GROUND TRUTH
1. Trump lost a free and fair presidential election in 2020.
2. Jan 6th was Trump's attempt to overthrow that election's lawful results and its constitutional certification.
3. Trump's pardoning insurrectionists and cop-beaters attempt to erase or rewrite the historical facts and legitimize political violence.
ANALYSIS
Donald Trump has identified the Achilles heel of democracies: its tendency towards political corruption and oligarchy resulting in either a left-wing or right-wing popularist movement.
In America and many of its liberal, democratic allies, it is very much right-wing and has captured about 50% of the electorate.
Trump has weaponized about 20% of his supporters who are willing to intimidate, dox, swat and - in extreme cases - engage in political violence against Trump's political opponents (ESPECIALLY those within the Republican party).
He is now, in alliance with other authoritarian leaders and the tech oligarchs developing artificial intelligence, EXPLOITING THE VULNERABILITIES of all open, democratic, liberal societies to consolidate control over the national, media, educational, scientific, and legal narratives as well as the hard federal power of the military, the justice department.
CONCLUSION
America's democratic, constitutional republic is in an extraordinarily perilous situation.
But we have inherited more than two centuries of constitutional rule and that has been especially embedded in the culture of our military who swear an oath to the Constitution, NOT the incumbent commander in chief.
We are also stubbornly individualistic and pragmatic rather than ideological.
We have agency.
1. We must be intolerant regarding the political views of those who disrespect the ground truth above.
Befriend them, listen to and respond to their genuine anxieties?
Absolutely. And if the love of our fellow humans doesn't do the trick, we can resort to our inner pragmatist: we need their votes to win elections!
2. We need to rebuild norms of reciprocity and trust by engaging with citizens of ALL political stripes in the intermediate democratic institutions that amplify a citizen's ability to amplify their concerns.
3. We need to WIN ELECTIONS and, for that, we need to meeting people WHERE THEY ARE rather than where we'd like them to be.
And winnng American political coalitions are neither fascist nor super-woke.
4. Most of the above does not involve doing a whole lot MORE than what we are doing now, we need to be more MINDFUL regarding what we are doing now - saying, "hi" to neighbors we see on the street, joking with the cashier at a store, developing a non-political friendship with a fellow volunteer or hobbyist or book club member - so that we ELEVATE rather than alienate people.
5. We will need a relatively small group of pro-democracy leaders capable of strategic leadership and the ability to inspire those to risk direct political action in the form of civil resistance, including - if necessary - non-violent civil disobedience - to PROTECT AND EMPOWER THE VULNERABLE.
https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/otto_von_bismarck_398827
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