Lifting Up Rocks and Smashing Their Own Feet

Pew Research Center came out with a survey saying that 53% of Americans believe that other Americans are bad. My first response was that this is bad for society and democracy (as per Hannah Arendt),and my second thought was, Well, they are. *Gestures toward...everything*

I had worried that legitimately electing Trump a second time was a worst-case scenario; that forcing him to try to steal the election would have at least rendered the American electorate less culpable for whatever happened afterward, but that did not happen. Instead, Trump eked out a victory with just around 1% over Kamala Harris, with help from military servicemembers, who voted for him over Harris 2:1. 

In sum: I believe that the American electorate is entirely culpable for Trump, and I believe that they willfully ignored evidence and arguments revealing who he is and what he was going to do (warnings that have proved extremely correct). Furthermore, I believe that the people on r/LeopardsAteMyFace, who are currently eating the consequences of their choices, not only do not deserve relief, but should be restricted from voting in the future. I firmly believe that such people voted for Trump because they wanted his policies to only affect people they hate, and are only upset because they have since discovered that they are more acutely vulnerable to the actions of the federal government than their political opponents. They have lifted up a large rock and ended up smashing their own feet. More pathetically, MAGA's entire raison d'etre--allegations of pedophilia at the highest echelons of power--has entirely backfired as details emerge alleging that nearly every important member of Trump's administration--up to and including Der Orangenfuhrer himself (hoo boy is he ever!)--is involved with Jeffrey Epstein.

In Russia, both before and during the Soviet era, the serfs that ended up catching the attention of the Okhrana--and later the Soviet secret police--and ended up in a concentration camp of some kind, would complain amongst themselves that "There must be some mistake! If only the Tsar knew, then I would be free!" [Also, "If only Stalin knew..."]

 In the United States, we have our own equivalent: Facebook posts beginning with: "Dear President Trump, ICE deported my spouse/child. Please help get [them] back!" or: "Dear President Trump, I voted for you three times and I lost my government job and my healthcare. Please help! Thank you and God bless you." [Reader, do you believe even for a single 0.0000000000000000001th of a second that Der Orangenfuhrer has ever spared a thought for these people who believe in him so ardently?]

Putting what I said in bold aside for a second--because I really am of two minds about this--it is important to understand that, on some deeper level, the Republican electorate has been horrifically abused for decades, with the most absolutely evil bait-and-switch propagandizing seen in a (formerly) democratic country. Their ability to think has been annihilated (as per Hannah Arendt again). However, as much as they might turn on Trump at the fringes ("I'm never voting for you again!"), and no matter how many MAGA hats they might burn (Why do they light everything on fire? Let's not think about that...), it is hard to believe that they could ever switch parties as they are liable to get sucked in by another egregiously cynical propaganda campaign.

The point about them not voting in the future is not (only) about them being fascists; it is about the fact that they are not fit to be discerning participants in a democratic society. They cannot evaluate information, and they cannot disbelieve the propaganda that they are absorbing. Brain off Project 2025 go brrrrrrrr -- TRUMP'S NOT DOING PROJECT 2025! HE DOESN'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THAT IS! I HEARD HIM SAY SO ON THE TV!

The Impending Death Spiral of the United States

 Frankenstein seems to be all the rage these days, doesn't it? Well, it turns out that it's a true story--as literal as you can get--about the United States. And it happens over and over again.

The basic plot of Frankenstein is as follows:

- Victor creates the monster
- Victor abuses the monster
- The monster escapes
- The monster wrecks havoc on society
- Victor hunts the monster

In the case of the United States, Victor is the GOP, and the monster is the parade of demagogues (Ronald Reagan, Dubya, and Trump--of course) who have been and will be unleashed upon society. In our case, unfortunately, Victor feels no obligation to society at all and actively helps the monster destroy society.

Once Trump is gone--and one day, he will be--the GOP will still exist with its stranglehold on parts of the country and its six SCOTUS judges. It will use its structural advantages and the negligence of the electorate to try again--repeatedly--until the country is destroyed (if it isn't destroyed this time).

Once they survey the damage to see what they managed to break, they will engineer some other dark money-aligned aspiring authoritarian to press further, and take that as far as it can go. Rinse, repeat. 

 When I wrote about the Assault on the Capitol Building 5 years ago, I said that the abyss would return, and I was right. Here, I will make a further claim: That the abyss will be with us for a long time. 

Conclusion

What is the appropriate balance between the moral culpability of Trump's supporters and the possibly mitigating circumstances of their historical abuse at the hands of one political party?

This is not a question I believe that I can answer on my own. We know that going too hard on those responsible causes ressentiment to fester and will result in much more trouble down the road, but how do you safeguard society? How much can you safeguard society? Is it too late?