Silence Will End My Sanity

“White working class Americans feel left behind by the Government. Ignored”

It’s the fucking Republicans that left them behind in the first place! The commitment to ideology and the refusal to look past what is fed them by state sponsored media (read propaganda) is incredible. The true question for the health and longevity of the nation is how do we break this cycle? How do we keep people from believing the ones who are actively harming them when they lie to them? How do we fit truth into a post truth world? How does this nation break from its reliance on repackaged antebellum and reconstruction era ideals of white supremacy, both nascent and open?

I don’t think the answers to the questions are easy or comfortable. Yet, the fate of the nation is at stake. Authoritarians have captured the levers of power, by legitimate or illegitimate means it does not matter. Their ideology is buried in the 1850s era of chattel slavery. Their “freedom” is dependent on the ability to claim superiority over women and non-whites. They have rounded off the edges of the language over the last 150 years, but any cursory in-depth investigation into the genesis of their ideals will show a very short, and very bold, line connecting “Pro-tradition, pro business” republicans to the racist Southern Democrats of old.  

The first step into endeavoring to answer these questions, and thus reshape America in the image of the Declaration of Independence and its principles, is to speak plainly about the grave danger that faces democracy and freedom as we know it. The Left, Liberals, Democrats, however we choose to define what is now squarely an opposition party to a fledgling authoritarian regime is of little importance. Since the ending of the Fairness Doctrine under Reagan’s FCC, Republicans have weaponized truth and ushered in an era of post truth. Though truth must be upheld with the utmost importance and vigor, being constantly placed on the back foot fact checking yesterday’s talking points has clearly shown to be an ineffectual failure. How do we make truth matter to the American people again? By that I mean real truth, rooted in fact, historical record, and researched data, not the “truth” that people find from their own “research” in social media echo chambers. Truth, real truth, must be brought back to the forefront. 

This has been a ramble, I know, but it is a look at my stream of thoughts as I try to organize and wrap my mind around the fact that the “Nation of Freedom” has turned to authoritarianism. With this blog I want to look at how this happened, what it means, and what can be done about it in respect to engaging younger generations of Americans that stand to lose the most if this nation is reshaped in the image of rich white supremacists. 

– The People. Of, By, and For