Fear and Longing on the Campaign Trail '24

In the aftermath of the general election I along with many others faced Wednesday morning slack jawed and blinking like an owl who wakes up in the morning wondering what exactly the hell just happened. Analysis pieces, the traditional coping method of Democratic presidential losses pointed fingers at the various systemic issues of sexism and racism. There were some theories of stolen votes and other chicanery. Perplexing to me are the exit numbers - - Trump got 2 million fewer votes in 2024 than he did in 2020. MAGA nation didn't grow, it shrunk. So why'd Harris lose? Because she got 13 million fewer votes than Biden. As Americans, we are especially soothed by uncomplicated solutions, in this case I think it was a little more complex.   

There are some people who just won’t vote for a woman; some people will never vote for a person of color.  Cultural reasons, generational, entrenched systems of sexism and racism, some conscious and some embedded deeply in cultural framework. Crucial Blue Wall states fell victim to protest votes. Or rather not-voting. For example, the Uncommitted Movement in MI mounted a campaign of protest non-voting over Gaza. People I know encouraged others not to vote based on this same issue. I don’t think the numbers show protest votes over Gaza to be The Thing. Tangentially, Harris was in a bit of an impossible position - she couldn’t unilaterally change decades of US foreign policy on Israel, she couldn’t go as pro-Israel (read Netanyahu) as Trump. It served to alienate those to her left and right. 

The recent Bernie Sanders letter highlighted the narrative of Democrats as elitist and out of touch snobs. I’ve had acquaintances push this narrative as well, as if education is the problem. They highlight the  kitchen table issues. While people couldn’t afford groceries, Democrats were talking about Democracy and fascism and the soul of the country. The MAGA counter was to ask, “Why should real Americans care about these concepts when there’s horrible crime and extortionate prices all propped up by a cabal of ivory tower eggheads in the press?” It is a truism of presidential elections, when the economy is perceived as poor, the incumbent loses.

Those two issues are hallmarks of the information war we’ve been losing for years. The terror campaign adopted by the Trump campaign painted a picture of the collective fears of people on the right. An America overrun with different and wrong people - trans people, weird immigrants bringing crime and, per the President elect, “poisoning the blood of our country”. The data showing crime going down is useless. Appeals to intellect don’t work. What Hitler knew, what Trump knows, is that facts are nothing compared to feelings. 

It’s the absolute acme of irony that The Hannaah Arendt quote about the Nazis’ assault on reality (“"This constant lying is not aimed at making the people believe a lie, but at ensuring that no one believes anything anymore…") that’s been bouncing around social media  for the past year is in itself fabricated. She never said it. What she did say in her last interview in 1974 was, 

"The moment we no longer have a free press, anything can happen. What makes it possible for a totalitarian or any other dictatorship to rule is that people are not informed; how can you have an opinion if you are not informed? If everybody always lies to you, the consequence is not that you believe the lies, but rather that nobody believes anything any longer. 

The assault on our collective reality engineered and waged by various corporate and national agents through social media bypass facts and work straight on our emotions. Speaking to the heart, as a German corporal once said. Left and Right found themselves in separate caves with curated shadows projected on the wall designed to make us scared, angry and isolated while simultaneously confirming our fears in the face of contrary data. Social media gives the impression of a large tribe all facing the same direction, but these Echo chambers only lower the resolution on relationships. We sacrifice the details and nuances of interaction for the rush of outrage and confirmation bias. It is a continuous assault on expertise and facts. The result is societal vertigo, an uncanny state causing folks to grasp harder on their social media tribes, calcifying a set of opinions and dehumanizing those who deviate from this curated narrative. 

War lost 8 years ago

What now and what to do? Prior to yesterday, my morning routine would involve waking up, reaching for my phone, and diving right into The Everything. I wanted to know what fresh new outrage occurred, who said what and who was saying what about what they said. The daily blast of social media, online news, and coffee really set the tone for my day - angry, scared, and thrashing around trying to alleviate my anger and fear. Since the election, for the most part I’ve ditched the socials and news (get your mitts off my coffee!). I have to say, it feels much better. 

And look, I’m not saying ignore reality. What happened is bad, and it’s going to get worse. I’m furious and terrified for all the folks here at home and globally who’re about to get screwed with their pants on. The passionate intensity fueling some of the ugliest aspects of our national character are going to fall like a sledgehammer on the most vulnerable. Every citizen has a moral duty to fight for our ideals. It simply feels unreal that over half the country decided that they love racism, hate Democracy, and really just want a dictator. And this idea makes me livid. In my unenlightened moments, I’ve imagined with anticipation Trump voters suffering along with the rest of us as the economy tanks under Muskonomics and healthcare gets savaged by that psychotic animal abuser, Kennedy. If their kids grow up sick, poor and stupid, it’s all they deserve. 

Fear and anger are wonderful motivators. Being scared and angry exclusively though  is not healthy for you and it’s not healthy collectively. The ubiquitous anxiety state we’ve been living in is not coincidental, it’s not a fact of nature. It is a planned operation already achieving its goals, and it has left us feeling powerless. Sadly, generalized anxiety is one of the few communal experiences we have left. 

The solutions to social media and unfocussed general fear are not complicated nor are they elusive. Slow down, eat some vegetables, go outside, spend time in the presence of other people. None of this will solve the problem of the election. Good nutrition isn’t going to protect health care; taking a walk with your friend isn’t going to immunize kids in underserved areas when RFK jr decides to end federal vaccination programs. I believe these normal human activities and interactions fight the perception war through perspective. Hardly a hot take, but going outside, disconnecting our minds from the fear machine from time to time can’t be a bad thing.