We’ll Get the Political System We Deserve

The tipping point has already been passed. That point may have been with the election of a carnival barker in 2016 or during the following four years when the guard rails of the three equal branches of American government were partly dismantled. Whenever it was exactly, it has been passed.

The lubrication for this shift away from democracy is the takeover of the Internet by the mis-information industry. This industry relies on “owned eyeballs” and to keep those eyeballs engaged with content, it needn’t be true, just “sticky”. That is how they make their money. There’s nothing so sticky as the outrageous, the slanderous, the conspiratorial and the divisive. Neither Madison nor Jefferson could have imagined that having a “well-informed electorate” would eventually become impossible. It’s impossible now.

America has split into three tribes. Two of those tribes believe that they have exclusive access to the “truth” but their truths are mutually exclusive. Ergo, one of those tribes is running on propaganda. The third tribe doesn’t give a damn and never has.

One of those tribes yearns for an autocratic leader who will put the elites and their baby-eating brethren in prison or necks on the chopping block. They are very likely to succeed given that the machinery for free and fair elections is being altered across the electoral map so that negative outcomes can be reversed to suit their tribe. Their failure to reverse the outcome of the 2020 election gave them a roadmap of how to do it right next time. January 6th was a rehearsal.

Ironically, the rules that allow a minority tribe to control the process were put in place by the writers of the Constitution. The founders feared true democracy or the rule of law by “the mob”, a.k.a. citizen voters. So, we have the Electoral College, the filibuster and a Senate that gives extraordinary power to states with small populations. Most of these rules were in defense of slavery. The tyranny of the majority was evaded. Now we have the tyranny of the minority.

So, what will things be like when the autocratic tribe gets it leader? I submit some interesting thoughts from a writer who went through the change to autocracy.

Indi Samarajiva:

I lived through the end of a civil war — I moved back to Sri Lanka in my twenties, just as the ceasefire fell apart. Do you know what it was like for me? Quite normal. I went to work, I went out, I dated. This is what Americans don’t understand. They’re waiting to get personally punched in the face while ash falls from the sky. That’s not how it happens.

This is how it happens. Precisely what you’re feeling now. The numbing litany of bad news. The ever rising outrages. People suffering, dying, and protesting all around you, while you think about dinner. . . .

As someone who’s already experienced societal breakdown, here’s the truth: America has already collapsed. What you’re feeling is exactly how it feels. It’s Saturday and you’re thinking about food while the world is on fire. This is normal. This is life during collapse. . . .

As Colombo kids we used to go out, worry about money, fall in love — life went on. We’d pop the trunk for a bomb check. Turn off our lights for the air raids. I’m not saying that we were untouched. My friend’s dad was killed, suddenly, by a landmine. RIP Uncle Nihal. I know people who were beaten, arrested, and went into exile. But that’s not what my photostream looks like. It was mostly food and parties and normal stuff for a dumb twenty-something. . . .

If you’re waiting for a moment where you’re like “this is it,” I’m telling you, it never comes. Nobody comes on TV and says “things are officially bad.” . . .

Perhaps you’re waiting for some moment when the adrenaline kicks in and you’re fighting the virus or fascism all the time, but it’s not like that. Life is not a movie, and if it were, you’re certainly not the star. You’re just an extra. If something good or bad happens to you it’ll be random and no one will care. If you’re unlucky you’re a statistic. If you’re lucky, no one notices you at all.

Collapse is just a series of ordinary days in between extraordinary bullshit, most of it happening to someone else. That’s all it is.

Yep, no battle of Shiloh, no Gettysburg or Antietam. The transformation seems to happen somewhere else, to other people. Congress is still there. It rubber stamps the autocrat’s changes to the law. The judiciary is still there, mostly hand-picked by the autocrat to ensure that the rulings are in sync with the autocrat’s wishes.

Be forewarned, however, the autocrat will eventually come for some of those who wanted him or her in power. The autocrat may want their property, their business or their children for the military but there will be no law to protect them. Nor will be there congressional reps to “fight for their constituent’s rights” against the government. There are no “rights” in an autocracy, only the illusion of rights. The “rule of law” has been abrogated, yet life goes on.

The Clown has been warning readers for several years that American democracy cannot survive the Internet mis-information cancer. His voice is very small in a howling storm. Maybe there is more that he could do, but frankly, likely not. He’ll vote and hope for the best. But, “hope” is not a strategy is it?

Observoid of the Day: “Happy New Year” for 2022 could be an oxymoron.