The boil is now explicitly revealing its heat. You're not in immediate personal danger, but it's getting too late for a dilative, comfortably thoughtful appraoch. What is happening is not cyclical. Things are broken that will stay broken, and we are only getting started breaking things. And it's difficult but essential to register that the burn-it-down thirst is broad, and not confined to the Right. That, to me, is the tectonic problem, not Elon Musk's scampering atrocities (I may be wrong, but I imagine he'll be gone sooner or later).
I've repeated this thought twice in the last month not because I'm getting old and forgetful, but because it's super important: Bernie Sanders in 2015 was giving speeches proposing, with populist fire, sweeping, tectonic changes to institutions, while crowds roared appreciatively. There was serious MAGA energy (same vibe, different credo) at the time among the progressive Left, and it hasn't dissipated any.
A fundamental credo of this Slog is that "Recognizing stupidity doesn't mean you're smart, it just means you're observant". Same for spotting delusion, or bad behavior of most sorts. Simply noticing how deranged the Right is does not make you sane.
I'm not taking shots at the Left because I have a political credo to push. My point is that we don't just have a problem on the Right, we have a national problem transcending partisanship. As we learned from the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, it's possible to have extremely legitimate beefs with an opposing group without earning moral high ground for yours. Both of you might be awful. You must add that possibility to your calculus (or consider moving toward the lonely Center).
The Right seems a trillion times worse right now, but that's only because they actually got their shot at it. So I don't see a cyclical problem (which might get better) but a systemic one (which will get worse).
I'm looking ahead here, which is an unusual move amid tumult. But it's not my thing to stand frozen in a stupor repeating "This can't be happening!" I perpetually scan for the next shoe-drop. My life has been more difficult than most, so protracted struggles to accept the here-and-now are indulgences I could never have afforded. I've taught myself to reframe on a dime—to immediately accept the immediate and pay all attention forward.
To conclude: a piece of good news, and a piece of bad (or, ok, "even worse") news:
GOOD NEWS (doesn't start off sounding good, though): America is fast losing its position in the world (destruction is much swifter than construction). How much does this matter to an individual life? By chance, I asked the same question before moving to Portugal: "What do I give up going from the strongest country to a smaller, weaker one?" The full answer would require a separate posting, but the upshot is "not much".
Pundits and columnists are ruing the potential end of the American Century, but that big picture view is what they're paid to consider. For you and me, unless we have a severe case of scorekeeping and a rabid desire to be "NUMBER ONE!!!", it doesn't matter much. Individual lives are small, and living deeper down in the pack offers a helpful reminder of this. I don't need Portugal to be an awesome force in the world, I am completely ok with it merely feeling like home.
It might even make living in America more pleasant in the long run. The vibe is considerably kinder and chiller when you're not living amongst world-ruling titans, who can get a little tramply. So don't get too caught up in the pundit/columnist big picture framing. Tectonic changes are interesting for historians, but none of us are historic figures. So shave that lofty part off of your personal stress load and motivation.
BAD NEWS: Five Eyes, an Anglosphere intelligence alliance comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States, has either stopped, slowed, or plans to stop (depending on news reports) sharing some or all intelligence with the United States. Frankly, I wouldn't pass the crown jewels of my country's safe-keeping past Tulsi Gabbard, either, even if the ultimate destination weren't Donald Trump.
Five Eyes is the most important thing you never heard of. Five Eyes is what keeps us safe, particularly when it comes to terrorism (I read up on intelligence stuff as a hobby). So if you live in a major city center, you might want to move somewhere less targetty. The insecurity urbanites felt in Fall 2001—which thankfully didn't amount to anything but spurred many of your neighbors to leave town, along with the second migration post-COVID—may have quietly passed a tipping point, creating a reasonable imperative, if not immediate panic. Sorry.
To conclude: a piece of good news, and a piece of bad (or, ok, "even worse") news:
GOOD NEWS (doesn't start off sounding good, though): America is fast losing its position in the world (destruction is much swifter than construction). How much does this matter to an individual life? By chance, I asked the same question before moving to Portugal: "What do I give up going from the strongest country to a smaller, weaker one?" The full answer would require a separate posting, but the upshot is "not much".
Pundits and columnists are ruing the potential end of the American Century, but that big picture view is what they're paid to consider. For you and me, unless we have a severe case of scorekeeping and a rabid desire to be "NUMBER ONE!!!", it doesn't matter much. Individual lives are small, and living deeper down in the pack offers a helpful reminder of this. I don't need Portugal to be an awesome force in the world, I am completely ok with it merely feeling like home.
It might even make living in America more pleasant in the long run. The vibe is considerably kinder and chiller when you're not living amongst world-ruling titans, who can get a little tramply. So don't get too caught up in the pundit/columnist big picture framing. Tectonic changes are interesting for historians, but none of us are historic figures. So shave that lofty part off of your personal stress load and motivation.
BAD NEWS: Five Eyes, an Anglosphere intelligence alliance comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States, has either stopped, slowed, or plans to stop (depending on news reports) sharing some or all intelligence with the United States. Frankly, I wouldn't pass the crown jewels of my country's safe-keeping past Tulsi Gabbard, either, even if the ultimate destination weren't Donald Trump.
Five Eyes is the most important thing you never heard of. Five Eyes is what keeps us safe, particularly when it comes to terrorism (I read up on intelligence stuff as a hobby). So if you live in a major city center, you might want to move somewhere less targetty. The insecurity urbanites felt in Fall 2001—which thankfully didn't amount to anything but spurred many of your neighbors to leave town, along with the second migration post-COVID—may have quietly passed a tipping point, creating a reasonable imperative, if not immediate panic. Sorry.
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