I have a nagging feeling that the USA is morphing into an post apocalyptic state, inspired by a sci fi novel. I cannot help thinking "Lord of the Flies"
"Lord of the Flies is a haunting novel by William Golding that explores what happens when a group of British schoolboys becomes stranded on a deserted island after a plane crash. With no adults to guide them, they attempt to govern themselves, but their efforts spiral into savagery and chaos."*
The USA of my formative years was guided by the principles of democracy -- freedom, equality and opportunity. Merit counted. People who worked hard got ahead. Slackers were doomed to live less glamorous lives. But there was always an undercurrent of caring for the less-fortunate -- meaning those who were born into poverty, ignorance, or disease.
Over the years, we Americans became less indifferent to people who did not fit-in to what we think of as "normal", who were a different color, or who had handicaps. We provided aid to poor countries. Developed programs that assisted needy people. We thought of ourselves as the "Good guys."
I have, as an adult, thought of myself as a liberal, by which I mean: one amenable to change. Today people think of that as "Leftist." I don't see myself of the left or right since I am of normal intelligence and can keep more than one thought in my head. I think I am conservative about financial matters. I'm constantly appalled that there is not more stringent oversight of social programs to prevent fraud.
So, I have admired efforts to promote inclusion I have accepted changes that improve peoples' lives (improving handicapped access, gay marriage, school lunch programs, etc.) - although I wonder why they need 4 handicapped parking spaces at a small liquor store.
Yes, the progressives went too far, too fast. I understand the impatience to gain full equality, but I feel that social democrats badly underestimated the reaction of conservatives. My shorthand definition of a conservative as one who wants America to look like it did in the 50's. Looking at the transformation of society and "social justice" from their eyes, it is not hard to understand that they were horrified at the radical changes espoused by self-styled progressives. The loudest among them saw a deep conspiracy to change things, and change was not what they wanted.
Trump and his ilk (most of them smarter than he) latched onto this dissatisfaction and to feed the flames of discontent by mislabeling the opposition as Commies. Because everyone hates and fears commies. So despite the difference between social democracy and communism , the ignorant and indifferent were drawn into the conspiracy theories -- stolen election, deep state, weaponization of government, global cabal, and beyond.
One result has been to add to the (already growing) mistrust in the government on both sides. It was not helpful that President Biden's obviously increasing dementia was denied by his admin until the disastrous debate when everyone saw on live TV a struggling weak and uncertain president. The flap about Hunter Biden's misbegotten exploits did not help. The Right had a field day with the alleged information on the famous laptop, The meme of the "Biden Crime family" went viral among the Trump loyalists, eager to turn the spotlight away from the billions that the Trump family members were profiting from sketchy deals with Saudi Arabia. The investigation into President Biden's involvement in shady deals involving Ukraine fizzled due to lack of credible evidence. But that did not matter; the seed of doubt had already sprouted into "alternative facts."
During the last election, the Democrats lost the faith of many traditional D voters. The last-minute substitution of Kamala Harris as the candidate did not resonate with many. She had baggage and no new agenda to talk about. Former loyal blue collar voters could not see a brighter future with Kamala at the helm, while Trump promised to end illegal immigration, end inflation, slim down government waste, keep the USA out of foreign conflicts, yada yada.
Now Trump dominates the news headlines on a daily basis with one cockamamie assertion after another. We are befuddled by the level of chaos that he has brought into politics, his self aggrandizement and obvious misuse of his powers.
As Marc Antony says in the funeral speech: "Oh Judgement! thou art fled to brutish beasts, and men have lost their reason."
* Microsoft Co-Pilot was consulted in the composition of this post
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