charlottesville march came to light. You can imagine the abuse they had to endure, but they won.
My wish going forward is that we pay attention not just to the fascists and their fascist plans, but to the many, many Enid Social Justice Committees throughout our land. They deserve attention too.
They mean well, but too much of our liberal media is consumed with the mission of warning us that Trump is dangerous, that he could win, etc. (as if we didn't know, like this is still 2016.) Which feeds the fascism, giving it an aura of power and inevitability.
If Trump is defeated in November, if will be because of the work by groups like BLOC in Milwaukee, similar groups all over the country, but they don't get 1% of the attention that Trump gets. If we feel hopeless, we need to take responsibility for that, think about the habits we've fallen into, the media we consume that feeds the hopelessness, and make an effort to break those bad habits and seek out alternatives. No, this doesn't mean "being in denial", we can still be well aware of the threat, but we can also be aware that we're not defenseless.
“The challenge of modernity is to live without illusions -- without becoming disillusioned. I’m a pessimist because of intelligence, but an optimist because of will.” ― Antonio Gramsci
“The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born: now is the time of monsters.”
Writer Iain McGilchrist comes to this, philosophically, in the summative of his 2009 "The Master and His Emissary", 400 pages of text and 100 pages of endnotes;
I am rereading it now, and much like partaking of your present observations, Brother Sexton, I partake with the taste of bile, rising. Almost yearning for the days in my youth when the grownups told me that Communism was coming for us. At least they had an identifiable border and flags so you knew where they were.
If the vote fails, and I’m beginning to suspect it might, then the last refuge is the protest, as the women did in 2016, and may the Lord have mercy on their MAGA souls!
Thank you for this insightful essay, and the words that will continue to inspire me going forward:
“The beginning of your resistance isn’t going to the ballot box. It’s making a personal and spiritual choice to see both the world as it is and how it could be. To defiantly protect your hope and belief that you deserve better, that everyone deserves better, that better, in spite of what you are told by authoritarians and institutionalists, that better is not only possible, but worth the fight.”
Speaking of hope, this happened on Tuesday: White Supremacist removed from office in Enid, Oklahoma through a recall. It happened through the work of the Enid Social Justice Committee, formed after evidence of his participation in the Charlottesville march came to light. You can imagine the abuse they had to endure, but they won.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/oklahoma-judd-blevins-enid-city-council-recall-election-rcna146029
My wish going forward is that we pay attention not just to the fascists and their fascist plans, but to the many, many Enid Social Justice Committees throughout our land. They deserve attention too.
It is indeed connected to despair, and the fearful nature of its adherents, terrified of the "other."
They mean well, but too much of our liberal media is consumed with the mission of warning us that Trump is dangerous, that he could win, etc. (as if we didn't know, like this is still 2016.) Which feeds the fascism, giving it an aura of power and inevitability.
If Trump is defeated in November, if will be because of the work by groups like BLOC in Milwaukee, similar groups all over the country, but they don't get 1% of the attention that Trump gets. If we feel hopeless, we need to take responsibility for that, think about the habits we've fallen into, the media we consume that feeds the hopelessness, and make an effort to break those bad habits and seek out alternatives. No, this doesn't mean "being in denial", we can still be well aware of the threat, but we can also be aware that we're not defenseless.
https://www.blocbybloc.org/our-vision
"Authoritarianism is a disease of the human heart." -- root cause . . .
“The challenge of modernity is to live without illusions -- without becoming disillusioned. I’m a pessimist because of intelligence, but an optimist because of will.” ― Antonio Gramsci
“The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born: now is the time of monsters.”
― Antonio Gramsci
Writer Iain McGilchrist comes to this, philosophically, in the summative of his 2009 "The Master and His Emissary", 400 pages of text and 100 pages of endnotes;
I am rereading it now, and much like partaking of your present observations, Brother Sexton, I partake with the taste of bile, rising. Almost yearning for the days in my youth when the grownups told me that Communism was coming for us. At least they had an identifiable border and flags so you knew where they were.
Why fight it? Join the Illuminati now while you still have a chance.
http://illuminatisupremelight.com
Act now and get this free CHTHULU hat…
If the vote fails, and I’m beginning to suspect it might, then the last refuge is the protest, as the women did in 2016, and may the Lord have mercy on their MAGA souls!
No “third party” will win this election. Votes for Stein, Kennedy, etc. will only help the MAGApublicans take control.