by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
I’m not suggesting you should not vote. Please do! But going forward, you have to put your political actions in context. The United States is an autocracy without an autocrat. What does this mean? It means that, but for the want of a nail, the United States would be transitioning to a full-fledged Russian-style autocratic managed democracy at this very moment.
And, really, if you want to be clear eyed about it, this has really been the case since January 20th, 2017. Trump stress tested every element of our political system and, surprise! he gave half a dozen would-be autocrats the means to turn us into an autocracy once they get into power.
What pains me the most about all of this is that the people who should know better, the people who could single handedly save the Republic — conservative Traditionalists — are aligning with fascism. They are doing so because they are nervous about cancel culture, critical race theory and transgendered children. At the heart of all of this is the macro situation of an Republic slowly transitioning to an autocratic Empire in real time. And at its heart, the fact that Traditionalists would support fascism is more about race and shifting dynamics in gender roles than anything else.
The United States is growing very, very unstable. We’re a powder keg. And anything from Trump being indicted to a major domestic terrorist attack might be enough to cause states to begin the process of leaving the Union, which would prompt a civil war. Which side — Red or Blue — would start to leave the Union at some point in the near future (if we don’t become an autocracy) is still very much up in the air.
Let’s get back to the point of all of this — Republicans are strangling voting as a means of influencing the government. They only think elections that they win are legitimate. They literally only see democracy as a means to and end. If they win, democracy works. If they don’t then they have to “stop the steal.” It’s because of shit like this that I’m reading a huge tome on the rise of Hitler at the moment.
One person at the forefront of this slow-moving transition to autocracy is Steve K. Bannon. He is doing the hard work in the real world of making sure that on a local level GQP partisans administrate voting. The irony of all of this is, of course, that autocracy is so popular that if he would just cool it, he could very well get his autocratic rule without having to cheat.
But, lulz, fascists will be fascists.
As I keep saying — I have no idea if we’re going to have a civil war or slip peacefully into autocracy. The conditions are there for either eventuality. There is also a small chance that we may be temporarily governed by some sort of military junta as we struggle to avoid either one of the other two options.
So, again, please continue to vote and to be politically active. Please. But also be realistic. See things in context. Figure out what you believe in and are willing to suffer for in the real world. What are you willing to risk your life — and the lives of your family — and scared honor for? When things grow existential, are you going to flee the country or are you going to stand and fight to defend the Republic?
Things are dark and getting darker.
