@ana “The diagram is also similar to the proverbial pendulum swinging from left to right and never remaining in the center…”
Although I completely agree with you in principle—
I wish to stress that there is a vast difference between MAGA and a growing majority of Americans (disaffected former MAGAs, conservatives, independents, liberals and progressives).
Current polling indicates that most Americans are not just upset with pocketbook issues— they are angry at pitiless oligarchs and corrupt, ignorant political facilitators who have allied us with literally evil international regimes.
We are angry that MAGA leaders hold nothing—absolutely nothing—sacred. We are angry at conservative and liberal leaders who appear impotent in the face of crisis.
The big-tent coalition currently forming against “t” will never agree on everything—but we’re all mad as hell and want change.
This is not just a partisan issue. It is a much bigger divide. The MAGA Movement’s cult leader, facilitators and true believers completely IGNORE:
*the rule of law (including the US Constitution and contracted International Law) which is crucial to the wellbeing of our citizens and even to our economic success in the world
*hard won civil rights (including long established due process)
*science (in all its forms, including medical and climate change science)
*economic reality (which impacts everyone in Blue, Red and Purple states)
*education and equal opportunity for all
*respect for knowledge and expertise
*respect for our great national parks and our historic landmarks
MAGA also ignores:
*respect for our true history (not a fairytale of perfection created by white European males—who are even clueless to the true meaning of the religion they demand ALL citizens adhere to…)
*our global community of democratic allies, who seek to make change through diplomacy and cooperation (bickering between respected partners is natural).
*the skills of trained diplomats
*basic respect for all human beings and for all life on our glorious planet
Are the rest of us angry (or disappointed) Americans all-knowing, wise and without interior motives? No. We are just humans.
But despite our history of swinging between liberal and conservative mindsets…
I believe the existential horror of this era will NOT wear off quickly. The world, historians, and our young citizens will ensure the lessons are learned for many, many decades to come
Besides…
Worldwide transformation is on our doorstep. Thanks to climate change and exponentially advancing technolog— measured change is not in the cards.
So first we preserve our democracy… then together we keep working hard to create and continuously improve our wonderful, flawed and beloved USA. If we’re wise, we’ll meet our future in harmony with the rest of earth’s gloriously diverse humanity.
OK. I’ll step on ff my soapbox now.
💕🕊️
@jeanne-mayell Flushing and cleansing the container pops in my mind.
Yes, I got this same sense of flushing out with fresh clean water something that is stuck or decaying
my interpretation of the image was that of a detonator, like when they are about to implode a building in an old timey movie-
"Stand back people! She's about to blow!
4!....3!... 2!.... 1 !!!
KAB BLOOEY!"
@jeanne-mayell I love the idea of wearing tarot cards to the polls.Tower on my voting arm.
the pendulum. Has anyone besides me, ever noticed that the pendulum in America is broken? It still swings, but only to the right and then to the center. And then it swings wildly back to the right again,
somehow
.Im old.But Ive never experienced a Leftist America. Have you? There may have been times when the popular sentiment went in that direction. But it has never been implemented in our government, or our policies. The pendulum still swings, but the board beneath it gets tilted.
@unk-p The right and the center might be the two political poles between which society's collective consciousness could typically fluctuate, meaning alternating between a more extreme political position and a more moderate one. In this case, the two opposing poles would be the more extreme position and the center. The idea that the opposite of the political right is necessarily the political left is maybe just a matter of our minds.
I remember Jeanne that a while back you visualized swirling water going down a drain. The force of the water and the swirling make it inevitable that it will be washed down the drain. Your current vision seems to be an updated and expanded version.
The recent debacle at Cornell ( the 7 rapists and the lack of accountability for them) is setting in a motion of the feminine rising up , fully engaged and determined to stop the lack of accountability that is the current regimes blanket approval and war against women) Women, of all ages are going to rise up at the polls in a never before seen wave and it is going to upset and displace this horrific pattern.
@unk-p Jimmy Carter was left. Also Mondale, who had a female running mate (the first female) who ran against Reagan in '84, but, as you will say to bolster your point, Reagan won. Before that, my boss, Mike Dukakis (Olivia Dukakis' cousin) lost to Reagan. Dukakis was a liberal and a good human, but, as you will remind me, Dukakis lost to Reagan. Then Reagan began the deregulation that enabled a billionaire class. We have him to thank. So you are right. US is middle to right.
@jeanne-mayell and isn’t it also true that in Western democracies shaped by capitalism, there is a fear of expropriation and loss of democracy if the far left wins? This fear isn’t entirely unfounded. The far-left party just won the regional elections in Berlin, and they already want to solve the housing crisis in Berlin by expropriating homeowners, which they’re legally only permitted to do to a limited extent. Look at the political "pendulum" in communist and autocratic states like Russia. There, the pendulum permanently swung to the far left following the "democratic elections" there. In a Western democracy shaped by capitalism, the collective consciousness can only swing between the center, the moderate right, and the moderate left since other political positions aren't compatible with a capitalist democracy for long. And If the collective conciousness does like the concept of ownership much, it might be more safe to swing between the right and the center.
@unk-p Jimmy Carter was left.
Yes, Jimmy Carter was left-ish. For sure he was way left-ier than Ford or Reagan! But I never thought of him as being radically leftist. Nowhere near as radical in his leftiness as the many right-wing presidents who came after him were in their own tighty-whitey-rightness.
The Overton Window has shifted so far to the right, that nowadays, the idea of doing (anything! at all!) for the common good, has by default, become a left-wing stance. Even the idea of basic empathy has been so badly perverted and misappropriated, that many people (and churches) have forgotten that this is what it takes to live in a civilization. Hell, this is the bare necessity of being human