With just days to go before his first — and likely only — debate against Vice President Kamala Harris, former President Donald Trump posted a warning on his social media site threatening to jail those “involved in unscrupulous behavior” this election, which he said would be under intense scrutiny.
“WHEN I WIN, those people that CHEATED will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law, which will include long term prison sentences so that this Depravity of Justice does not happen again,” Trump wrote, again sowing doubt about the integrity of the election, even though cheating is incredibly rare.
“Please beware,” he went on, “that this legal exposure extends to Lawyers, Political Operatives, Donors, Illegal Voters, & Corrupt Election Officials. Those involved in unscrupulous behavior will be sought out, caught, and prosecuted at levels, unfortunately, never seen before in our Country.”
Doesn’t fucking matter. It’s not a perfect system, but it’s the system we have, so I WILL participate in it, and I will fight to improve it. People like you working to demoralize people out of participating in and improving the system are the enemy… foreign or domestic.
I didn’t tell you not to participate. It’s pointless at the federal level, but you knock yourself out, chief.
When nothing changes and we’re back here again in four years this will be in your head and maybe you’ll think about doing something different. My job is done.
I’m not your enemy. The oligarchs want us divided and you’re playing into their hands.
I’m playing into their hands?!?! What the fuck am I doing that plays into their hands? What should I do that’s different? You’re not offering any solutions. You’re the one here just giving the hopeless vibes. If anyone is playing into anybody’s hands to undermine democracy, you’ll find them in the mirror. До свидания.
Yes. The elites want to keep us on the edge of sustainability and at each other’s throats in order to keep us from seeing what’s right in front of our eyes. They build their empires on our backs. They exploit us and take the fruits of our labor and sell them back to us at unaffordable prices. You resorting to thought terminating cliches, insinuating I’m a Russian bot or troll is playing right into that.
I’m not your enemy. I’m a person who has a different perspective than you. I think you’re a potential ally in the coming struggle, and I don’t hate you for not sharing my ideology.
“What should I do that’s different?”
First, arm yourself and train. Second, educate yourself. Third organize.
This system is collapsing, and that collapse is accelerating. It would be in your interest to prepare for that.
You should read political and economic philosophy. If you can’t articulate why someone would be attracted to Trump without resorting to insults you could probably use a little exposure to things outside your comfort zone. I’d recommend reading “A people’s history of the United States” by Howard Zinn to see how the elites in this country have employed propaganda and force to suppress movements that dare to threaten the ruling class (and the atrocities we commit overseas in order to prop up our empire.) After that, the classics of the left have some pretty good ideas for how to organize a society.
Organize. Join or form a union. Participate in mutual aid networks. Learn what prefiguration is and try your best to help prepare for what comes after. Build networks both on and offline and share ideas, challenge each other.
Question your own beliefs and ideology. Try to look at them with fresh eyes. Follow them to their logical conclusions.
“If anyone is playing into anybody’s hands to undermine democracy”
Friend, democracy was undermined in this country before it ever had a chance to get off the ground. It was founded to pursue the interests of white land and slave owning rich men and hasn’t changed much in the intervening time.
The “good” thing is that capitalism is unsustainable and will collapse under its own weight - we just have to hope it does so before it kills us all and that we still have a chance to salvage the planet.