“God grant me the courage not to give up what I think is right even though I think it is hopeless.” -- Chester W. Nimitz
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3 comments:
As an instinctive doomer myself, I really appreciated this. I have no sense of optimism whatsoever. Optimism has never brought me anything except embarrassment, disappointment, and other things that amount to reasons to get drunk before six PM.
In 2016, we were living in Richmond at my friend John's house, which is and was stable enough to weather most political situations. This time we're out in the goddamn Republican hinterlands trying our asses off to get moved to land Briana actually owns in southern Humboldt county. There's something about being near the bottom rung of the economic ladder that keeps you in shape for societal fuckery, because societal fuckery is your life, for the most part.
But I'm way too fucking old for the options on the rungs beneath us right now, and that's what we could be looking at if Fergus wins. If we make it to Miranda before 2025, which is likely, we'll be relying on some programs the Democrats put in place to make the place livable for human beings. That's a bit scary, as relying on anything from the government if Fergus is running it is not wise.
I still think Biden has a decent chance at a second term, though not the 100% chance he ought to have based on his performance and the alternative. We don't live in a country that responds to that kind of logic, unfortunately, and one has to be ready to deal with the worst case scenario instead.
As far as the mass media go, though, Indivisible has done some research and discovered that individual face to face conversations are by far the most effective method at influencing the way votes are cast, so perhaps our far less concentrated approach at messaging is a more powerful tool than it feels like it is to us.
Either way, it is a good idea to think through the nuts and bolts of whatever situation we are likely to encounter, and to try to embody the flexibility those situations we haven't thought through might require. I'm thinking of the night I woke up from my afternoon nap to the reality that I'd had a stroke and nothing would ever be remotely like it had been again. As they were loading me into the ambulance I was very concerned that someone call my job and let them know I wouldn't be coming in that evening.
That was more than fifteen years ago and I still haven't shown back up to that job. It turns out that I can learn to live another way, as the song says.
Thank you again for the podcast, and I hope you are feeling a bit better, as you will probably feel like bringing your A game to this next year, which Rachel Maddow just warned us will be dark, scary and weird.
-Doug in Sugar Pine
As a long-time lurker, I thought it was time I finally push myself to leave a comment on your blog. Last Friday's podcast really touched a nerve. It's the existential discussion We are all having with our loved ones and with ourselves. In times like these optimism can become a burden and pessimism is far too crippling. We're then left with realism - the only practical mindset for the fog of war we now find ourselves in. Thankfully, you and Blue Gal as a team help guide us along the path as there are indeed No Maps for These Territories. I'm also finding myself having the same conversation as you and Blue Gal and trying to form a worst case scenario plan. As my alignment is somewhere between Chaotic Good and Chaotic Neutral, who will I be and what will I do for the safety and survival of loved ones in the wake of the unthinkable? I guess we'll all find out when the barbarians are at the gate. But, as you have pointed out - they already are.
So thank you for sharing such an intimate glimpse into personal doubt and vulnerability, and thank you to Blue Gal for having the presence of mind to capture the moment in all its raw grittiness. It would be great to hear some future episodes presented in the same manner.
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