There is a particular indignity that comes from living in America, derived from the experience of waking up in the morning to see reports that Donald Trump has said something profoundly evil, and then needing to type “truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump” into your web browser to see if he actually said that. Once there, you can see a…
Yes, and no. Yes the GOP is pushing for all of this madness and obstructing any efforts to reign it in. But as much as it pains me to admit, most people in the US bear some culpability. In theory, if everyone old enough and well enough to do so unsupervised, traveled to their state capital or major city and basically flooded the streets with protesters, effectively halting all traffic and commerce, and refused to move until Trump was gone and the war was stopped, this shit would probably stop. Similarly, if everyone refused to work or spend any money, aside from the absolute bare minimum, this shit would stop. Of course there are a million reasons why this won’t happen. It weighs heavily on me that I’m still paying taxes and generally behaving despite the clear need for drastic action.
Putting this on the working poor is ridiculous. Most workers are not in a position to be as politically active as you want, or would be required. Just living requires all of our effort, especially after a decade of runaway inflation and job losses. Most of us under a relentless threat of poverty. Jeopardizing employment or income isn’t feasible. Living minimalist lives isn’t endurable.
That’s like blaming the delivery driver when a gun sold at a store is used in a crime. Sure there’s a casual chain, but it’s not reasonable to place the blame there. MAGA elected these nuts, and the GOP and all its financial and political backers continue to enable and profit from them without regard to the consequences to others. We can debate how much blame to place where win the casual chain or argue who should have acted differently but the people with the gun in their hand who pulls the trigger is the most, and overwhelming, to blame.
To be clear, I’m not trying to “put this on the working poor”. I 100% get why most people aren’t in a position to act. Most people live paycheck to paycheck. This is not a safe place to risk your job, doing so is often risking your life (or your kids lives).
The GOP, the political donor class and their supporters are absolutely awful and deserve the blame. However, we can’t pretend that we are 100% helpless to stop them. When we think about Nazi Germany, do we think “well, the average German didn’t really have control over the situation?”
Yes, and no. Yes the GOP is pushing for all of this madness and obstructing any efforts to reign it in. But as much as it pains me to admit, most people in the US bear some culpability. In theory, if everyone old enough and well enough to do so unsupervised, traveled to their state capital or major city and basically flooded the streets with protesters, effectively halting all traffic and commerce, and refused to move until Trump was gone and the war was stopped, this shit would probably stop. Similarly, if everyone refused to work or spend any money, aside from the absolute bare minimum, this shit would stop. Of course there are a million reasons why this won’t happen. It weighs heavily on me that I’m still paying taxes and generally behaving despite the clear need for drastic action.
Putting this on the working poor is ridiculous. Most workers are not in a position to be as politically active as you want, or would be required. Just living requires all of our effort, especially after a decade of runaway inflation and job losses. Most of us under a relentless threat of poverty. Jeopardizing employment or income isn’t feasible. Living minimalist lives isn’t endurable.
That’s like blaming the delivery driver when a gun sold at a store is used in a crime. Sure there’s a casual chain, but it’s not reasonable to place the blame there. MAGA elected these nuts, and the GOP and all its financial and political backers continue to enable and profit from them without regard to the consequences to others. We can debate how much blame to place where win the casual chain or argue who should have acted differently but the people with the gun in their hand who pulls the trigger is the most, and overwhelming, to blame.
To be clear, I’m not trying to “put this on the working poor”. I 100% get why most people aren’t in a position to act. Most people live paycheck to paycheck. This is not a safe place to risk your job, doing so is often risking your life (or your kids lives).
The GOP, the political donor class and their supporters are absolutely awful and deserve the blame. However, we can’t pretend that we are 100% helpless to stop them. When we think about Nazi Germany, do we think “well, the average German didn’t really have control over the situation?”