Collapse

How do we stay hopeful when fascism is on the rise?

This post is a response to a question posed in its complete format: “How do leftists stay hopeful/resilient in times like these where fascism is on the rise and history is repeating itself?”

History has shown us that fascism always gets beaten back when the public realizes how much less they like fascism than the chaos of democracy. Every time and after enduring a period of suffering under the rule of despots, voter turnout makes a strong comeback as fascism encourages the apathetic non-voters to rethink their strategy of staying home.

Think of fascism as a lesson in consequences where people need to suffer enough to realize just how precious the delicate balance of freedom is in society and how vital the sausage-making process is, no matter how boring and dry it may otherwise seem.

People eventually learn they prefer to get off the couch and go to the polling stations to cast their votes for people they want to trust to represent their best interests. They also eventually learn that no matter how much the fascists want to paint their opposition as being identical to them, they’re not. The fascists inevitably piss off the people enough to go to war against them, and that’s precisely what Trump and Musk are inviting from the world.

They’re poking a tiger, and they’re going to get burned while they set the world aflame.

The only real question left on the table is, Just how much more pain will the people endure before the riots break out?

This isn’t even about being hopeful because we already know, just like everyone who’s been pushed past their limits, that once the anger takes over, there’s no stopping it. That neighbour who’s been pissing you off with their loud music invariably gets an earful that may embarrass you afterward. Still, it’s an emotional explosion that can’t be controlled during its moment of emotional release.

My guess is that if Luigi Mangione gets the death penalty, that might be the final trigger before all hell breaks loose. It’s hard to tell because Americans seem able to tolerate incredible horrors without doing anything substantial about them.

I know that if I was living in Flint, Michigan, for example, and I had a kid who died from the poisoned water, I would have pulled a Luigi myself. If a kid of mine were gunned down in a school while my local representative did nothing to institute sensible measures to prevent this from happening again, I’d lose my shit.

As it stands right now, from what I’ve been put through on a personal level, I’m already doing everything I can to keep from doing something stupid while attempting to resolve an issue in the most civilized manner possible. As it stands, the bullies responsible for destroying my life are behaving as if they’re going to walk away without suffering any consequences for their actions as they tell me to shut up and die quietly.

I know I’m not the only person at the end of their rope, and all it will take is the right match to set this nightmarish dystopia ablaze.

People like Musk will have to come around or beef up their security because it’s only a matter of time before their arrogance blows back like a nuclear bomb in their faces.

“Those who make peaceful evolution impossible make violent revolution necessary.”

The trouble with this dynamic is that millions of people have to be pushed to their breaking point before they realize how much less pain there is in risking death in a revolution than to continue enduring a walking death in slow motion toward oblivion.

This is all just history repeating itself.

It’s not new by any stretch of the imagination.

Those who refuse to learn from history force us all to replay it, and we all get uglier about it each time we must endure the stupidity of people who refuse to read the writing on the wall.

The only salient aspect of hope in this mess is that we can avoid the worst chaos before returning to sanity.

Would hastening societal collapse do more harm than good?

This post is a response to a question posed in its complete format: “Attempting to increase global problems to bring societal collapse sooner, would that do more harm than good?”

Societal collapse is, by definition, the most harm that can be done.

It may seem like the easiest way to address the rampant corruption we see today, but there is no guarantee against a new and next-generation form of corruption taking root in the ashes of the old. The odds are greater that a new form of corruption will be even more corrupt because they will have better learned how to protect themselves from reprisals.

If you look at the responses to Brian Thompson’s execution for crimes against humanity, there is no remorse being displayed by the monsters among us. They feel righteous anger at having been assaulted so violently.

Their response to a situation where their victims strike back is to hunker down with increased security measures.

They learn nothing from random acts of violence.

It may be the case that destroying all of them at once will eliminate the currently most powerful of the corrupt among us. There are always new generations following who are eager to outdo their forerunners.

Indeed, this generation of corruption defining the ownership class is a case study of learning from their prior mistakes. It is precisely why they have essentially co-opted all media.

The best thing we can do is build from where we are while learning to embrace values and contribute to solidifying the social contract we share.

We must stand up against the corrupt in whatever way we can. We must also be evident in our statements so that the world understands how violence is treated as a last resort after all other options have been exhausted. This is the only way to minimize the destruction of everything we have built together. This is the only way to preserve and protect the best of what we want for our society and our children’s future.

From Marvel’s Loki Series