220 disconnect the dots

Had my second visit with a new student dentist yesterday. It wasn't as nerve-wracking, even though the exam room seemed more crowded. At the end, I opted to schedule our next appointment for the spring. After flu season.

File under: disconnect the dots

This is really here for the t-shirt. Now, I'm not one to go putting big hopes in Joe, he's basically a stand-in for 044, and we loved that guy but he didn't exactly deliver "change we can believe in." 

(Although the ACA was and is pretty huge, considering our rightward trajectory.)

How many of us were hoping O44 would be as active at the podium as T45? Come on, admit it. We were. And he wasn't. And don't expect Joe will be either.

Like a lot of us, I just want the Orange Menace to go away. When H ran, she hoped that was enough message. "Watch out for the bogeyman." The DNC has wised up since then, and actually has some table scraps for "we the people" included in their platform. So now they're getting painted as "socialists," which sounds scary as hell if you've never been to Europe. 

(As 65% of Americans haven't. For those of us who missed it, let me describe Europe: it's pretty much like here, but with smaller cars, free healthcare, and lots of the things we've been taught to think of as "history.")

But fear is still at the core of this campaign cycle. I personally don't like being told to be afraid. I don't agree with that way of thinking. Fear holds us back from doing the things in life we want to.

The day after Dear Leader was elected, I met a guy standing on Market Street smoking a doob. He seemed excited. I asked him what was up. He said he was celebrating legal weed, and "the unknown."

That man was an angel who has spared me a lot of agony the past three years. Yes, T45 has been a total shitshow of the rich getting richer, racism, and sabotage of functional systems, along with a very unhealthy dose of megalomania and lies.

But what would more of the same look like? After W43, we didn't want more of the same. We want "change we can believe in."

The unknown is scary as fuck. But damnit, there is potential. Yes, things could go very wrong. 

Stepping back, though, and looking at the big picture, what is right and wrong? If the US dollar went away, how do you think the environment would handle it?

See, our comfort and sorta thinking we know what we're doing leads to all kinds of very real harms that we're really not doing much about, at all. Is dear leader? Hell no. He's pushing harder off the cliff.

But, we all see the cliff!

Of course, then there are things like the pandemic, and the very basic handling of governance. Notice how quickly both parties became socialist-as-hell when there was something really scary going on. 

Same as 2008. I don't remember GM or Bank of America complaining about socialism when they were getting bailed out, "too big to fail."

Basically, I guess we have socialism for our capitalists, and fascism for the rest of us. 

Yay.

(I'm sorry, true believers. I did vote. But as Mark Twain said, "If voting made any difference, they wouldn't let us do it." They also might not use it as a marketing slogan. See? Fuck. There's the thing. Why not print, "buying more plastic is fucking the next generations" under that lid? Hmmm?)

If the bogeyman destroys us all, he won't do it alone. And if he's not alone, then getting rid of him is only going to do so much. 

Happier scenes. Only one house on the city's most popular trick or treat street is decorated. Is the party off because of Covid?

If this new outdoor dining scene sticks around, this year's agony might have been worth it. It's really charming.

A better world is happening.

Sorry this was a bit all over the place. And sorry for dumping on Dems a bit, while also not totally condemning dear leader. The day we get an actual progressive candidate (Kamala? Maybe. If she wasn't so tight with the Gettys. We'll see what's under that wolf costume.) I may change my tune.

In the meantime, thanks for listening, and keep your mind open.