The Horror, The Horror
Part I: Where Are We Now?
I. The End
Two hundred and fifty years after what de Toqueville and Lincoln called a“great experiment,” that was the envy of all the world, it has come to an inglorious end. Democracy has destroyed itself, just as its worst detractors anticipated.
As for myself: sixty-odd years of wading through the morass that included slavery, the A-Bombs, destruction of indigenous peoples, Banana republics, military bases around the world: the basic story remains untouched: The place where people from everywhere wanted to get to, and came, and made the United States into a haven for those who fled tyranny, and somehow found their way to the nation that has finally abolished slavery: the Golden Door. And now, what is there left to say, as we witness the final dissolution. Soon it will be gone, all gone, nothing left but the ruins of schadenfreude and oppression.
II. What’s Next?
The capitalist nations that we call “democratic” have almost always, in fact, been “oligarchic” as well — the two outcomes of the descent from monarchy being in constant struggle. The latter most often rules on matters of the productive economy; the former often rules in the realms of culture, beliefs, and expression, as well as in the realm of equal rights: above all in the United States since the end of the Civil War. But there is a caveat here to which I’ll return.
In any event, however, we are about to leave the realm of capitalist democracy, with all its shortcomings, and enter a much more destructive world in which the democratic forces having been routed, and autocracy-a system of government by one person with absolute power prevails, with a Great Man in the monarch’s place, with its attendant lackeys and spokespersons.
Any attempt to organize a form of opposition whatsoever: control of the Internet now has as much influence as control of the military, as both the rule of law and voting equality are both overturned. As for the much-vaunted and, indeed, historically monumental, separation of powers, that too along with the separation of Church and State, disappears.
So much for the Federalist Papers and the Constitution: gone, gone, gone. Just ask the Republican’s Party’s Supreme Court about that: about What?
I have not yet plumbed the depths of what we face: namely, the welding of the autocratic State into a Plutocracy, that is to say, absolute powers in both state and nation placed in the hands of the wealthy: a world in which Elon Musk has more power than all the voters combined.
As for what that world might look like, here are some hints:
“Emboldened Men Celebrate Donald Trump’s Win By Hurling Attacks On Women Online“Your body, my choice”
(From Vanity Fair)
And why not? That’s what the election was about. Perhaps a bit more complicated e.g., for Latinos, join the patriarchy and become White, along with the white women’s misogyny club. But I will get to that in my next blog.
Meanwhile, as Harris kept telling us, it was and is all laid out in Project 2025, and the main message is not even hidden. The problem for its authors, J.D. Vance among them, is that combination of autocracy and plutocracy is not a program: that doesn’t tell you what to actually do in governance. Which is to abolish all institutions that pose a threat of democracy, starting with traditional government itself: RAGE–“Retire all Government Employees”–is the first step.
Ending the Rule of Law, through abolition of an independent Justice Department which is incompatible with tyranny, is next. Take over the structures and incentives of voting, as did Victor Orban in Hungary–Trump’s favorite tyrant. Outlaw opposition and permit only support on the Internet and in the mass media: what Elon Musk has tried to do with his limited sway will now be unlimited power.
And so on. What we are describing here, simply put, is totalitarianism, or what we can alternately call The Florida Project. Ron de Santis has shown the way, using his office to crush or effectively outlaw, all public or even private means of communication, education most all, to become simply a tool of power. Now, totally unleashed, there is nothing to stop or slow that project: when you look at the details, it is what Trump voters voted for.
III. A Possible Future?
Here, however, lies a hint, the best one I can think of. The autocrat, the plutocrats, and the totalitarian project, can take over states, but not abolish them. There are 20 states which voted for democracy, 4 others with Democratic governors. One of them, California, has the world’s fifth largest economy all in itself; another, New York, is one of the financial centers of the world; a third, Illinois, links East and West economies through Chicago, on both land and water–and air.
I will not develop this point until later, but suffice it to say here that it is beyond the scope of the totalitarians to abolish the separation of powers, and of the Court in particular to outdo what it has already done. As Andrew Jackson said of the Court, how many troops does it have? When Gavin Newsom controls California’s Administration; when Baltimore, New York City, San Diego,Long Beach and Seattle, not to forget Chicago, receive and process most of the results of international trade coming into and leaving the U.S., and such potential escape valves as airlines can be nationalized; will the military attack the National Guards that are controlled by the governors of those states?
This is my one hope, already presaged in the way Newsom and Governor Maura Healy of Massachusetts have squirreled away millions of units of mifepristone. On issues of reproductive freedom, perhaps even the Affordable Care Act, the states have power that cannot be challenged except by brute force à la Vladimir Putin. And if women violated by the misogyny and patriarchy of the Fascist states want to move, no nationwide abolition will be able to stop them. And the free states will have to welcome them with protection and basic resources.
Will they be up to the task?
To be continued in Part 2, How Did We Get Here?
