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A Lose-Lose Election for Americans
Trigger Warning: Deep depression may ensue after reading this post.
Tonight I realized that in many respects, everyone is going to lose, no matter what the election results are. In particular, relationships with friends, family, and co-workers that are polarized will become even further antagonistic. Civil disruption will grow. It’s a pretty ugly picture.
If Joe Biden wins the election, the very future of our democracy will be at risk. Democrats will begin to shift governance to a socialist structure. Laws will be passed that will challenge the relevance of the Constitution. Those of us on the other side will begin to realize, if we haven’t already, that our way of life will be at risk. The Bill of Rights will be bypassed in numerous ways. Censorship will be common; gun bans will be initiated and religions will be further censured. We, on the Right, will finally be so angry and frustrated that we will feel compelled to take action; how that action will manifest is a serious concern. Political discussions that may have been avoided between people with adversarial views will now be out in the open. Polarization will intensify and relationships will be further degraded. The Right will feel that by electing Joe Biden (and by default, Kamala Harris), the Left has betrayed the country. And they will want to find a way to take our country back.
What happens if President Trump wins a second term? If you think the Left felt robbed by the President’s first election, you haven’t seen anything yet. Hysteria will reign. They will demand recounts all over the country. Missed ballots by the thousands will surface. Ballots from precincts will disappear. The Left will ultimately not win, but they also will want revenge. And as in the results of the other side, the Left will sever relationships with people they know, intensifying their vitriol and hatred. Riots, destruction of property, and murders will increase.
Chaos will reign.
* * * * *
I’m doing my best to imagine a productive and peaceful outcome to the election, but for once, optimism fails me. I would welcome anyone who can contradict this picture and offer hope.
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I agree, @davidcarroll. If you can find it.
Yes. Did we think there was no price to pay for letting progressives take over so much of our culture? We were too complacent about it, satisfied that logic would somehow restrain them. History told us better, but our embrace of freedom made it difficult (impossible) to do the things that would have prevented this heretofore.
In the past, the productive could “go Galt” to the refuge of Rand’s fictional Colorado. Our ancestors did precisely that by coming to America. But our present interconnectedness makes that impossible, so we must turn and fight. There will be carnage. We must accept that reality and not be discouraged. And things will be imperfect for some time even if the eventual goal is achieved.
The greatest tragedy, individually, will be those that are referenced in the OP — the impact on family and friend relationships.
Take heart, Susan. This country has seen bad times before. We will come out of this.
President Trump has revealed where we really are and enables us to understand our state of captivity.
I remember The Prisoner with Patrick McGoohan. I thought it one of the best dramas ever presented on TV.
The 2020 Election Bamboozle: We Are All Victims Of The Deep State’s Con Game
I don’t like anything in this post, and I fear it might all be accurate.
But I would still much prefer a Trump win outcome, and feel it would be infinitely better than the steep decline into progressive, socialist rule which is the alternative.
You optimist.
Eloquent as always, @rodin. I’m in the process of reading Michael Anton’s book The Stakes, and I’m at the part where he asks if the Republican party is up to the task, or if we need to establish a new party. I suspect they are too corrupted overall to do the hard work that will be required. They are part of the elite.
We will. But at great cost.
I guess I should say, thanks? I do know what you mean, @nohaaj.
I agree. It will be a much better place to begin our recovery with Trump in charge.
@philo–are you teasing nohaaj or me?
Susan,
I don’t think America loses if President Trump wins re-election.
We’ve been sliding for quite a long time, gradually (and occasionally abruptly) shedding our traditions and norms in favor of whatever the avant-garde left embraces as the imperative de jure. Though we are, I believe, a fundamentally conservative people, the left dominates enough institutions to allow it to exert a relentless, steady force; America gradually yields.
It’s good for us to see the naked left, the disrespect and chaos and intolerance and violence that is the inevitable end-point of the left’s fractious and reckless agenda. We can respond to that, and I think we will: we will recoil, dig in our heels, and push back against it.
Let’s do this.
Hank
Sorry, that was my impulsive response as soon as I got to “Chaos will reign” in your post. But I think you are both still viewing the coming abyss through rose colored glasses. No matter who wins, I suspect we are in for a level of violent and bloody chaos – “Riots, destruction of property and murders will increase”, notwithstanding – that I don’t detect either one of you projecting here.
2020 has just been the warm up for 2021.
I love this, Hank. If anyone can see all this in a positive light, it’s you (and I mean that in the most grateful way). Maybe their response to a Trump victory is just what we need to see and respond to. When I watch the huge pushback to Twitter’s recent censorship, I am inspired by those who responded in that way. Even though it could get ugly after a Trump election, it might be the darkness before the light. Thanks!
Are you suggesting there will be a full-out civil war?
This is why getting Slay-me Coney Barrett (Klavan’s name for her) on the Supreme Court is vital. Roberts has positioned himself as the new swing vote, so we’ll still get a bunch of 5-4 rulings that will mostly go our way (which is the Constitutional way). Sure, we may get what is perceived as a defection now and then, but it’s much better than having Justice Stacey Abrams being appointed by Biden to fill the next empty seat . . .
Suzy,
I know just the thing for your present state of mind. A few quotes from Uncle Billy and you’ll feel right as rain.
War is the remedy that our enemies have chosen, and I say let us give them all they want.
If I had my choice I would kill every reporter in the world, but I am sure we would be getting reports from Hell before breakfast.
If nominated, I will not run; if elected, I will not serve.
There now, wasn’t that refreshing. Always lifts my spirits.
Regards,
Jim
Yesterday, I would have shared these worries. But this morning I caught President Trump’s campaign speech from yesterday in North Carolina, and he was amazing, and he has a positive vision for getting us out of this and going forward. My favorite part of his speech was his aside on the recent New York Times admission that his administration and Operation Warp Speed had done a good job managing the virus:
And this from the NYT (via the Daily Wire) on October 13:
President Trump is a powerful leader. We are very blessed to have him. The future looks good.
Postscript to my comment 18:
Operation Warp Speed and its emphasis on vaccines, treatments, and learning about how viruses actually spread in communities so this won’t happen again when international travel resumes is the only answer at this point simply because the public has been deeply traumatized. Trump is right to be aggressive in pursuing this three-pronged strategy. He is addressing consumer confidence, and that’s what’s needed most. He is not saying that the lives of older people don’t matter. The world does not want to hear that. He has been wise to avoid saying it.
As I said, he is a smart and powerful leader. I think he has done a brilliant job handling this crisis.
Susan, it is possible to agree with you and still be positive. We will get through this.
I think Trump has been restrained in his response to violent protests, for several reasons. First, he has to be asked to intervene, and he wants to abide by the law. Second, the violence is overwhelmingly in Democrat-run cities and states. I’m not saying that Trump is happy about that; I don’t believe he is happy about any of it. But it does mean that the chaos will highlight the colossal incompetence of the Democrats who run those cities and states.
Last and most important, once he has decisively won the election (God willing), he will have a lot less to lose by acting swiftly and decisively. He could pull an Eisenhower and send in the National Guard to quell riots.
I believe that the DOJ has been building up the intelligence they need to take down the networks that are systematically causing riots, and after the election they will be given the green light. Nobody better than Bill Barr for that job.
Ironic that Obama’s hot-mike comment to tell Putin that he will have more flexibility after the election now applies to Trump.
Gee, thanks, Jim. I feel much better . . .
Already deeply depressed. And I have always been a happy, optimistic person. Just the fact that anyone would vote for Biden depresses me. For me Trump’s re-election would be worth any relationships I might lose.
These are very fine points, @douglaspratt. I may have to resign myself to the fact that there will still be chaos and destruction. But if Trump is elected, he will act aggressively to bring law and order. I think a victory for him will be a mandate to act quickly and firmly. I also would love to think the networks running the riots will come down or at least be crippled in the process. Thanks for your optimistic view, Douglas. I’m feeling better.
Good point, @justmeinaz. He needs to win, and any losses otherwise may be necessary.
Sherman (after the disastrous first day of Shiloh): Well, Grant, we’ve had the devil’s own day, haven’t we?
Grant: Yes … lick ’em tomorrow, though.
Suzy,
Atta girl, now you’re coming out of it. We need a “Goddess of Victory” not a Cassandra.
Regards,
Jim
I liked it and I’m from Georgia.