2024-02-29

A deeply broken country

The enshittification of my country is depressing and tiring.

Agreed. I keep trying to pull back, big picture, long period for context and perspective. So many things continue to go the wrong way. I lost faith in the legistlative process/system 30 years ago at which point I began to realize that the electoral process/system was equally broken. I still had hope though that the people of the country would step up to the challenge of figuring out the problems. In the past 15 years it seems increasingly clear that that will not happen.

We call ourselves the United States of America but there are many Americas and in truth it’s far from United. That’s a habit of the past not reflected by the current reality. Much of the enshitification that we see in 2024 is a result of economic and cultural divides. Of course these have existed since the founding of the country and they persist today, exploited to create conflict.

For many decades many have taken note that “the system” didn’t work well for the working class. The haves and have nots are easy to see if one just looks. They may be in the small towns in the countryside or in the urban core of cities, white, brown, and black.

In the past 10 years much of the country has been energized in a dramatic way but tragically that movement was never about democracy, social or economic justice. Donald Trump spoke to the deep frustrations of the working class whites of the US. He energized their anger and told them he would get justice for them. In part he tapped into their decades of latent racism, but simultaneously he tapped into the real truth that they had been left behind by the wealthier classes of the country. He tapped into their fear that they didn’t belong in a country that was being taken away by “others”: non-whites, migrants, non-Christians (most notably Muslims), trans and gay people.

For 10+ years he’s stirred the emotions of millions of people. And to be clear, a part of what makes this movement dangerous and, frankly, terrifying, it’s that it is his movement. The Republican party as it once was has been overthrown. The establishment of that party was show the door and push through it. MAGA is in service to Donald Trump and he is in service to himself. Hence we find ourselves at the door step of something new in America: Autocracy.

In the two party system the opposition consists of the Democratic part which consists of two divided groups.

Those historically labeled “liberal”, seem increasingly fearful and concerned, but I would say that this America is still fairly distracted by their investment in the system. I think of this is the establishment portion of Democratic Party. These folks tend to be whiter and wealthier, middle class with more education. They’ve done better than most and see the system as functional because it’s mostly worked well for them. These are the folks that have thus far dominated what passes for a “left” in the US. Some of these folks are active in the Democratic party but most are far more likely to be active at the local Target or on a vacation. They’ve got more wealth and can afford to be.

Contrasted against this are the “progressives”. These are the working class of the left. These folks lack the privileges of the wealthier liberals. They are the underdogs of the left. The progressives are a mix of races, pro-union, younger, angrier and have benefited far less from the system. These are the activists. The folks that supported Sanders and who are now most vocal about protesting Biden’s support of Israel. When there are anti-war protests these are the folks to organize and come out in greatest numbers. They are the ones that organize and show up Black Lives Matter protests. They’re more likely to be involved with union organizing. In terms of wealth these folks have more in common with “the other side”, the poorer rural whites of MAGA.

As we enter the election season of 2024 the split on the left is deeply concerning. Not surprisingly the establishment liberals don’t have much energy or argument beyond the easiest, most convenient which is always, simply, “support the establishment”. They’re not interested in rocking the boat because their boats are bigger and filled with more stuff. The status quo has been fairly good to the middle and upper middle class and they’d like to keep it that way. They tend to trust the system more than anyone else. In terms of the 2024 election, they’re not interested in debate or discussion. All they can muster is “Look, Trump is terrible, he must not win. There is no choice.”

And on that, they’re not wrong. Trump must not win.

But this establishment of the Democratic Party is loosing the long game because outside of the wealthiest in the country, they’re the most comfortable. They can afford to put off action. And they can afford to turn away from the uncomfortable truths of our times. And they’re arrogant in their self estimate of being the reasonable moderates not just of the country but of their own party. They snub their noses at the youthful activists of their party suggesting that their social justice ideals, while admirable, just aren’t practical. Sure, when it’s safe to do so, it adds an interesting social justice flavor to the party. But it’s just there as a window dressing.

The safe moderate choice of the establishment Democrats in 2020 was Joe Biden and while he did an admirable job his first term he is also a very proud Zionist and that’s proving to be a problem in the early months of 2024 as Israel commits what has been called by the International Court of Justice “plausible genocide”. The comfortable middle class Democrats are having a hard time seeing the truth as it pertains to the facts of this inconvenient moment in history. Or, if they are seeing it they’re not willing to say much about it.

The problem of the middle class of America is that they are largely isolated from the world’s problems. They are safe and comfortable and that’s what matters most to them. It allows them to live relatively safe, comfortable and untroubled lives most of the time. Not only do they serve as a ballast, providing balance against the have-nots in their own country, but they also muffle the injustices brought by US foreign policy to the rest of the world.

Tragically though, in the case of Israel, even the moderate candidate is one who continues US support of Israel’s apartheid, war crimes and genocide.

What the US faces is far, far worse than enshitification. The attempt to cling to comfort and convenience often means turning away from problem solving. It leads to kicking the can down the road and leaving the actual problem solving to future generations. That’s what the US has been doing for decades with many of its problems. But as the rising seas become increasingly rough the ballast of a moderate middle class cannot hold. We cannot innovate our way out of the climate emergency. We cannot ignore genocide. We cannot pretend that perpetual economic growth is possible.

Our future is not going to be comfortable, convenient or pleasant. The sooner we can stop pretending and get on with making the necessary changes the better off we will be.

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