Twitteretter

Don’t get excited, this is not a post about a fabulous land where inequality crushing solidarity rules. It refers, on the other hand, to the rule of audience share above all else in media, driven by a need to sell advertising to finance the production, or acquisition, of content. The loss of reputation Donald Trump has suffered during his presidency, racking up a set of criminal and corruption accusations that would have made Bugsy Siegel proud, would, in other times, make him untouchable, turn him into a pariah, compel him to abandon public life and adopt a low profile. Not today. I expect that, soon after he leaves the presidency, which he will ultimately do, and regardless of the outcome of the barrage of lawsuits which may closely follow his stepping down, Trump will have his own TV program in one of the main networks, likely Fox, or even his own network, from where his divisive, dishonest message will continue to be amplified to a large, loyal following. Share above all else  ...

Egotism, narcissism, aggression, cheating, self-righteousness, pride, dishonesty, corruption. The list goes on. For those who invented, developed and spread democracy, in ancient times and in the Europe of the Enlightment and the America of Independence, association with one of those nouns was sufficient disqualification from public office or leadership. Today, in modern democracies, it seems that even association with all of them simultaneously, which requires dedication and seems like pretty hard box ticking work, is condoned or justified by large sections of the electorate, taken as secondary to perceived economic management skill or self-professed toughness in international commercial relationships or on imagined immigration crises. Does this reflect the fact that electors are permissive of these traits in themselves and feel represented by them? Or the fact that the undermining of institutions has succeeded to the point that all in political life are tarnished with the same brush?...

I ended up today in a Twitter discussion with Trump supporters (I know, I know) about fraudulent voting claims. There was a lot of potential Twitteretter gold in just a few exchanges, but the one that really pricked my ears was when, at some point, one of them stated that conservatives are fearless, unlike the left, because they believe in the 2 nd amendment. The thread was chaotic and the grammar poor, so it was difficult to follow at times, and it was not clear whether this was actually a threat. But my imagination was caught by the implications of being fearless because of owning a gun. In my mind, if all that stands between you and fear is a gun, then you are very afraid, afraid enough to think you need a gun to protect you, or to impose your views, which is still protecting you from political or intellectual insignificance. Small children use a blanket, or a teddy, to stave off fear. Bigger children use guns. Adults use presence of mind, rationality and self knowledge to vanquish...

The post’s title, by the way, is not a true reflection of reality. Rather, it is the feeling I had, for a few minutes, when I woke up on Wednesday morning to a sea of Trump red covering the United States map. I do care profoundly about the outcome of this election. I value civility, fairness and equanimity, I treasure democracy, I believe win-win is the only deal worth making and I understand we need very fast action on environmental issues to prevent an irreversible global catastrophe which would make the current pandemic feel like a party. But, faced with uncertainty and fear, with a possible devastating loss, our psyche triggers off our defence mechanism. If I don’t care, I cannot get hurt. So let’s just pretend that I don’t. This is a normal human reaction, which you see everywhere in life. Pretend indifference to mitigate potential failure and, as a result of that pretence, fail. I recommend action instead. Fight for your desired outcome, bring about the success you so much desire...