Jan 19 : Written by 404EthanNotFound
1. Introduction to (Ethan’s) Politics
I yearn for the days where I did not have to pay attention to politics and government. Unfortunately, those days are long gone and they will never return. That is okay, though. Personally, I find that being informed of the state of things in the United States and worldwide makes me better as a person and citizen. Ignorance is not bliss in this instance, only an opportunity for someone else to take advantage. How many of us can name our Senators? Sadly, I think it is only a minority of the US population that can. Being engaged in these topics not just at the federal level, but the state and local levels is all too important. While this section will not be a comprehensive account of everything going on in the world, I hope to equip you all with the same tools I use to be informed and impact changes in my workplace and community.
This section of the website will not be for everyone. There are plenty of reasons why folks will not want to engage with this content and my goal is not to force my views on anyone. While I do hope to persuade with my words and experiences, at the end of the day, I am doing this for me. I want to synthesize my thoughts into something productive. I want to be doing more to stand up for my beliefs as an unapologetic leftist. This will be a record of that. For those who disagree with my positions on things, I hope that this website in its totality can showcase my humanity and that I am multi-faceted. I hope that by seeing that those you disagree with can have thoughts and opinions and a story to tell outside of politics will encourage others to look for that in real-world interactions they have. Believe me, I will take the moral high ground and hold firm with some of the topics I plan on writing about and am not suggesting that the way forward is some sort of kumbaya ‘meet-in-the-middle’ solution. Though my words may be scathing, my intention is to treat others as human beings and am expecting the same in return.
In my college spring semester of 2020, I took an elective called “Nationalism in a Global Age”. My professor described himself as a Marxist and when the course started, I had little idea of what that actually meant. I thought that was just another word for communist (not that I even fully understood what that meant). I had a notion of American exceptionalism that I chiseled away at during this course, only identifying my biases in hindsight reflection. Reading Marx, Arendt, and listening to my professor, it became all to easy to see endless class struggle which is synonymous with human history. The American experiment is not an exception to this, merely the latest chapter. United States nationalism is a class warfare tool presently employed by the ruling class to create an imagined past to distract from the present (Make America Great Again evokes an imagined time when things were ‘better’, though it notably does not say who it is better for). No need to worry about the masses complaining about their actual material conditions if they are all too distracted with nonsense culture war issues and a vague concept of discontent with the system (which is justified, but never acted upon in order to uphold the status quo).
To stay up to date, I tune into the Majority Report for their daily show every day that I can. Sam Seder and Emma Vigeland are top-notch at explaining the political landscape and encouraging folks to get involved in various ways. They are far superior to anything I will attempt to do here, so go give them a watch any weekday between 12pm and 3pm or take a look at a clip or two from their Youtube channel.
I look forward to the next few months, where I hope to further define my positions on the biggest issues in the American politics. As I progress, I will put together the rules and standards that I hold myself to in these pieces as I opine on topics. I am not an expert in this field, yet wish to cite my resources effectively. Please take a look at my next piece, ‘Brace for Impact’ if these topics are of interest to you. Thanks for stopping by. Left is best.