“The scariest thing to outsiders about what is happening to America isn’t necessarily Trump’s destruction of it; it’s the lack of any opposition to the destruction of America.” Retrievals Resists
Harsh. But true?
Well, I take umbrage with the “lack of any opposition.” There’s plenty of opposition happening across and around this enormous country. But based on social media posts and articles penned by people outside the U.S., there’s growing consensus that Americans as a whole, at least in regard to Trump, are spineless, racist, passive, greedy, corrupt, disengaged, cultish, deluded, acquiescent, and stupid as fuck.
How pathetic is that?
Sadly, what’s really pathetic is that some of that is true. Some of that is America. MAGA. Trump supporters in general. Republicans en masse. White supremacists. Political cynics. Right wing snarlers. Detached non-committals. Civic apathetics.
But, dear Outsiders, that is not the majority of America.
Those inflammatory opinions coming from Canadians (who could blame them??), Europeans, Brits, Aussies, Greenlanders, everyone, are not, however, being pulled from wholecloth; they’re based on their observations, yes, but also their incredulity and confusion about how this great, grand country of ours could possibly “allow” Trump and his lapdogs to—seemingly with impunity—break any law, flout any norm, violate any Constitutional mandate, lie as a matter of course, alienate allies, send the gestapo after immigrants, kill protesters, wreck the economy, destroy any monument/animal/natural space, manipulate elections, throw insurrections, start and badly manage a foreign war, and even do stupid, mindless nonsense like rename bodies of water like preening 13-year-olds with sharpies and delusional wish lists.
“What are you doing, America? How can you let this criminal rapist keep raping your country?” (Twitter poster from Europe).
I get the question, but let’s clarify: we’re not letting him rape this country, any more than a woman “lets” her rapist rape her. Nor are we “allowing” him open season on our American democracy. It may look that way, but what you’re missing, dear Outsiders, is the hard truth behind our structure of government where the majority rules. At least purportedly. At least in Congress. Not so much in our elections, where the antiquated and arcane Electoral College mucks things up, but in Congress?
Yes, within the current congressional majority (i.e., Republicans), you’re right; there is quite literally no resistance to each and every act of corruption and destruction being inflicted by this POTUS and his administration on a daily basis. They’ve abdicated, caved, capitulated, those congressional Republicans. Democrats in Congress can raise a hue and cry against that onslaught of malfeasances, but without a majority, and with not enough Republicans willing to take a moral stand, Dems are disarmed (which is why flipping Congress on Tuesday is so urgent).
But outside of the halls of government? The “majority” you speak of, dear Outsiders, is the millions of us out here in everyday land working doggedly in myriad ways to resist, protest, raise awareness, educate, promote activism, and so on. Given that, there’s something uniquely disheartening—and quite insulting, frankly—about being generalized as sheep-like self-defeatists shuffling along while a corrupt tyrant and his handlers destroy everything that is holy and precious about our home with little or no pushback. Like the Germans with Hitler. Someone even made that comparison in response to the following swipe from Canadian political scientist, Thomas Juneau:
“The weakness of the opposition to Trump as he sabotages the US – the sycophancy and cowardice of Republicans, the fecklessness of Democrats, the apathy of the majority of the population who oppose him but do nothing – is what should scare us about the future of the US trajectory.” Thomas Juneau
I’ll be honest, that made me angry. He can snarl that Democrats are “feckless,” but does he not grasp that “majority rules” in this country’s government (see earlier paragraph), or is he simply ignoring the tireless efforts of countless Democrats in Congress pushing tirelessly against Trump? Is he unaware of activists like Marc Elias and Democracy Docket, or journalists like Katie Phang holding MAGA perpetrators’ feet to the fire? Does he not see the millions of Americans marching, rallying, showing up at town halls, risking life and limb to protect immigrants, impoverished children, and Constitutional freedoms? Is he so blinded by his (justified) frustration with Trump’s attacks on his country that he dismisses bona fide activism to sneer about “the apathy of the majority of the population who oppose him but do nothing”?
Trust me, dear Outsiders (and Mr. Juneau), we hate him as much as you do, but the “majority” of us are not sitting on our hands doing nothing. And good people resent the tendency to dismiss and minimize the very real battles being fought every day in this country by so many dedicating their time, energy, and resources to fight for the preservation of our democracy, freedoms, and human rights.
My response to Mr. Juneau:
“Your generalizing on several fronts is wildly inaccurate, particularly when countless Democrats and millions of Americans work doggedly against Trump’s autocracy … and to shift the trajectory in the Midterms. I know it’s trendy to dismiss us all as lazy sheep, but it’s simply inaccurate.”
I would’ve said more but it was a tweet so … yeah, limited word count.
Obviously I am also aware that, despite those millions of us making “good trouble,” there remain other millions who are sitting on the sidelines “doing nothing.” Detached from the ongoing madness, claiming “it ain’t my problem,” pretending if it doesn’t touch them personally it’s not something they need to worry about; ignoring the fact that even their children and grandchildren will be deleteriously affected by the damage being done right this minute, across the globe, touching everything from the air we breathe to the economy we count on, by the corruption and criminality of the current administration.
As gobsmacked as you are, dear Outsiders, watching as our country gets pummelled beyond recognition by our very own leaders, know that we are as well … and are not complacent. Not apathetic. We’re outraged and activated. So quit insulting us, okay? We can only take so much…
And my fellow Americans, if you know someone who is apathetic and complacent, WAKE THEM UP. We need all hands on deck, to use a hoary trope. We’re just days away from November 3rd, the day of the Midterm Elections, and we cannot fail. We cannot. Not only is that the urgent mandate of all Americans who truly care about humanity, democracy, and decency, it’s the mandate of an entire world of “dear Outsiders” who do not want to see us fail.
Let’s make sure we don’t.
Nothing’s perfect. Nothing meets every expectation or fulfills every wish or desire. We engage in jobs, marriages, college careers, sporting competitions, cultural challenges, parenting, etc., with a presumption of one set of results and often, very often, a different set emerges. It’s part of life; we’re taught to adjust and we do. But does that mean we don’t, then, engage in those activities once they’ve failed to meet our expectations? We eschew marriage because too many end in divorce? We don’t go to college because too many expensive educations don’t result in high paying jobs? We don’t bother with jobs at all because too many disappoint with sustainability or advancement issues? We give up on sports because our team lost or a coach failed to pull out the season? We don’t engage in activities, causes, creative endeavors, and the like because we experienced disappointments, failed candidacies, unmet financial goals, poor ticket sales? We don’t have children because… well, children…. God knows what they’ll do?!
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