America today is now fragmented into two very distinct camps, with worrisome conflicts escalating daily. The "loyal opposition", once a cornerstone of democracy, has been tossed aside, as we see very nature of reality itself being called into question with bewildering claims taking center stage by one of our major parties. We have before us an existential crisis the likes of which this nation has never seen.
When Senator Marco Rubio called President Biden's Build Back America Infrastructure plan "Marxism" it was simply reported as one version of "The Republican response" to this historic initiative. The adults paying attention scoffed with indignant, fully justified protest that such a nonsensical statement could be made by a senior elected official. After all, abolishing capital markets, dismantling private ownership of the means of production and handing General Motors, IBM and all American corporations over to the workers didn't even make the first draft of the legislation. Yet, "here we go again" as we have for countless decades now, where conservatives, with Pavlovian predictability, attempt to brand any liberal policy initiative as "Communist/Marxist/Socialist." Social Security, child labor laws, civil rights, workplace safety, a woman's right to vote and a breathtaking array of policies every American takes for granted as fundamental to our daily lives were demonized this way and yet, thankfully, liberals prevailed each and every time. So far.
Today however, with the very foundation of democracy being threatened by a Republican Party not only embracing the "Big Lie" but passing legislation with ruthless efficiency empowering them to negate any election results they may lose, there is much more at stake than Biden's legislative agenda. The very nature of democracy is coming into question. When a significant majority of Republicans continue to support a man who was not only twice impeached, banned from charity work for pilfering a children's cancer charity, sued over 5,000 times by contractors he proudly refused to pay, and not only openly displaying misogynistic, racist and white-supremacist sentiments, but embracing their adherents as his base, we obviously have a bewildering paradox that no one has been able to unravel. It is the "Gordian knot" that has twisted itself around America's body politic. Where is our Alexander the Great, wielding an insightful sword to strike this madness into oblivion?
Countless books, lectures and in-depth research have all attempted to divine the "real reason" a pathological narcissist who has proven himself to be a reprehensible, vile human being still commands such loyalty in what is increasingly being acknowledged as "his Party." It has to be more that "radical discontent" with the status quo, which only goes so far in explaining away this bewildering embrace of a man who embodies the worst of us. In quantum physics, parallel universe theories have not only been proven theoretically, they frequently appear today in movies, television, and engaging lectures, sparking the public's imagination. The coexistence of two entirely separate realities, a stark, example of this theory is the embrace of Trumpism on one hand as "salvation" for the MAGA crowd, and seeing this movement as the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse riding into D.C. on the other. This "parallel universe", a simultaneous existence where two totally different interpretations of what it means to be a patriotic American, is at the very least an operative metaphor for what we are experiencing with the "Trump effect." No empirical evidence, even the "coup memo" revealed by Bernstein and Costa's book with a "paint-by-the-numbers" plan to incinerate democracy, has moved the needle. Nothing, nothing at all it seems will dissuade the true believers that their man is a ruthless scoundrel hell bent on destroying democracy before our very eyes, no matter what is laid bare before them. How is this possible?
Quantum mechanics tells us that two contradictory versions of reality can coexist at the same time. While this theoretical supposition operates on such a small scale in physics, describing the world in a very small scale, any measurement of reality must be understood relative to the observer. The observer effect in quantum physics tell us that observing a situation changes it based on our observation of it. Talk radio is listened to, observed, by 90% of all males in America between the ages of 34-65, primarily driving to and from work. 91% of the programming is conservative, and 9% liberal or progressive. This is a breathtaking statistic consistently overlooked as to how political sentiments are shaped in this country. It has been an established fact for decades that talk radio has not only significantly influenced the public's perception of policy nationwide, it has shaped them and solidified one point of view, a very conservative one. Every Republican strategist knows this, driving strategic focus and tactical execution for the party. Tuning in to any one of these programs, Savage, Carlson, Levin, take your pick, it is immediately clear that the demonization of anything and everything Democrats stand for is mission one. Add FOX, OAN and Newsmax to the mix, and you have a clear juggernaut that has been a lethal weapon in the conservative arsenal for which there has been no response from the progressive movement. The messaging is relentless. If the daily drumbeat offers a stark choice to support Trump and the Big Lie, or, interment camps, Venezuelan Socialism, the triumph of LGBTQ rights over parenting, immigrants running rampant in our streets, milking the system, failing to be contained by police hobbled by liberals who defunded them, well, this becomes a simple choice for millions who are not offered an alternative. There are many who firmly believe that ruthlessness, and the embrace of hatred and anger, emblematic of Trumpism is the appeal, and America is filled with his fellow travelers reveling in the swill of intolerance, xenophobia and bigotry, the proverbial "deplorables." Yet, stating the obvious, there are not seventy-four million Americans in that "basket" who voted for him, and if recent polling is to be trusted, would do so again in numbers great enough to propel him back into office.
Rather than being incredulous and self righteous about the astonishing level of support for Trump, we need to accept the fact that for many, their beliefs are grounded in their empirical reality, one carefully crafted by a relentlessly efficient machine funded by countless billions to successfully advance very specific points of view. Scratch the surface and it is clear who is directing the messaging, and what their intent is, optimizing the interests of the 1%, the oligarchs, and the ruling elite who shudder at the thought of equity, fairness and "democracy with a human face" shaping policy in this country.
The "liberal apocalypse" is as real to the MAGA crowd as "the end of democracy" is to progressives. We need to stop immediately with framing all of them as delusional psychopaths empowering an authoritarian Tyrant. We need to accept the fact that their world view is legitimate, it is not only what they believe to be true, it is true for them, as hard as this may be for us to accept. If the end for them, preserving democracy and saving it from liberals, justifies the means, ending for now, participatory democracy itself, so be it in their hearts and minds. I am reminded of the chilling phrase from the Vietnam war when our generals actually said "We had to destroy that village to save it."
The solution? First, meditate; let's center and ground ourselves in mindfulness, that is essential. The stakes are too high to continue to allow emotions to govern our decisions. Next, we need to reshape our messaging in the context of an understanding that we are speaking to fellow citizens with not only the obvious right to hold contrary beliefs, but accepting their beliefs as completely true and valid, in a legitimate, parallel universe they reside in. This is not a theoretical construct. Quantum mechanics tells us it is entirely possible. This is not to accept or affirm it. It is simply so. Lastly, we need to recruit progressive billionaires and leaders of commerce and industry to set about acquiring broadcast-media outlets across the nation. This has been discussed repeatedly over the years, to no avail, yet. There is much more at stake now that we see what inaction on this front has cost us, Democracy itself, the looming threat that is now upon us. Let's get to work!
