Blog #1660
Haraszewski
Nov. 12, 2016

So, I Heard There Was Just An Election, or Something?

Did you support Hillary? Did you support Donald? Maybe you favored the Libertarians or Greens? If you've read the first part of my blog, then you'll know I'm an anarchist, so you'll also know that I didn't support any of these fear-mongering, authoritarian turds for the position of Coercer-in-Chief, not because any of them were uniquely ruthless or incompetent (in fact, the only real difference between this latest crap of wannabe rulers and those of the past is probably just the technology that reveals their characters more efficiently), but because I don't believe there's any place in a decent society for a "president" at all, or for any other hierarchical power structure.
That said... President Trump. Why not? Given the fact that we do have government and there will be a ruler called "President," I'd have picked Gary Johnson, the Libertarian, if I'd picked anyone, just because I suspect he may have frustrated the professional punishers who want to strip people of as much privacy, autonomy, and protection from government (which is the basis of the Bill of Rights and was a major concern of many of the Founders, as you may recall from civics class) as they can. I think Johnson was the only candidate this year who would actually defend the First and Fourth Amendments, rather than deride them. He might even have tried to steer the discourse away from mindless, punitive reaction and toward a genuine effort to understand the things people do - and why we do them - possibly leading to more intelligent and compassionate responses that the vicious, vindictive indulgences we popularly call "justice" today.
This was the year for a 3rd Party, if ever. Historic discontent and the lowest voter turnout since 1996... so why so little support when there was so much natural opportunity? I guess money was the problem; ads needed to run, to remind people there were other options for the millions of Obama voters who, understandably, sat this one out - like Colin Kaepernick.
In the end, Donald Trump wins (will that ever not sound like a punchline?), and if it has to be him or Hillary, I guess I'm "glad" it's Trump. That'll upset some people, I'm sure, but the reasons I say it will upset Trump supporters even more, maybe. I think Donald Trump is probably not very bright. Successful, sure but I have a feeling if we'd I.Q. tested the last dozen or so presidents, Mr. Trump would bring up the rear of that conga line. I also think he has very little general knowledge, and he knows virtually nothing about the problems of the country he'll run. Of the few positiions he's shown any consistency on, I disagree with maybe 80%. She why would I prefer him to Clinton? It comes down to two things: First he offers some tiny hope for massive structural change; not because he might do, but because of what others might do because of him. Maybe he'll be an insurrectionary catalyst by inadvertently demonstarating that there really isn't much behind the curtain in Oz, and that we never needed there to be. Maybe there will be so much angry resisteance that political institutions will finally collapse, and maybe people will consciously and conscientiously decide that those institutions are harmful and not worth replacing with anything remotely similar.
That's pretty pie-in-the-sky, though... our species just isn't smart enough yet to do itself any favors of that magnitude. So the second reason I prefer Trump, then, lies in my answer to what the Clinton campagn asked near the end: What sort of person would you rather see representing the U.S.? Donald Trump shows no qualities or values I'd endorse, but I believe he reasonably represents the country overall (regardless of truth), we celebrate arrogance and we swoon over power. Donald is America. Hillary is America, too; she's no less power-mad and disdainful of individual dignity than Trump - she may be worse on those counts, even - but unlike Trump, she conceals her deeply authoritarian character, so I'd prefer the uncostumed wolf to the one hiding under the skins of the sheeps it murdered.
Honestly, I doubt anything will change much in a post-Trump, especially since we'll probably bave a President Pence, anyway, with The Donald playing ringmaster over his new circus. Ask yourself what your life is like today - income, freedom, options, satisfaction, sense of fear, etc. - then chack it all again in 4 years. If anything is different, can the difference really be attributed to the president? You can do a preview now... How different is your daily life from 4 or 8 years ago, and how much is really due to Obama, more that to, say, the invention of the iPhone? Very little, I'd guess/ And you can expect more of the same, sadly. At least that's my take.
#donaldisamerica #hillaryisamerica #Election2016 #whynottrump