Watching financial markets still roiling in turmoil over "Liberation Day." It's pretty clear we're barrelling toward a recession.
Wondering whether it still counts as schadenfreude when you feel glee at your own misfortune.
Nick Aubert
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GlyphThere are many “what should we do next” thinkpieces, but this one is mine.
If you want an abstract summary, the idea is “we need to run a year-round parallel campaign apparatus that just introduces people to progressive ideas by making their lives better in whatever ways we can”.
That is a staggeringly huge project and if it does even happen, I can only be a tiny part of it, so I will need your help. Contact info is at the end of the blog post.
https://blog.glyph.im/2024/11/its-time-for-democrats-to-get-more-annoying.html
The solution in 2025 is the same as it was in 2017. Stay involved in grassroots community organizations. Pay attention to school board elections and local politics. Do what you can to protect vulnerable people. When spreading the truth, don't dunk on the other side just to score likes on social media.
Don't give up the fight when it's needed most.
The radical economic policies proposed by the incoming administration are mostly bluster, and will be deeply economically counterproductive if they come to pass. The reactionary culture war policies are also generally unpopular and will generate a real backlash if they start to have an impact on people's lives. While the threat to marginalized people is real, I think overstating culture war issues is a distraction from an even greater danger: weakening institutions and the rule of law. This includes an independent judiciary, credible journalism, academia, and regular grassroots organizations. All of these are necessary foundations for all liberal and progressive ideals. The enemies of America, including the incoming administration, will seek to divide Americans and undermine these institutions. Our institutions are resilient, and they can survive, but they're not indestructible, and they need our help.
A significant portion of the population is engaged in voluntary self-delusion. These are people who should know better, but choose not to. It's been easier for them to hold onto their shared delusions when there were no consequences. Now that they're about to get what they asked for, it will take more effort for them to come up with ways to square their beliefs with concrete reality. There's a base that will go to their graves still clutching these beliefs, otherwise the reckoning would be too painful, but there's a wider number of them for whom politics isn't part of their core identity. They can be peeled away, and sometimes even reasoned with.
We need to focus on the future. #resist
A large portion of eligible voters are pretty checked out when it comes to national affairs. They're usually able to manage their personal lives with reasonable success, but they don't have a strong grasp on the difference between reality and reality television. About a third of Americans believe in ghosts and UFOs, and about 10% of Americans believe the Earth is flat. Abstract concepts like Democracy, Human Rights, and the Rule of Law seem a long way off when they don't have an impact on daily lives. These are the voters who turned out in large numbers yesterday. They can be ginned up, but they're not a reliable coalition.
Biden should have dropped out a year ago, but better late than never. Biden has served the country with distinction.🇺🇸