Before I reflect on the upcoming election, let me frame two things from two of today's NYT op-ed columnists:
Nicholas Kristof summarizes
"The United States has made other terrible mistakes over the decades, including the Iraq War and the War on Drugs. But in terms of destruction of American lives, treasure and wellbeing, this pandemic may be the greatest failure of governance in the United States since the Vietnam War."
and David Brooks declares a winner in the war of ideas
"The 2020 shift to the left follows years of steady leftward drift. In 2015, a majority of Americans believed that “government is doing too many things better left to business and individuals.” Now only 39 percent of Americans believe that, while 59 percent think, “Government should do more to solve problems,” according to Pew Research Center.
I come from a county which voted overwhelmingly to elect Trump (82-16) & will do the same again this year. I was raised in a staunchly Southern Baptist & Republican household by loving parents. I want to be a good, kind, open-minded person to my friends and family who see the world very differently than me. So I decided to step back from tweeting and stewing in the headlines to reflect a bit more before reacting to everything.
I stand by my analysis of the moral calculus from about a month ago. I think he will go down in defeat. But I think the problems in our country will remain. People are misinformed on a massive scale by special interests, foreign influence peddling, and the outright corruption that results from giving politicians unfettered access to the pocketbooks of corporations and billionaires.
But I am reminded of the bigger picture, in which humans learn from their mistakes. Do they repeat history first as tragedy, then as farce? Maybe. Maybe Trump wins. Life will go on if so. But the fight will continue either way & I am feeling weary, so I am going to step back from political tweeting & blogging.