"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."
The words of one of our greatest Presidents, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, from his 1932 inaugural address were an important theme in fighting the monetary bankruptcy that the United States, and the rest of the world, were experiencing at that time. In that speech, he reassured his audience that, though there was suffering everywhere and the future seemed bleak, blessings remained that nevertheless gave reasons for hope.
Today, we find ourselves in an equally-frightening ideological and moral bankruptcy, both in our country and in the rest of world, that threatens Western democracy, representative government, and the ideas of the Enlightenment. Even the concept of empirical truth is being attacked in the hope that our collective decision-making might become less-reasoned and more easily manipulated by would-be despots.
As in 1932, though, all is not lost in that we have a number of advantages counted to our side. It's more important than ever that we take inventory of and value those blessings so that we might strengthen, and not squander, them. Those blessings include:
1) We have objective truth on our side. It can't be hidden, either, in our society and culture- we are often frustrated that it is so difficult to curtail the flow of misinformation in our political discourse, but it is the same for truth, if not moreso. Our free (though corporate) media, and now the Internet, are embedded into the very foundation of our way of life, as Americans. Indeed, we hear of scandals almost daily emerging from the Trump administration because, while the truth can be willfully ignored by some in our society, it can't be covered up. And, paradoxically, it IS this constant drip of the truth- a sign of the health of our society- into our daily lives that can be so exhausting and demoralizing for us.
But, think about it: if it's that exhausting for us, those who willingly accept these truths, imagine how much harder it must be for Trump's collaborators to continually fool themselves and justify his corrupted, traitorous behavior. They can't allow themselves to be in touch with reality at all, lest their entire worldview shatter into a million pieces. I can't even imagine the hall-of-mirrors hellscape they must be living in. But we know what's what, as bizarre as the political landscape may be, and I'd bet my money on us holding out longer than them.
2) We have the support numbers on our side. The credible polls showed that more than half of Americans believed Trump should be thrown out of office before his term ended during the impeachment hearings. It wasn't that they just didn't like him or disapproved of how he was handling his office right that that moment- they didn't even believe that he should be afforded the dignity of finishing up his term. They wanted him, and still do presumably, gone NOW. And since when it is a GOOD thing to have a top end of 40-42% of the people of the country approving your job performance? Even after the drubbing Trump took in the House in 2018, somehow the media has developed a perception that that level of support is an advantage for him. It's ridiculous. It doesn't take a math professor to know from those numbers that there are 3 decent people who genuinely care about the well-being of our country for every 2 people who need to be part of a cult to feel safe. The good Americans outnumber the collaborators in our country by a sizeable margin, and eventually the good people are going to win out. We should feel positive about that, not disheartened.
3) We have the higher quality people on our side. You're damned right we have the elites. Many creative and generous, moneyed people on the coasts and elsewhere are liberals. They are sharp-minded, have strong values and in most cases are just as disturbed by what is happening to our country right now as you and I are. They can bankroll a campaign or any other democratic organization. Yes, there are certainly moneyed people on the other side also, but to be perfectly frank- here I'm looking at Trump himself, among others- most of those people didn't earn it. Trump collaborators with such financial blessings certainly didn't end up that way by virtue of their strength of character. They either inherited their money or outright stole it. The stumblefuck incompetence- not to mention the outright cowardice- of the type who support Trump is evident every day, in every unchecked behavior we see from Trump. And there is no better example of that than the Senate GOP voting to hear no evidence in Trump's impeachment, and then to acquit him. Total moral bankruptcy. No integrity or values whatsoever. You can't rest a genuine, lasting movement on the shoulders of people who value so little.
While our people are ready. We have youth and the health of diversity on our side. We aren't a bunch of 60-year-old has-been keyboard warriors on Rascals and disability benefits hypocritically blaming people with darker skin for their lives' dissatisfaction. No, our people believe in something. We have abstract ideas we put value in, not a Velveeta-necked, vulgarian traitor-turned-cult-leader. In fact, we have values that our domestic opposition consider outright jokes: compassion for others, economic fairness, scientific rigor, robust health, and the pursuit of truth. Our values are the very basis of our human existence, while the clowns we find ourselves arguing with stare slack-jawed at Fox News, Breitbart, and whatever other blather will allow them to escape participation in a fact-based world. These self-kidding clodhoppers aren't even worthy adversaries, now that we truly understand their game and the depth of their corruption- just how far they will go for power and what they would have us become- and we must be merciless, and fearless, in our opposition to them.
Edward R. Murrow said we Americans are not descended from fearful men. We aren't. And everything above, and more, says we will win this fight against rising fascism in the United States of America. It will be a long fight, one that doesn't end with the election in November. But, nevertheless, come November, we must and will be victorious.
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