Fear is the Mind Killer (A 1/6 Reflection)

I didn't get a chance to watch many movies in 2021, but one of them was Dune. I thought it was a great adaptation, and a timely one. As the famous line from the book goes, "fear is the mind-killer." By the time I saw the film in the fall, several months after January 6, it hit hard. 

In the immediate aftermath of the attack it seemed like the growth of fascism in America could no longer be denied. Here an armed mob, complete with Nazi gear and Confederate flags, tried to overthrow a democratic election with the assistance of the sitting president and several members of his party. Even after the smoke cleared a majority of House Republicans voted against certifying the election. Despite this, a lot of people who had stayed aloof finally took a side. Twitter banned Trump, for example. MLB players refused to have the All-Star Game in Georgia, which was restricting the right to vote.

This spirit did not last long. By springtime the media, centrists, and a lot of squishy liberals decided it was time to just get back to "normal." The Republicans who had openly declared their support for a coup went back to being treated as just regular politicians. In the minds of most voters the Republicans returned to being, in their minds, a center-right opposition party, not a vehicle for an extremist movement. Never mind that on the state level they were banning the teaching of the country's actual history and destroying reproduction rights. They even did well in the off year election, picking up a governor's seat in Virginia. It was as if nothing had happened.

In the meantime Congress failed to pass voting rights legislation, aided and abetted by Sinema and Manchin, supposed Democrats. Seeing democracy being threatened and the ostensible opponents of the wreckers refusing to do anything about it certainly raised my fear levels. At that point the voices of doom from the left resounded on Twitter, everyone trying to prove how smart they were by saying fascism was inevitable. Confused and fearful, the people who should be fighting the fascists have been in hiding.

Fear is indeed the mind killer.

It's time to start shaking this paralyzing fear. A year ago today on 1/6, before the mob stormed the Capitol, Warnock and Ossoff were confirmed as the winners in Georgia. That only happened because of the grassroots efforts to get out the vote and democratically alter what looked to be a set "red state" reality. That's the spirit I want to remember today. 

Bullies know they get the upper hand once their victims are afraid of them. At that point the bully gets to do whatever the hell they want. What ultimately breaks this dynamic is the victim showing that they won't put up with this shit anymore. I am sick and tired of the doom and defeatism. Nothing good comes from it. I will be damned if my children grow up in a fascist future. This 1/6 I am recommitting myself to fighting the fight, to not shy away from conflict but to relish it, and above all to not be afraid. There's no guaranteed victory, but nothing in life is guaranteed, especially if you give up.

1/6 Four Months On

Only four months ago Donald Trump helped incite a right-wing insurrection that invaded the Capitol with the aim of overturning the results of the 2020 election. Most Americans seems to have a vested interest in flushing it down the memory hole. 

Conservatives of course say it's all Not A Big Deal, for obvious, self-serving reasons. A lot of other people just don't want to reckon with its implications, and the fact that one of the two major parties has effectively become a vehicle for the destruction of democracy. That demolishes the "both sides" bullshit that folks in the center believe. For liberals and progressives who aren't willing to fight, it lays a challenge at their feet that they would rather ignore. 

In the meantime the Republican Party is purging those who criticize Trump and the coup, and is busy limiting voting rights and rigging elections. 1/6 was a watershed moment, a sign that our politics is no longer a matter of two parties vying for power, but of a radical right wing movement seeking to gain power through any means necessary against a standard center-left party.

My great fear is that too many people will deny this reality. I think Trump's ban from social media has made it so conservatives can do their dirty work under the cover of night and fog. Florida making it hard to vote doesn't get the same headlines without Trump making some obnoxious comments online about it. State level Republicans are much more free to manipulate the system with the spotlight elsewhere.

Our whole media apparatus certainly has decided to move on. Elite media is full of stories about anti-racist education at prep schools and swanky restaurants going vegetarian. We argue about this stupid shit online all day long while the very democratic process itself is being undermined. With Trump gone and muzzled too many have been lulled into a false sense of security. They think it's 1945 when it's really 1923. 

The only way we avoid 1933 is by maintaining our memory of 1/6 and the knowledge that it can't be allowed to happen again. Right now we still have a long way to go before we get to that understanding.