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Title : A Thought Experiment On Authoritarianism
link : A Thought Experiment On Authoritarianism
A Thought Experiment On Authoritarianism
I got into a short and civil discussion with a Breitbart writer (yes, BREITBART) on Twitter last night, and here's how the thread went:
Granted, I was a teensy bit trashed when I wrote this tweet (it was Friday night, after all, and I didn't have shit to do), but it got me thinking about where our country is now in terms of the overall energy, and why that is.
Think about this for a second.
We are in the midst of an essential and long overdue social justice movement that requires anger and passion as a catalyst for momentum. This is separate and apart, however, from the prevailing ENERGY in the country right now, which is just straight up mean and nasty.
The President sets the tone for our country, and President Trump's tone is bullying, nasty, mean, and divisive. He makes us turn on each other. He makes us hate each other. He WANTS it. And he does it while leaving the government understaffed, trampling all over the constitution, and selling the public on con job "reforms" like walls and taxes.
It's all a bunch of bullshit.
The only people who get out of this alive (MAYBE) are Trump's friends and family. He doesn't give a shit about this country or the people he's supposed to be "leading." He cares about "ratings," and outrage sells. He'll go down swinging, leaving the nation in shambles just like his bankrupt resorts and casinos. Everything he touches turns to shit, and the United States government is no exception.
Divide and conquer is right out of the authoritarian playbook. A population that is cannibalizing itself is a lot easier to manipulate and manage. So I have come up with a few concrete things that I will do to combat this:
1. Direct action/writing: Continue to focus in concrete, meaningful, affirmative (as opposed to defensive) ways on the issues I care about: gender equality, racial equality, ending white supremacy, ending rape and sexual assault, ending income equality, and protecting our constitutional democracy from a criminal despot. I do this by staying involved in my local community on these issues, contacting my representatives in Congress relentlessly, trying to write regularly with passion and precision about social justice issues and constitutional norms, and sharing the writing of like-minded people on these subjects.
2. Avoiding social media fights and lost causes: Not allow myself to be baited into arguments on social media, as they are a distraction from actual solutions and an ENORMOUS waste of time. After an hour of yelling back at forth at someone on Twitter or Facebook you have nothing to show for your time but frustration and upset. That time can be spent much more productively on #1 above.
3. Avoiding Trump voter-hating: Not waste energy indulging in any more feelings of hostility toward Trump voters. The fact is we are all completely fucked now, and we need a way out of this mess together. Focusing on how fucked up it is that he's President, and how fucked up it is that people voted for him, and how much we should hate those people and blame them for everything just feeds the divisive beast that Trump has unleashed. He WANTS us to hate each other. He NEEDS it. His success depends on it.
4. Using my anger productively: There's a lot to be angry about right now. Like, a SHITLOAD. But I'm choosing to use #1 above to channel my anger productively and direct it at the source.
Thus Article A Thought Experiment On Authoritarianism
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