It’s difficult to pinpoint the moment in my life where America started to lose the plot.
It would be easy to wallow in this mess—to doomscroll as the world washes away.
But on this anniversary of the United States of America, I believe we are not without hope. It may feel like America has been careening along the highway of enshittification since the turn of the century, but the thing about driving on highways is that you can always take an off-ramp. The truly remarkable thing about this country is its ingenious ability—through elections, immigration, freedom of speech, and economic mobility—to constantly remake itself.
We need to become makers once again, working against the rage, the despair, the grifting, and the misinformation wherever we find them. And we can. Based simply on what I’ve seen as a journalist over the last quarter century, reasons for hope remain. It can be useful once in while to gather these reasons about us as armor against despair.
What’s going on with all this copium? They’ve been telegraphing their intention to cheat fully and outright for months. Not just gerrymandering or mail in ballots. Think marshall law. Remember that Dominion and a majority of voting machine companies have been purchased by billionaires and private equity. Remember the Reichstag fire.
Even if they fuck all that up royally remember how many dems are AIPAC puppets. Stop hoping and start planning.