Deadbeat vicious cycle
As the 2024 election heats up, you’re probably going to see social media discourse heat up as well. The 2016 election, after all, was largely won by the Republicans in part because of how effectively they were able to weaponize it, even if it meant spreading fake news stories that were entirely fabricated. This time they’re slightly more sophisticated, something they need to be now that social media pages are trying to fact check disinformation as quick as possible, by creating troll farms that may not necessarily be pro-Trump, but they’re all about ensuring voter apathy, by discouraging the importance of voting.
A recent trend I’ve noticed is people (even some fairly well informed people on our side) discussing fail-safe plans against fascism, should Democrats lose (either this election, or in 2026, 2028, or somewhere further down the line.) It’s not necessarily a bad idea – it’s just that it’s pretty much impossible to pull off. It generally starts with the premise that we can’t win every election, so we should set precautions to protect democracy if we lose. While this sounds like it comes from a place of good intentions, it generally sets up the idea that we’re preparing to lose (which attracts zero potential new voters) AND it gets our own supporters to be irrationally mad at the party and its leadership.
The fact is, we need to win as many elections as possible to keep democracy, since democracy can be voted out and it’s not so easy to bring back once that happens. We’d be exponentially better off if we had two terms of President Hillary Clinton between 2017 and now, or had Al Gore triumphed in the Electoral College. Progress is incremental, but it works best if it’s done without having to deal with the conservative pushback we’ll inevitably get under another Republican president or majority.
Moreover, anyone who talks about implementing a safety net now doesn’t understand how fascism or even basic governance works, as it requires the leadership of people who respect democratic institutions. That’s why the only safeguard we have is voting Democratic consistently, all the way down the ballot – on Nov 5 and again in local and state races every year after. Let’s vote to win, because the survival of democracy depends on us doing exactly that.
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James Sullivan is the assistant editor of Brain World Magazine and an advocate of science-based policy making