Jan 19 : Written by 404EthanNotFound

2. Brace for Impact

I spent the evening of November 5, 2024 watching a livestream of the Majority Report coverage of election night. I started off that evening with my old college roommate cracking open a few beers and air frying a wide variety of appetizer foods. The Majority Report crew was hosting a live event at the Bell House in Brooklyn for the evening and frankly I was so disappointed that I could not be there myself.

As election night progressed, my heart sank. As a staunch progressive I was no fan of the Harris campaign, but the idea of a second Trump presidency was truly gut-wrenching. I largely view voting as a means of harm reduction. You are not picking your champion; you are picking your opponent. I ask myself, “Who do you stand a better shot of compelling into action?” A political figure is less than useless if they are unresponsive. Usually, one does not need to look very far at a politician who is not swayed by the public to see them serve every beck and call of the corporate class. Personally, I think the corporate class has done enough winning lately, but it seems that they are going to get to win quite a bit more over the next four years.

My opinions on the first Trump presidency all boiled down to incompetency and corporate greed. My personal experience in living through the first Trump Presidency really cemented my need to stay up-to-date on events. I definitely could relate to John Mulaney’s bit regarding Trump being akin to a horse that is loose in a hospital. There was some shellshock watching that clip knowing it takes place before the COVID-19 pandemic. As someone with immunocompromised immediate family, the Republican national strategy of ‘everything is normal, COVID isn’t an issue’ really did not jive with me. The one good thing that came out of the Republican COVID strategy, Operation Warp Speed, which was responsible for developing the COVID vaccines in record time, is dismissed by the right-wing and Donald Trump, who will distance himself from the project in order to grift to the ever-growing anti-vax movement in this country (see this 2023 article from The Hill and 2024 article from CNN for a few quotes I think are telling and compare to Trump’s remarks in 2020).

My trepidation for the future is that, this time around, the incompetency demonstrated by the first Trump administration will not make a return. Instead of tripping over their own feet, Republicans will have largely streamlined the process of dismantling the administrative state. Social security, women’s reproductive rights, funding for renewable energy infrastructure. These things will be relentlessly attacked until they are reduced to ash. Meanwhile, there will be more tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans in the country who make more money in a day than you or I could procure in a lifetime. Anyone in the Republican party who questions the objectives of Donald Trump will be excommunicated within hours. President-elect Trump is already engaging in this behavior. Republicans who do not fall in line will be ousted. They will be ridiculed from the bully pulpit and primaried next election cycle, financed by the world’s richest toddler, Elon Musk.

There was an internet trend showcasing ‘President Elon’ which I thought missed the point. While Musk does represent a specific danger through the manipulation of the world’s largest social media platform and the upcoming fully funded primaries of any Republicans who do not kiss the ring, the memes do not demonstrate the true dynamic of the situation. Elon Musk is not uniquely in a position to command power over the levers of government…the entire billionaire class is! That is why so many billionaires are now coming to pay tribute, through various gifts to the Trump inauguration fund, favorable coverage from corporate news outlets, and any other way that they can fellate the President-elect’s ego.

I know that I expect too much, and will get too little. So much of the political discourse is complete nonsense. The level of media literacy in this country is depressing. When the mainstream media platforms (cable news, Facebook, Twitter) are for-profit corporate entities, it makes complete sense that their coverage and promotion will always favor corporate interest. I’ve seen folks go down rabbit holes where they knowingly or otherwise just regurgitate whatever media source they heard last without ever questioning the validity of the things they say. I hope to promote a healthy skepticism of politicians appearing on TV as the American people will never hold these elected officials accountable if we cannot verify their truthfulness.

As I write these words on the eve of the Presidential inauguration, I do hold plenty of fear for the future. I am fearful that I will be considered “the enemy within” by some. This is language that Trump has employed regarding political opposition harkening back to fascist rhetoric used in Nazi Germany to explain German defeat in WWI (Demm, Eberhard. “Propaganda and Caricature in the First World War.” Journal of contemporary history 28.1 (1993): 163–192. Web.). Fortunately, I don’t care. I would rather stand firm with my beliefs and speak my mind rather than try to camouflage and cower. As Chris Evans so eloquently stated as Captain America, “The price of freedom is high, always has been. And it’s a price I’m willing to pay. And if I’m the only one then so be it. But I’m willing to bet I’m not”. While this is a fictitious character, the sentiment is very real. Silence is complicity in upholding the status quo, so I’m through being silent. I fear that folks around me are going to experience tremendous amounts of stress and unnecessary tribulation over the next four years, and likely beyond. Women in my life will have their reproductive autonomy further attacked. My trans friends will have to worry about their medical care. Everyone I know is going to experience further exacerbation of the climate crisis so that fossil fuel CEOs can purchase a second yacht. I am already exhausted, but that doesn’t matter. These problems are going to be at the doorstep of people I know, and tons of people who are strangers to me. I do not see this as the time to give up. It is time to brace for impact and stay in the fight.

Next month I will break down critical events that have happened since the beginning of the second Trump presidency. I will also further explore class consciousness in America, highlighting topics like Luigi Mangione and US healthcare (especially focusing on the disconnect between media coverage and public opinion). Despite the tumultuous waters on the horizon, I am looking forward to making these pieces. See you in February! Left is best.