From what little I know of Trump the man, I wouldn’t trust him as far as I could throw him. From what I’ve seen of the distance between the Trump myth and the reality it conceals, I wouldn’t put money on him “draining the swamp” any time soon – not if left to his own devices. He seems to me a creature of the establishment, albeit with a heavy slice of the jester or imp about him. What I’ve seen of Biden, man and myth, alarms me. The more I learn, the more alarmed I become.
But neither observation matters all that much, and that is one part of what this post is about. To put it succinctly, I’ve been wholly unengaged in left- and right-wing ideologies and politics for about 20 years. What matters to me is what makes most sense beyond ideology, if such is possible. For the record, I think such is possible, though to a somewhat limited degree. The attempt to remain free of ideology is itself partly ideological. Anything that patterns our approach to politics and societal governance is going to have a slice of ideology to it. As we confront the devilish details when applying that pattern in daily life, politics enters the scene, heavily, awkwardly, and won’t go away. When we deal with Other, compromise is the name of the game. Loving, creative compromise keeps the game healthy. That takes courageous transparency. And transparency is one thing we need a lot more of.
Trump’s myth attracts my attention regardless of how true it is. Not because I’m attracted to it per se – it’s too cartoonish for me –, but because “draining the swamp” is sorely needed. There is corruption aplenty in every nation on earth. How could it be otherwise; power corrupts. Power attracts those who hunger for power, a civilisational dynamic we must live with. So evidence of voter fraud, properly exposed, would flush out much corruption. So much so, in fact, that few of the horrifically partisan mass-media outlets, social and conventional, will escape unwounded, and many might perish.
The promising opportunity I see here lies in a Trump victory. His victory would necessarily be accompanied by exposure of massive voter fraud. Once out, this cat will not go back in the bag. The chance We, The People would then have to wrest narrative control from the globalists would be far larger than it is now. And the shock would wake many from the Stockholm Syndrome slumber cocooning them, blinding them.
I want neither the Old Normal, nor the New Normal so aggressively pushed by globalists. The latter seems appealing only because it’s shinier than the ugly chaos erupting all around us. But squeaky-clean totalitarianism isn’t the only alternative. We can do better than total surveillance, total servitude, total serfdom, in short total subjection to The Powers That Be. And we can also do better than the Old Normal that led inexorably to this mess. More on that “better” a little down the page.
Obviously, those selling snake oil of totalitarian flavour want total control. Those who want total control should not be in charge of anything, let alone the whole planet. It’s a soul sickness nothing can satisfy, not least the illusion of total control that must always remain out of reach, pulling its acolytes forwards to their destructive demise via some unknowable number of illusory victories along the way. The Book of Revelation is a mythical roadmap that describes this process. 666, the number of the beast, symbolises total control, six being the number of order, of mechanical perfection.
In other words, in Trump’s case it’s the myth that matters; a Trump victory combined with a sufficiently large shock would mean the direction of travel then chosen will be exposure of ever more corruption. If Biden wins, We, The People are far more likely to be sleep-walked to a nasty – though nice and tech-shiny – dystopian future very few of us actually want. Even if our fear tells us we do.
All that said, the ideological divide – a false dichotomy in my view – is not going to dissolve into peace and harmony this side of a painful cultural catharsis. Regardless of how the election aftermath shakes out, bad actors will remain in charge, bad blood will be boiling and vested interests will continue to push our buttons and pull our strings, shepherding us whither they will. The point here is the window of opportunity a Trump victory might afford us. We will make best use of that window by staying calm but firm, persistent but polite, open but skeptical. In short, by remaining loving.
Back to the promised “better”. An enormous improvement on all the above can be the only consequence if loving level headedness prevails. The path that improvement will be – the journey is the destination – opens when we commit to love. Those still lost to the dark spell cast so perniciously over humanity will need help and guidance. The route out will not be obvious and likely longer than we would like, possibly decades. Thus the more sobriety and joy we bring to this grave challenge the more rewarding it will be.
My next post will examine in detail the nature of that challenge.
5 comments:
Hello Toby. I haven't visited in a long while and hope you are doing well.
> The promising opportunity I see here lies in a Trump victory. His victory would necessarily be accompanied by exposure of massive voter fraud.
Well that didn't happen as there is zero evidence of fraud. We make our own opportunity, no need to involve asshats like Trump.
Biden is no prize, but for me the most important thing is that bad actors (which includes most presidents in my lifetime) not be rewarded with a second term. Polling indicates that two-thirds of Biden voters did so to oppose Trump, not support Biden, so I wouldn't worry that people are "sleep-walking".
Hi Karl! Yes, long time no see. I'm doing well all things considered, hopefully life is treating you well, too.
I disagree there is zero evidence of fraud – I've 'seen' plenty –, but neither of us can be certain. What and whom can we trust nowadays?
In a Better World®, "bad actors" wouldn't become presidents in the first place! But that world is a way away yet. Exposing fraud and corruption, how endemic both are across the world, would be, potentially at least, sufficiently shocking to get more people to wake up. (What a sad expression "wake up" has become!) And because it hardly matters who is president, I prioritise exposing wrong doing above the sin of rewarding any bad actor with a second term.
Consequently, I'm far from convinced that simply getting Trump out at any cost is an indication of any significance that people aren't sleepwalking. Quite the opposite in fact.
However, I do agree we make our own opportunities. But the playing field is is steeply tilted against us and the air, globally, is thickly misted with lies and deception. Again, exposing that fact would be a mighty win, imo.
Trump is a sociopathic con man. This was well known by anyone who bothered to examine his life before he was elected.
While the U.S. executive and legislative branches are fairly corrupt, I still have faith in it's legal system. Trump's lawyers have yet to show any substantive evidence before any court. On December 1, attorney general William Barr (a Trump ally) has publicly stated there is no widespread fraud.
Toby, I don't think you appreciate how potentially dangerous Trump is. He makes outrageous claims in the media to raise funds for his political action committee but this also fosters a mood of rebellion. His supporters include fascists intent on violence. One is an elderly relative of mine who in the last month bought an assault rifle along with thousands of rounds of ammo and illegal modifications so that he can go out with guns blazing. Former national security adviser Michael Flynn, which Trump pardoned last month, is now publicly endorsing the idea of suspending the constitution to redo the election under martial law. If this is not done some Trump cultists promise civil war.
The civil-war path has been on the agenda for a while, I think.
Karl, I think you fail to see that both 'sides' are operated by the same interests. Whether this goes the Biden or Trump route, civil war is the desired outcome, towards collapse followed by "build back better": a very different world indeed, one I don't like the look of at all. Violence is violence, whether perpetrated by the so-called 'left' or 'right'. All this vitriol from the 'Trump' camp around communism and socialism is infantile in my view, as is the narcissistic 'anti-fascistic' side of this manufactured trench-warfare quagmire.
But again, to repeat: it's not Trump the man that concerns me, it was (not is) the slim chance that exposure of an entirely corrupt media – the whole thing is corrupt – would serve as an icy bucket of water in the faces of America's warring factions to stop long enough to see a little more clearly what's going on, to begin to think more critically, intelligently, impartially, wisely. This is not a time to accept the sides presented to us, it's a time to escape the constraints of their framing.
But I no longer see that as even remotely possible. If you read my latest article, you'll see how much time I devote to this issue of division ... perhaps in vain. I'm sadly beginning to conclude that there's nothing to be done, that this concocted or fomented poison, this divide-and-conquer addled world (Western I suspect) is due a very painful catharsis of the ugliest variety.
With a little luck, I'm wrong. Being wrong on this would make me a happy man!
The elites are making out like bandits, so I doubt they want a civil war to upset their gravy train.
The framing of 'everyone to the left of Attila the Hun is a commie' is typical for Republicans in general. That's not something new with Trump. The rise of actual fascists is new, but hopefully that has been nipped in the bud with the ousting of Trump.
Both major U.S. political parties are undergoing internal revolts that will hopefully spawn new parties. Regardless of how much the old parties have colluded to govern, many people want a new direction. In the new factions it's often discussed how corrupt the media is, so I'm not sure what you think there is to expose. It's also problematic when the media does report the truth and people don't believe it.
This goes to the heart of the divisions. How do you join together with people who don't care what is true, who don't care what is sustainable, and who have no interest in the health of their fellows?
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