It has now been a little over a month since the election. The president-elect has been very busy with selecting his “nominees” for key cabinet positions. One, Matt Gaetz, has fallen out of favor already, but those that remain are just as bad as Gaetz. Sadly, as par the course, elected Republicans (are they really still Republicans or truly Trumpists now?), have been largely silent on the president-elects picks. In fact, some have gone so far as to call sexual assault “indiscretions” because, you know, apparently they seem to think this kind of behavior is just what men do when they are young. This does seem to be true for those on the ultra-conservative side of the spectrum, the Trumpists, with so many of the nominees having sexual assault allegations in their pasts.
What has been disappointing to me is, there have been little to no protests about the election. It has been disappointing to me that a large swatch of main stream media (MSM) are quickly bending the knee to the incoming authoritarian regime. It has been disappointing to me that the Democrats, after all the speeches and ads about the importance of democracy have not fought back against what appears to be strong cases of voter interference from billionaires and dictators.
Are we so tired that we don’t have any fight left in us? If so, we are in a very sad state of affairs. We are also setting a bad example for the remainder of the world.
Around the globe, the populace is getting out into the streets to protest. In South Korea, people were literally helping their version of congressional members over a fence to stop the head of the country from calling martial law and felling that democracy. In Romania, they have quickly proven the involvement of Putin’s interference in their elections and called them null and void, and calling for a new election. These are just a few of the examples in which those who truly believe in democracy and freedom have taken to the streets to protest and fight for a free country.
Here in United States, where a person who, for all practical purposes, incited an insurrection to overthrow the results of an election, is about to be back in the Oval Office. Where are the protests? Where is the FBI, Department of Justice, Vice President Harris, and President Biden? Where is the free press? Why does it seem we, as a nation, are rolling over and playing dead in the midst of a purchased election by the billionaire class and authoritarian regimes?
As a society, we seem to be ignoring everything Timothy Snyder, and other authoritarian experts advise. Although they are all saying essentially the same thing, Snyder says it the simplest in his book, On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century, where he lays out what, and what not, to do. Here are three of the lessons which stick in my mind the most: 1) Don’t Obey in Advance, 2) Stand Out, and 3) Believe in Truth.
To me these mean:
- Don’t give away your power in advance. Continue to speak your mind, do the right thing, and remember your core values and morals for as long as possible. If enough of us do this, then we can help save our democracy.
- Don’t be afraid to be the one to continue to speak out or peacefully protest. If even one person does it first, others will follow. When enough follow, we become a powerful group who can change the direction of the country and save democracy. Be the one to start the movement to save our great country.
- Facts are facts are facts. There is no such thing as an alternative fact. An alternative fact is an opinion or a lie—nothing less, nothing more. Believe what you can actually see, hear, and experience in your own life, not what the authoritarian MSM says.
Each of us can do this in the best way we can. For me, it is writing this blog, speaking out, having deep meaningful conversations within my circle of influence, social media, letters to the editor, calls/letters to elected officials, planning with others who believe in true democracy, and voting.
When looking at actual on the street protests from a historical point of view, it is most often our youth, who have their entire lives ahead of them, who go out into the streets to peacefully protest. They went out en mass in numbers so overwhelming they couldn’t be ignored. They unfortunately had to endure violence inflicted upon them by those in power. They had to sit, arms interlocked, and be arrested. They had to be willing to be in it for the long hull as the change wanting to be effected sometimes took years.
However, those sacrifices and actions paid off. Think about the Boston Tea Party, the Women’s Suffrage Parade, the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, the Stonewall Riots, the Occupation of Alcatraz, the March for our Lives. Remember too the protests against slavery, the Black Lives Matter movement, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Edmund Pettus Bridge, Viet Nam War protests, and many other smaller protests and boycotts that, although not always easy, did effect change, for the better, in our country.
The lack of protests about this election and the election interference is deafening. Where are the youth of America who cares about democracy? Where are the women of America who care about having bodily autonomy? Where are the politicians standing up each and every day insisting upon investigations of Musk, Thiel, and elected politicians, media, and others who appear to be complicit with Putin (and other authoritarians) in causing strife here at home? Where are the true journalists digging and sharing the truth outside a paywall?
Are we, as a whole, obeying in advance?
Where are our leaders and organizers?
Are there so few of us left who care about democracy?
Personal Reflections of a Middle-Aged Man 